Good Intentions; Wrong Approach - Part I

I often have good intentions that are poorly executed. Without going into details, I can tell you from first-hand experience that laundry detergent doesn't work the same in the dishwasher, a hammer cannot be used to fix everything, and there is definitely a difference between baking soda and baking powder. (That last one relates to a particularly ugly incident involving blueberry muffins.) In every case, I had good goals and the best of intentions; unfortunately, I also had a bad plan that produced the wrong results.

Over the last several years, I have come to believe that we as evangelical Christians too often carry out good intentions with a bad plan. We rely on the wrong tools and the wrong strategy, producing results that fall far short of our purpose and mission. And rather than honestly recognizing our need for a better approach, we continue to walk down the same road, believing that somehow our good intentions will eventually produce a different result and make it all okay.

You are certainly free to disagree at this point, but I sense that evangelicals in America have too often, and mistakenly, turned to the tools of worldly power in an attempt to accomplish a spiritual goal. We have come to rely on political power, economic power, and the systems of this world as means of carrying out the mission of the Church. We want to believe that if we just get the right candidate elected, all will be well and we have done our Christian duty. We think that if we boycott a company into submission so that they change their corporate policy, we have successfully carried out the work of the Kingdom. We devote huge amounts of time and other resources to arguing with the secular world, assuming that our primary goal is to win an argument. For decades now, this has often been our approach, an approach that I admittedly have followed at different points in my own life.

While there is no doubt that we have had the best of intentions, at what point do we stop and ask, "Where has this gotten us? Is this approach accomplishing our mission?" As I look at where we are and what we have achieved in all of this, some obvious questions and answers seem to stand out: Has the church in America grown? No. Is American society more moral? No. In fact, we have lost ground on both counts. And even when we win the battle, we get our candidate elected or we get that company to change a policy, what have we truly accomplished for the Kingdom? Have we changed anyone's heart? No. Have we changed anyone's belief? No. Have we led anyone to Jesus? No.

Despite the negative answers to all these questions, we continue down the same path, patting ourselves on the back when we "win" and shaking our heads in disbelief when the world seems to slip further away from our ideals. Please understand, I am not saying that there is never a time or place for this kind of involvement. The problem, as I see it, is that we have substituted these things for ministry. Rather than engaging our world with a love and grace-filled ministry that genuinely transforms our culture, we depend on earthly means of power to force the appearance of change.

Our call is to make disciples as we daily live out the kingdom of God. The means of this world, the political and economic forces we so often rely upon, do not possess the power or ability to change hearts and build the kingdom; they are insufficient for the task. Perhaps we need to rediscover what Jesus meant when He called us to be "salt and light." What is He calling us to be and do in this world? Over the next couple of weeks, I invite you to think along with me as we consider His words to us in Matthew 5:13-16. Throughout the discussion, I realize we might disagree at points. That's okay - just remember, I have the best of intentions!