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SoulWork

On Not Transforming the World

We have better and harder things to do than that.

Mark Galli | posted 8/09/2007 08:41AM

Hardly a day goes by that a book or an email doesn't arrive telling me how to "transform the culture" or "change the world."

In one recent email, a conference promised the attendance of many nationally ...

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Jim A

Posted: August 16, 2007 8:23 PM

Mark misses the point of transformation. It is not about YOU Mark. It IS the little and big things that come when we submit to the Spirit of God who is the Transformer. We have the fantastic privilege of seeing Him move, one life at a time, to change a family, city or nation. However this phenomenom ONLY occurs through HIM. The folks who miss the glorious activity of God have not yet yielded to the Spirit as Sons and Daughters, but rather are stuck in bondage to the flesh as servants. Ask the Father for the Spirit, to be fully immersed and endued. Receive the Spirit of adoption and then walk in your inheritance. This is not triumphalism. This is the Gospel: Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

Roberto Abril

Posted: August 16, 2007 8:19 AM

What is understood as culture? If culture is all we do in the spheres of education, economics and politics then culture will be guided by Christian principles and virtues. If that is not trans-forming or shaping culture (the way we live and think), then what is? I find disturbing that Christians Cultural Transformation become a lead for fundamentalists with ideological aims. Overall, neither theocracy nor secularists agendas are better off in the history of disrespecting life. And the fact that Christians had failed (Inquisition, etc.) is not an argument that discard them to act in cultural affairs. Any collective enterprise might have dismal consequence when it becomes an ideology for greedy powers. I believe that Christians should engage the culture of consumerism and protect the environment (read, "Consumed" by Benjamin R. Barber) in order to become more coherent cultural shapers.

Rev. Austin Miles

Posted: August 13, 2007 9:51 PM

This is the worst piece of trash I have ever had the displeasure to read, and espcially in a so-called "Christian" magazine. Liberal yes...Christian, no. This 'writer' could have made his point without painting Christianity as an evil force. It is too bad that an editor of CT is obviously anti-Christian. As a devoted chaplain and minister, I take great objection to this outrage. Again, the point the author wanted to make could have been done much differently, more responsibly and more helpful. Mr Editor, your liberal bias shows. You have no Chritian credibility. Rev. Austin Miles--California

Coach Mike

Posted: August 13, 2007 11:30 AM

I think the most important statement in this article states, "is to love those right in front of our noses." This is the hardest thing that mankind has found to do. If we could love the way Jesus loved, the world would not have so many faults. John Shore stated something similar recently about sharing the gospel is not necessary, but show them the love of Christ. We are to love a nonbeliever exactly as they are. Tough, tough! Let's just work on transforming our own churches and our hands will be full.

A Hermit

Posted: August 13, 2007 10:01 AM

A very good and thought-provoking article. The goal must always be "love the Lord your God will all your heart and mind and your neighbor as yourself." While transforming the culture must not be the 'goal', we need to recognize that serving our neighbor must also include trying to change societal structures and relationships that wound and hurt people, not just bandage them up once they are wounded. William Wilberforce and his actions to end slavery is an example.

JIM MOBLEY

Posted: August 13, 2007 9:45 AM

I WATCHED 60 MINUTES LAST NIGHT ON REFUGEES OF THE SUDAN PEOPLE. I BECAME ANGRY WITH GOD FOR THE WAY THESE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TREATED. I ASK WHY? I GET UPSET THAT I CANNOT DO MORE TO BE ABLE TO HELP THESE PEOPLE. I TRY TO PUT MYSELF IN THE SHOES OF JESUS WHICH IS HARD TO DO AT TIMES. JESUS DOES NOT ASK US TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD. I REALIZE I CANNOT TRANSFORM THE WORLD. I CAN TAKE A CULTURE AND PRAY FOR THEIR SITUATION. I CAN PRAY THAT GOD WILL WALK THROUGH THE CAMPS AND BRING PEACE AND LOVE. TO BE MORE INVOLVED TAKES ALOT OF ORGANIZATION AND DEALING WITH A GOVERNMENT THAT PREYS ON OTHERS. THROUGH PRAYER I KNOW THAT GOD THROUGH CHRIST CAN BRING COMFORT AND JOY TO THESE PEOPLE. WE NEED TO WORK TOGETHER AS CHRISTIANS IN PRAYER AND WHATEVER SUPPORT WE HAVE TO BE EFFECTIVE FOR JESUS. WE CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD ONE PERSON AT A TIME. IF WE ARE ABLE TO SAVE ONE CHILD FROM DEATH OR ILLNESS WE HAVE DONE IT THROUGH JESUS. MAY WE BE THE FEET AND HANDS OF JESUS

artm	Posted: August 11, 2007 4:25 PM

We will never change this entire world,no matter what we do. Jesus didn't tell us to transform the entire world, we are to work as tho that can be,but the world will never be totally transformen untill Jesus comes and then He will transform the entire world. Yet we as Christians must work as though we can and will transform the entire world, each in our own part of the world. preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every lost soul. tell every sinner of the Great love and grace of almighty God. Tell them of the judgement that awaits them if they reject Christ. Tell them even if they won't beleive you. as the song goes. Be light, and be salt. But know that the only way this world will be completly transformed is by the Lord Jesus Christ when He comes to set up His Kingdom. Kingdom now theology is not the teaching of the Bible. But soon and very soon, we shall see the King, And He will set the world right. Art.

Ron	Posted: August 11, 2007 10:21 AM


I am with David on this - no one wants to do the unpopular work of sleeping with the homeless, or crawl in the ditches with mugged. Its easier to host a conference on 'world transformation' than to organize a soup kitchen. Good work, David.

Um, No.

Posted: August 11, 2007 8:03 AM


Can you say "Gnostic"?

Donna

Posted: August 11, 2007 7:52 AM

I liked the article. I attend a missional church in a large city. We are very service oriented and focused. I also a few times a year attend a small fundamentalist 'born again' christian church which is not missional per say. Why they have to be mutually exclusive I don't know but to be honest I don't like either polar extremes. As of late I am leaning towards the later. Yes I want to co-labor with Christ but this present world is NOT my home and I am foolish to think I could ever be comfortable here. If I am not being persecuted or suffering in some area of my life that the aroma of Christ is not seen its doubtful I walking closely with him.

bernie

Posted: August 11, 2007 7:44 AM


But doesn't Mark realize that chaging the world allows us to criticize and judge, which is so much easier and more fun than trying to change my life and way of living?

Eileen

Posted: August 10, 2007 9:32 PM

In response to Steve H. - I'm sorry that Christians have let you down and failed you. I, too, was very angry and God and the church and I can understand where all your arguments are coming from. However, they are short-sighted, incorrect and merit further review by you, so that you can know exactly where you're coming from and can make an argument that can stand up in water. As your arguments stand now, a good debater who knows his subject well would be able to poke holes all through your argument. Your post comes across as a very angry person who has rejected God. If you're going to reject God, then do that from a place of scholarly knowledge and not just out of anger. A good place to start would be to read "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. Read it with a skeptical eye, or perhaps from a journalistic point of view - journalists are supposed to view their research with an unbiased eye. That book has alot of information that you can verify for yourself.

Stan Baldwin

Posted: August 10, 2007 6:21 PM

This article and the replies demonstrate a lot of confusion. Are we to transform the world? Of Course. The second commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves, and when any one of us does that we transform the world into a better place than it otherwise would have been. (That's altogether different from trying to transform the world politically.) Many who have commented on this article say that, no, we don't transform; we just preach the gospel and it transforms. Which, unfortunately overlooks the fact that many who have received the gospel and even many who have preached it fail to keep the second commandment. Away with these false dichotomies between preach and transform, between spiritual service and simple kindness, between this and that. May God bless everyone of us to do the major things and not leave the "little" things undone. I write as Director of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Humans, a new organization aimed at transforming our culture one person at a time.

Anthony Toohey

Posted: August 10, 2007 5:41 PM

Well said, this world is passing away. We are taught to expect tribulation, persecution, rejection, and for some martyrdom, until all is made new. To answer Sam, if such actions do transform the culture, so be it, but for that to be our stated goal, to transform the culture, is to have the wrong goal in mind. We are to seek out the called and serve them that they might be personally transformed in spite of the culture. It is certainly not a contradiction. In fact, he's hit it right on the head. The culture isn't the issue. The individual souls of the people we seek to serve is.

Jon Meredith

Posted: August 10, 2007 2:52 PM

Two Comments... One, the goal/purpose of the Church is to glorify God and one of the ways we do that is by believing in the Truth (Jesus Christ), obeying Him, confessing Him, and sharing Him with others. If in sharing Christ it takes hold in the broader culture a byproduct will certainly be a transformed culture. A multitude of individually transformed lives would certainly impact the culture. Second, we cannot ignore the influence of one person to impact a culture. Hezekiah turned the hearts of Israel back to God. Culture was transformed to God's glory. His son Manasseh, however, turned the hearts of the people away from God. The culture was mired in evil and God's anger burned against him. Who's kingdom are we building? If we use the gospel to transform the culture around us so we can be in control and toot our own horn we have problems. However, if we seek to allow God to work in and through us and the culture is transformed by Him then we have been faith servants.

Deacon Steve

Posted: August 10, 2007 1:13 PM


I'm surprised by Kennedy's comments. Reformed Geneva was every bit the disaster that the English Commonwealth under Cromwell was, or any other attempts to govern by theocracy. Let's indeed do what Jesus enjoins us to do. Galli summarizes that quite well. The work that Jesus lays out for us is hardly sophomoric.

Journeyman

Posted: August 10, 2007 11:57 AM

Thanks to all -- Mark Galli and all commentors-- for adding to the discussion. They all contribute to clarifying the issues we as Christians face. As I ponder the various aspects of the discussion in my little rural town of 7000 citizens in the smallest county in the state, I was reminded that I can only act where I am planted -- here in Mayberry USA. We give tithes and offerings. We vote for propositions and individuals who share my beliefs and values. We write to legislators. I teach Christian world views to undergraduate teacher education students. I am now convicted to "wash the dirty feet of the travellers sitting at our kitchen table." Again, thanks to Mark and all who commented.

Kevin Rouintree

Posted: August 10, 2007 11:11 AM

It is interesting to see the great disagreements, here. The dangers into which Galli appears to slip (as some read him) involve something like a complete denial that Christians can or should change their cultures, leading to a sort of defeatist resignation. However, what I think he rightly does (without his quite putting it this way) is to caution us from identifying the action and approach of the Spirit too closely with the actions and approaches of our own age's ideological assumptions and rhetoric about social transformation (whether through outlooks calling themselves "multicultural," "conservative," etc.). I think Galli is correct to point to a set of key features in our walk with Christ. Nevertheless, Jesus repeatedly challenged religious/cultural authorities head-on. Further, even if we each "remain in the same calling in which [we were] called" (I Cor 7:20, NKJV), some were in leadership positions within the culture. These dare not bury their talents in Stoic humility.

Jefferson Lee

Posted: August 10, 2007 7:42 AM


We are not called to change a culture. Rather, we are called to bring about change in people through Jesus Christ. No wonder we become politicized! I am so tired of the evangelical church. It is so skewed toward the right wing republican leanings. But, I am not a democrat either.

Mike	Posted: August 10, 2007 7:30 AM


Thank you for the reminder that we are called to be servants.

Sam Cameron

Posted: August 10, 2007 7:28 AM

How is this not a HUGE contradiction? "We are certainly responsible for going to the ends of the earth and making disciples from people of every nation...But I find little or nothing about us having the task of transforming the culture." Making disciples of Jesus is all about the Word of God transforming (1 Ptr 1:23) men and women into new creations (2 Cor 5:17). AND, How can they hear without someone preaching [the word] to them (Ro 10:14)? In Acts 19 the disciples had taken the leap of faith that Jesus commands us all to take (Mt 28) and when they made a great number of disciples in Ephesus the transformation of so many individuals began to change the entire culture-specifically the economy! This was Jesus' primary focus (Lk 19:10, Mark 1:38) and it should be the primary focus of all Christians (1 Jn 2:6). "So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, 'It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables... (Acts 6:2)"

Roger C

Posted: August 10, 2007 3:00 AM

You're so right. Of course culture is transformed when, as research shows, maybe 10-15% of its citizens live differently, but that's not the point. The point is that Christians are living in and for a different kingdom. The people who change society most and fastest are those who have their eyes set most firmly on a another world. 'Set you hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set you minds on things above, not on earthly things', says Paul. The gathering pace of Christian social action today is really encouraging, good and surely right but we are in serious danger of leading the next generation of the church into believing that evangelism is clearing a ditch or graffiti off a downtown wall. The command of Jesus is preaching good news, baptising, making disciples (Mark 16:15 etc.) whilst living a sacrifical life of love in society.

Alan J. Beckett

Posted: August 10, 2007 2:49 AM

Guilty as charged. I too have made that leap. The problem is that we think transformation is the/an objective rather than what it really is... an outcome. The objective is "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done." If we are faithful to carry out what our Lord Jesus has called us to do... love others, serve, forgive, give, be the salt and light that He says we are.. then we can trust that our Lord WILL work in the hearts of men and transform the world one heart at a time. But that doesn’t mean that God won't put social justice or some cause upon a person's heart, like the abolishment of slavery, the outlawing of child labor or the plight of women in Somalia in an effort to right social wrongs. Our God is not limited to our expectations or limited vision, but rather is transcendent and all powerful.

Hatji

Posted: August 10, 2007 2:28 AM

Armenian background? Reformed background? Penal substitution? Non-penal substitution? Charismatic? Post-charismatic? Emergent? Whatever we are, Nike Athletics has it right: Just Do It. What is the "It" for us? The Kingdom Mandate of Jesus, in all its forms. Applause for all who are actually doing it, any part of it, big or small. God bless you! But please! Spare me more analysis and conferences. I always get something good when I (rarely) attend one. But enough already! Just do it. Mark, thanks for provoking me to say a few words that I have pondered for a long time. "It" for me means doing everything I can with all I have to strengthen God's family in Malaysia. (No, the Hatji is not a Muslim name in my case, and I am an American.) Others have better resources, are stronger, and certainly better-looking, but this is my "it." God give us each the grace to find ours and do it, in obedience to Jesus, and in honor to His Name.

Jana de Jager

Posted: August 10, 2007 2:19 AM

I agree with Mark and Gaylan. We cannot change the world. We can do what our hand finds to do and that is to help the stanger, the poor, the orphan. I, for one, get overwhelmed by thinking that big like I have to change the world. So overwhelmed that I stop to do anything. It is then such a nice, comforatble excuse not to do anything - I know I cannot change the world, so why try at all? However, if each person will help another, in the classic example of Pay it Forward, we can then be hands for God to change the world. That is how I understand to be salt and light to the world. People resist change from the outside, they will much more change if they are convicted by the Spirit to do so.

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