Emphasis Preaching Journal

C. S. Lewis' character of pen and ink, Screwtape, the imaginary mentor-uncle, offers the following counsel to newbie demon, Wormwood. "Let the little brute wallow in it. Let him, if he has any bent that way, write a book about it; that is often an excellent way of sterilizing the seeds of Nemy plants in a human soul. Let him do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm us if we can keep it out of his will. As one of the humans has said, active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened. The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel" (The Screwtape Letters, p. 53). It is sometimes whispered that personal piety must experience a disconnect with the application of practical social holiness or, in other words, social holiness does not need the moral compass of personal piety as a follower of Jesus in order to lower the lance and charge society's ills. Point of fact personal piety clutters the rational thinking and action of a thoughtful twenty-first-century Christian. Another quote from Lewis may help to center our thoughts. "To make Christianity a private affair while banishing all privacy is to relegate it to the rainbow's end or the Greek Calends" (The Weight of Glory). The reference suggests that the time will never come when our Christian faith should be viewed or practiced in private. It simply is not on the calendar!

I maintain the impracticality and impossibility for a Christian to truly impact society as a change agent without first experiencing the ongoing transformational power of God. The way we are transformed touches the nitty-gritty ways we live and communicate with each other within our circle of influence and the circle of secular people around us. The follower of Jesus must, meaning as an absolute, live a life of sensitivity to the development of personal virtues. If neglected, the voices crying for social change will slowly become derailed and lose sight of the grand possibilities for cultural change. The separation of personal piety or virtue and the act of living the life of a disciple as change agent is obtuse. Standing before our congregations and preaching a balanced message of heart transformation and attacking social injustices is a moral imperative. If we fail to begin with the call and demand for our people to live virtuous lives, the plausibility for true social change is minimized if not compromised. Allow me to say it as plainly as possible. A political leader of faith who fails to live the virtuous life is a shadow of true faith and I refuse to respect or follow such a person. The way Newt Gingrich confessed his extramarital affair after having condemned President Clinton for lying about his affair, is morally reprehensible. It dulls Gingrich's credibility to the point that he should just stay home and grow roses in his garden. Guarded confessions are unacceptable.

As preachers using the Amos text, the prop of an old-fashion plumb line always adds to the potential of getting the message across to even the most sleepy-eyed parishioner. Measuring up to the standards of God as a nation or a worshiping congregation is rather uncomfortable, especially if you lace the sermon with Galatians 5 emphasizing verses 19- 20. The scripture easily yields to the triad of sexual perversions, spiritual perversions, and social perversions. Before we can spread social change, one's personal life must come into alignment with a very specific biblical lifestyle. I maintain disciples who succumb to moral failures need to regroup and invest their time in spiritual retreat: examining their souls and seeking a fresh touch from God. Colossians 3:1-11 reminds us to set our hearts on things above and set our minds on things above.

Returning to C. S. Lewis' acute observation, "If you read history you will find out that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next." The litany of names is extensive. David Livingston not only was a great geographer and missionary of God's word, but was known and respected as the greatest opponent of slavery in Africa. Those plying the trade in human flesh recognized something was extraordinarily different in this scarred warrior for freedom from sin and the lash. I would be remiss if the name William Wilberforce was not mentioned. His battle to purge the British Empire of slavery is an example of a man who blended the devout life of virtuous piety with titanium-edged politic that was nothing more than the epitome of passion lived out in the public sector. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, stands as an example of a man who wrote about God's holiness in words unparalleled to this day and lived the holiness of God in the streets among the castaways and forgotten among "polite" society. His message is still lived out in every major city by profoundly dedicated believers.

The list of those who got it right could fill the remaining lines of this article. Most will go from this life into the next unnoticed by "polite" society, but not by those who they impact and foremost by God. God does ask us to step away from the soft pews and take our place in the midst of the call for social change. I shudder whenever I read Hosea 1:2- 10. A number of years ago I placed a low table covered with a tarp between the pulpit and lectern and to the right an easel liberated from the Sunday school closet with a sign announcing an auction that day. In fact, that is exactly what I placed on the sign reserved for the preacher's sermon in front of the church. I did not place a person on the stand, rather, I painted a word picture of a prostitute too old and used up as I pointed to the platform. I began the cadence of an auctioneer and began listing the sins of an unjust society that had violated this person created in the image of God. I ended with a cautionary word that merely shedding a tear for this pitiful woman was not enough. I asked if they were willing to redeem her by allowing God to transform their lives, living the life of a disciple, and finally living their faith as world changers.

The summer lectionary thunders with incredible opportunities to close the gap between personal piety and passionate outcries against the injustice of the world. The Samaritan scripture is a rugged, proven road to travel toward the call for placing one's faith on the line before the public eye (Luke 10:25-37). Your life becomes very public when you disregard the numerous social standards illustrated in the story Jesus shared with his disciples. Suddenly, the Samaritan's true politics of life are known as he helps a Jewish man beaten and forgotten by many, but not all. I cannot biblically substantiate the day-to- day life of the Samaritan, but for the innkeeper to trust him to return with additional money for taking care of the rescued man seems to hint that the Samaritan's reputation was solid and trustworthy. His actions were backed by a virtuous lifestyle. The innkeeper could trust him! The Samaritan had pity on the wounded man.

Pity is an intense feeling that can give way to sobbing as the evening news vividly scans the aftermath of genocide in a country some would be hard pressed to find on a world globe or the tears that cause a person to pick up the phone and call his congressman requesting intervention or calling his denominational headquarters and ask, "How can I help?" and mean it! Feelings betray who we are and how our innermost being really works. Feelings disconnected from a prudent discipline of seeking after God through biblical life choices and living the reformed life is a two-handkerchief cry with a flash in the pan response. Staying the course requires a disciplined spiritual life of living the biblical faith or a life of virtuous piety. It is the fuel of true passion.

I am concerned that if we attempt social change void of personal change without a true connection, the results will be short-lived and create even more difficult problems for our growingly complex society. I disdain the words liberal and conservative, probably because I consider myself to be a Democrat stuck in the era of President John F. Kennedy, an ardent supporter of practical theologians such as Ron Sider, and a pastor who longs for true and sustained transformation of the city where I minister. With this said, and the fact I am a registered Republican, I offer the following quote from Cal Thomas and Ed Dobson, "The liberal has an unshakable religious faith that given sufficient money, the right program, the right education system, and sufficient power to coerce, then human ills can be eliminated and a paradise on earth can be created" (Blinded by Might, p. 81).

I maintain that the infrastructure necessary to bring about true and sustaining social change is a personal knowledge of Jesus as Savior and the existence of a moral compass with the points being the biblical understanding of virtue and morality. This is not a pie in the sky way to live. It is a serious life that does not excuse immorality as a misjudgment. Ravi Zacharias, theologian and Christian apologist, makes the point with the following words, "We must recognize that the evil is not 'out there,' it's 'in here' within each individual. Thus, the problem must be solved one individual at a time" (Deliver Us from Evil: Restoring the Soul).

Living a life of personal responsibility is not an option if the towering injustice existing in this world is to be winked at and treated as insignificant. The church has not significantly grown since the 1960s. Perhaps people will seek out the church if we begin living the life the Bible teaches and roll up our sleeves and get involved in changing society. Perhaps it is time for the church pulpit to become the true bully pulpit. I have chosen to be part of the holiness movement. This decision was made at the age of sixteen and I have zero regrets. But, I do have an observation and a brief comment in regard to this God-breathed movement. We must be vigilant not to focus on the holiness typified by the singular insistence on personal holiness void of social holiness. Holiness can become a convenient way of insulating ourselves from the injustices of our society that need to change. Perhaps it is time we remove the cushions from the pews.

Chester Harris is the senior pastor of Dueber United Methodist Church in Canton, Ohio. He holds a D.Min. degree from Asbury Theological Seminary and an M.Div. degree from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Chester enjoys being a father and grandfather.