The Christian faith is inescapably political. Jesus is a king, and we are His polis. We are charged with bringing the gospel to every nation, and we are to preach that gospel in such a way as to topple the central idols of every people group. When those idols are toppled, the worship of God the Father through Jesus Christ must be offered instead, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, and only then, will the power of the gospel to transform the surrounding culture kick into gear.
In nations where this process happened centuries ago, it is easy for secularists to pretend that they are the ones who invented indoor plumbing for us. Civilized behavior and standards happen “all by themselves,” like magic. You know, one day, Enlightenment arrives. No — this process is driven by the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen.
All missionaries need to know that the end of this process will be what we would instantly recognize as a free market economic system. When they arrive in a pagan society, they cannot establish that kind of system instantly — there are preconditions. Certain things must happen first. But the missionary must know where it is all going. The inexorable work of the Spirit will not allow commies, fascists and crony capitalists to get their chains back on those who were liberated by the gospel. Missionaries should look forward to the time when the people in their villages and towns will be able to buy and sell, unhindered by highwaymen, pirates, revolutionary armies, bureaucrats, or tax men. Economic liberty is what the Spirit is bringing to us. If you don’t believe me, go ask all those fellows who are sitting around under their own fig trees. Their own fig trees, clear title and all.
If a missionary has an overrealized eschatology, and tries to force economic justice before it is time, he will wind up becoming the worst thing that ever happened to that part of the world. For many unthinking evangelicals the step between “politics should matter to Christians” and trendy “soft socialism” is a very short step. But that doesn’t keep it from being a step over a cliff. This is particulary the case, sad to relate, in the case of English evangelicals. But the fact that Jesus is Lord doesn’t mean that He has given His divine imprimatur to economcic illiteracy. Swathed in the rhetoric of helping the poor, evangelo-do-gooders have left a trail of destruction behind them.
My postmillennialism is of a particularly robust variety. I believe the earth will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea, in spite of all our labors. I believe in a kind of consubstantiation for our mercy ministries — the grace of God is apparent in, with, and under all our incompetencies. How so? It’s a mystery, my son.
But the day is coming when all that will be overcome. Not only will justice and mercy kiss each other, but the Spirit of the Lord will perform a great miracle. No longer will soft hearts have to accompanied by soft heads. No longer will hard heads result necessarily in hard hearts. No longer will we have the worst combination of all, that of the evangelical leftists, who have hard hearts and soft heads.
No, what we need are hard heads and soft hearts. Love the poor. Give them what they need — the free gospel of free grace, which will result in free men and free women, which in turn over time will create Christ-honoring free markets. And in case anyone was wondering, such free markets are the only economic system that is capable of being Christ-honoring. All the others are thinly-disguised brigandage.