2. Christians must use the power of truth:
All God’s truth is powerful. God’s truth of whatever kind
is much more powerful than the devil’s lies. John said in
his prologue to the fourth Gospel, “The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
Truth is much more powerful than bombs and tanks and
weapons. How many of us are sufficiently aware and care
enough about the social evils that are so prevalent around
us? Even if we do, do we see it cause enough for the Church
to do something about? “Just as we need the doctrinal
apologists in evangelism to argue the truth of the gospel,
so we need ethical apologists in social action to argue the
truth and the goodness of the moral law of God,” argues
John Stott. We should use our minds for Jesus Christ, speak
and write and broadcast and televise in order to command
a Christian option and influence public opinion.
Throughout the history of the Church, Christians have
influenced the secular culture around them to varying
degrees. Early Christians began to influence the Roman
culture. For example, in Ancient Rome, because of
Christian influence, the lives of women were improved,
rape became a crime with severe punishment, the right
of a husband to put his wife to death was abolished,
divorce laws were tightened so that husbands could no
longer throw their wives on the street for any-odd reason.
Because of this moral influence, women were elevated to a
status they had never enjoyed under the previous religious
and political system.
In Ancient Rome unwanted children were simply killed in
the womb or tossed on the streets to die. If they didn’t
die of exposure, they were picked up by baby-merchants
who would sell them into appalling situations. Early
theologians such as Tertullian, Athenagoras, Clement of
Alexandria, Augustine of Hippo, and Jerome, all challenged
the Roman practice of abortion and infanticide. It was
Christian campaigning which eventually persuaded the
Emperor Justinian to outlaw this practice in AD 529.
Christian influence led to the abolishment of the gruesome
gladiatorial shows and improved the conditions of the
poor and of slaves. None of this happened overnight. It
took many, many years, indeed centuries, of faithful and
persistent work.
3. Christians must use the power of example
The greatest argument is a demonstration. Truth is more
powerful when it’s exhibited through the lives. One
Christian nurse in a hospital, one Christian teacher in
a school, one Christian in a shop or in a factory or office
or in politics. Christians are marked people. The world is
watching. This is how God intends to transform the world.
It is siad that Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said that
“every member who joins my church is expected to do
something for his fellow creatures”. In 1860s Spurgeon
founded a school for needy children, almshouses for the
elderly, and Stockwell orphanages. F B Meyer, a gifted
evangelist and pastor of Melbourne Hall in Leicester, set
up social programmes to rehabilitate drunkards and exconvicts. During his tenure as pastor of Christ Church,
Lambeth, he organised teams of Christians to gather
evidence on the local brothels and submit it to the Police
that lead to the closure of over 700 brothels.
4. Christians must use the power of the group
Although, in most the South Asian nations, Christianity is a
minority, history has proven time and again that the power
of a dedicated minority cannot be easily ignored for long.
American sociologist Robert Belair says, “We should not
underestimate the significance of the small group of people
who have a vision of a just and gentle world. The quality of
a whole culture may be changed when two percent of its
people have a new vision.” This is the way of Jesus. The way
to change the old society is to implant within it his new
society with its different values and different standards and
different joys and different goals; so that, people see and
are attracted. Jesus said, “They will see your good works,
and will give glory to your Father in heaven.” He began of
a small