Unlimited Submission IS NOT Biblical
Christians should do all they can to submit to the government (Romans 13:1-7).
However, the government does not have unfettered authority to control our lives.
We all face gray areas as believers, yes. But adopting a secular worldview, in whole or in part, is not “loving your neighbor.” Living as a courageous Christian who stands for the truth and extends an arm of love to others while never sacrificing the principles of God’s Word is what it means to “love your neighbor.”
If, for example, we lived in China, and we were under the “one-child” policy, we would have grounds for not following this policy. This worldview is directly contrary to Scripture’s teaching on the goodness of a home full of children (see Psalm 127 and 139). In such an instance, love of neighbor actually means standing against “Caesar” with a posture of gracious and controlled defiance.
For Christians, love of neighbor DOES NOT MEAN obeying the commands of false worldviews (Matthew 22:34-39).
For Christians, love of neighbor DOES MEAN you do what God commands, not what the world demands, and from that God-obeying stance, reach out to others in grace and truth.
The Great Commission and the Cultural Commission are Inseparable
The scriptural justification for culture building begins in Genesis (V 1:26-28)
For five days, God created the world/universe we live in, then on the sixth day, He created man in His image and gave him/(us) dominion over creation [Genesis 1:26].
He commands us to carry on where He left off – the development of His creation will be our responsibility and it will be to “fill” and “subdue” the earth and that can only include both social and cultural means as well. (Gen 1:28)
At this point creation (before the Fall) is still “very good”. God gives the responsibility of creating civilization to the one who bears His image. We must further populate the planet by producing offspring, and we must further shape the environment and the culture by taming it.
Since Adam and Eve, each generation still bear children, builds families, and spread across the earth. We still tend animals and plant fields; we still construct cities and governments; we still make music and art.
Maybe we have lost our influence over the culture because the church has focused solely on the Great Commission of saving souls and has neglected to save/build the culture as well.
Salvation doesn’t mean simply freedom from sin; salvation should also mean being restored to the task we were given at the beginning of time – the task of creating and maintaining culture.
Every part of creation came from God’s hand. Redemption does not appear to be just for individuals but for all creation (Col 1:15-20).
The teaching seems to be clear; Christians are saved not only from something (sin) but also to something (Christ’s lordship over ALL of life).
We are meant to proceed to the Restoration of all God’s creation, which includes private and public virtue; individual and family life; education and community; work, politics, and law; science and medicine; literature, art, and music.
The goal of Redemption includes the sacred as well as the secular. We are to bring “all things” under Christ’s lordship in the home, school, work, corporate board rooms, movie screen, concert stage, city council, and legislative chambers.
Politics, the law, and art [all forms of media] are all part of the Cultural Commission or Mandate.
This is why EVERY Christian must have a comprehensive worldview that covers all aspects of reality and only a Biblical Worldview gives us that.
A Biblical Worldview insists that God’s laws govern ALL of God’s creation.
Source for these thoughts:
How Now Shall We Live by Chuck Colson
Unlimited Submission? By Dan Fisher
