The 21st century believer must break out of the preaching, praying, Psalm singing ghetto of societal irrelevancy that the Church has become. We must recover the biblical mandate to bring the message of redemption's hope to all of society.

Stephen Crosby

Charles Spurgeon, a famous Baptist preacher, once said: "The Gospel is like a caged lion: it does not need to be defended, it just needs to be let out of its cage."

At the beginning of the 20th century, particularly after the famous Scopes trial, religious conser-vatives adopted a "retreat, separate, and escape" mindset. The belief was (confirmed, it seemed at the time, by two World Wars), that the world was careering towards terminal disaster and that the Church should commit itself to spiritual matters . . . the world was going to hell in a hand basket and it was meant to be so-let's leave it alone.

This strategy, with forethought and purpose, gave priority to personal piety and gave up the cul-tural and civic institutions of society to secularists and modernists. To be involved in these are-nas was considered something a Christian ought not to do. The church should save souls, not get involved in lesser realms of "the world," or so we were taught. As history has unfolded, and as the continuing decay of our culture testifies, this strategy was a mistake (with ongoing repercus-sions). Occasional pockets of historic "revivalism" had little or no effect on society, community, or culture.

Today, faith has become so individualized, internalized, subjectivised, and privatized, as to no longer have any meaningful impact on society. In the institutions of culture and society, religion is either condescendingly tolerated as a private indulgence, for the intellectually weak, with no objective relevance, or derided and resisted as the cause of humanity's problems with a degree of vitriol that would make a sailor blush.

This internalization and privatization has been an unmitigated disaster. Christianity has two elements: individual and social: individual conversion resulting in societal change. However, a Christian cultural coercion is not the answer for cultural decay. The answer is not activism of various forms. Aggressive conservative moralism is reactionary. The social element of Christianity is not about winning elections, changing a few laws, and forcing others to embrace Christian mor-als. No, it is about personal spiritual genuineness and authenticity that is spiritually substantive, attractive, and societally transforming. Changed hearts change laws which change society.

Being a believer in Jesus Christ is a redemptive vocation. Our Protestant forefathers taught that the "individual believer has a vocation to serve God in the world-in every sphere of human ex-istence." He taught that Christ was the Redeemer of every part of creation, including culture. The believer is to be the extension of Christ's kingdom, not just in the four walls of the church on Sunday, but in the street, office, and marketplaces of the world, every day of his/her life. The Christian is called to be God's agent of transformation and reformation in neighborhood, professional organization, and civic institutions.

The believer of the 21st century must break out of the preaching, praying, and Psalm singing spiritual ghetto of societal irrelevancy that the Church has become. We must recover the biblical mandate to bring the message of redemption's hope to every facet of society. The world is not waiting for a better funded and more persuasively presented idea-it groans for spiritual reality and relief from the bankrupt philosophies of nothingness that secularism offers.

Let the lion out of the cage.