The Least Resolution for 2024
Fifty years later, perhaps it is time for us to revisit this document. Are we living in times where some, on behalf of all, have determined what society should look like? Do we see a mounting pressure to conform with what ‘they say’ is acceptable human thought and belief? Indeed, we should not be so naïve as to assume that the absence of marching military on our streets means we face no ideological threat. The pressure is growing for everyone quietly to conform. More than that, the pressure is growing to affirm openly and celebrate what we know to be false.
January does not just bring a new page on the calendar but a whole new calendar. And with the new year, we tend to generate renewed commitments. Maybe you have already determined what 2024 will mean for you. Perhaps your mind has already pondered daily step counts, gym visits, dietary changes, or other healthy habits. Or maybe you are thinking about Bible reading, daily prayer routines, or other spiritual goals. May your resolutions last and bear good fruit! But perhaps the resolution we need for 2024 is more foundational than healthy habits and more straightforward than spiritual practices.
As I write this, I am in Budapest, where I have just visited a museum of the political terror of the twentieth century. As you can imagine, it is a sobering experience to see the vast walls of victims, the displays focused on the political prisoners, a room commemorating the persecution of the religious leaders, the torture chambers, the prison cells, and the gallows. But perhaps the lingering memory for me will be the final room. With red walls and hundreds of pictures, it felt like yet another presentation of victims. But it was not. It was a room of “victimizers” – ordinary people who were merely doing their job, simply following orders, just playing along, and thereby facilitating the evil machine. We can remember the victims, and we must. Yet we must also face the uncomfortable reality that most cogs in the cruel machine of death were ordinary people.
Fifty years ago, in February 1974, Alexander Solzhenitsyn was arrested in the Soviet Union and exiled to the West. There, he was welcomed as a hero. On the day of his arrest, he released a document entitled “Live Not by Lies.” He knew the power of an ideology that sought to reshape society. He also knew the power of individuals who simply refuse to lie (and the even greater power of a crowd joining together in this conviction). He knew that the ideological system would totter and collapse when it ran up against the brick wall of reality, exemplified by many individuals refusing to play along with the evil fantasy.
Fifty years later, perhaps it is time for us to revisit this document. Are we living in times where some, on behalf of all, have determined what society should look like? Do we see a mounting pressure to conform with what ‘they say’ is acceptable human thought and belief? Indeed, we should not be so naïve as to assume that the absence of marching military on our streets means we face no ideological threat.
The pressure is growing for everyone quietly to conform. More than that, the pressure is growing to affirm openly and celebrate what we know to be false. Surely, it would be better to speak the truth now instead of growing our tendency to fit in and play it safe as the stakes mount.
Truth and Lies – Choosing not to lie was not an original idea for Solzhenitsyn. Paul urged the Colossians not to lie to one another. Not only had they put off their old self, but they had put on the new self to reflect their creator’s image (Colossians 3:9-10). He told the Ephesian believers to speak the truth to one another since they were no longer defined by the lie (Ephesians 4:25).
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the anger underneath murder, the lust underneath adultery, and the daily consistency of speech beneath more flamboyant oaths (Matthew 5:21-37). There is plenty of Old Testament support for the expectation that God’s people should be consistent speakers of truth (Exodus 20:16; Leviticus 19:11; Proverbs 14:5).
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Hebrews 5: God Spoke
When God speaks to men He does so with power. Man may speak from a temporary place of power or authority but he has only limited ability to see it come to pass. When God speaks, he has no limitations, all comes to pass just as He said. There is power in the Word of God that is beyond all human Words.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son…
Hebrews 1:1
On December 8, 1941 radio stations around the world broadcast President Roosevelt’s speech to the United States Congress. Most of the world had been at war for over two years but the United States had maintained a quasi-neutral status. However, on December 7, 1941 the United States was bombed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor in a Sunday morning surprise attack. What would Roosevelt say to the American people and their congress reeling from the loss of thousands of sailors? What would he say to the watching world? Roosevelt closed his speech with these words, “I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.” Congress acted, the sleeping giant was awakened, and the destruction of the second world war marched forward in ever increasing violence and destruction.
We understand something of the power of words. World leaders demonstrate the power behind their position by speaking, ordering, and directing. Parents demonstrate the same thing with their children. The Lord instituted this authority in parents and reminds children of it by telling them to honor their father and their mother and to obey them. Regarding government leaders He says, “let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.”
We also understand the limitations and weakness of words. How often when a politician speaks do you think, “just politics as usual…” or, “that person is all talk and no action,” or “she is all bark and no bite.” Martin Lloyd Jones said of some ministers he was critiquing, “their sermons were full of fire but no light.”
Unless the US Congress complied with Roosevelt’s request and the people with Congress’ declaration, the state of war would be meaningless. Unless children obey their parents it can seem the parent’s words fall on deaf ears. We can sometimes give too much credit to man’s words forgetting “the kings heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water He turns it (Proverbs 21:1).” Perhaps because of the limitations with men’s words we can make the error at times of thinking those limits exist in God’s Word. God’s Word however is not limited like man’s word.
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Reweave Shalom by Following Daniel’s Example
We work not to prove ourselves to God or attempt to earn our salvation. Our motivation to obey God is out of love for him and in gratitude for what he has done for us in Jesus Christ. Faithfulness is the key to living the Christian life, and nowhere is that more important than in the work we do.
The Bible gives us many rich resources to help us understand how to reweave shalom. One is found in the book of Daniel as four young Hebrew exiles, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah follow Jeremiah’s call to “work for the peace and prosperity (shalom) of the city” (Jer. 29:7, NLT)
Daniel 1 introduces us to a type of Christian activism demonstrated through cultural resistance. Daniel provides a model of how to reweave shalom as an exile. This idea is repeated throughout the book of Daniel, which is written for the people of God living in a world opposed to them. Daniel refused to succumb and take a first step toward the abandonment of his faith. At the same time, he works in the culture with a high level of competence.
Daniel was determined not to assimilate into the Babylonian culture when it was possible for him to actively resist. J. Ligon Duncan notes that Daniel’s resistance illustrates three principles that apply to all of God’s people who are struggling to be faithful in the midst of a godless culture:Daniel “purposes in his heart” (Dan. 1:8) to be holy and not be absorbed into the idolatry of the Babylonian culture.
Daniel does not carry out his resistance in an arrogant way but exercises his opposition with genuine humility and grace.
Daniel exhibits faith, trusting in the power and promises of God and expecting God to respond to his faithful obedience.Daniel’s story can significantly help us in our struggles as believers in our current post-Christian culture. It provides the model for faithfulness to God’s call on our lives—no matter what the environment. How do we imagine reweaving shalom through the work of our hands in a culture that is becoming more and more hostile to Christianity? Like Daniel and his friends, how do we reweave shalom and persevere with excellence and faithful obedience?
Perseverance with Excellence
Daniel’s example first calls us to perseverance. His message is: Don’t give up, continue to resist the temptations of the culture while being obedient to what you know God has called you to do, to the best of your ability. There are two critical issues for us to consider as we strive to persevere: Everything is important to God, and we are called to excellence. Let us look at these two issues in more detail.
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A Minute With the Minutes On Overtures 23 & 37
These numbers suggest that the “no” votes on the highly-contested, SSA-related overtures were disproportionately those of teaching elders. Of course, the reverse can also be assumed, that a disproportionate number of the “yes” voters were ruling elders…. Does this suggest a disconnect between pew and pulpit (RE/TE)? Or is it a metro/blue suburbs vs. rural/red suburbs disconnect? Or southeastern vs. the rest of the country (assuming more REs attend from the southeast)? There are likely many theories, no one of which explains all.
The recorded “no” votes on the controversial overtures 23 and 37 from the last Presbyterian Church in America General Assembly (PCAGA) are now available in the just-released minutes of the 2021 summer assembly. Recording of votes is optional and generally indicates strong feelings or convictions on a given issue or measure. One conclusion that might be drawn from these numbers is that teaching elders (TEs) in the PCA are far more likely to have strong feelings about these overtures than are ruling elders (REs).
Overture 23 had 1855 votes cast. It passed 1438-417 (71% for, 29% against). 137 “no” voters recorded their votes (33% of those against). Of that 137 only 18 (13%) were ruling elders. Ruling elders made up 25% of all commissioners (616 out of 2115 total elders).
Overture 37 had 1826 votes cast. It passed 1209-617 (66% for, 34% against). 177 “no” voters recorded their votes (29% of those against). Of that 177 only 18 (10%) were ruling elders. Again, ruling elders made up 25% of all commissioners.
These numbers suggest that the “no” votes on the highly-contested, SSA-related overtures were disproportionately those of teaching elders. Of course, the reverse can also be assumed, that a disproportionate number of the “yes” voters were ruling elders.
This is speculative, but if the recorded TE:RE “no” vote proportions are an accurate representation of all “no” voters it might be reasonable to suggest that approximately 55 ruling elders voted against overture 23 out of 616 in attendance. For overture 37 the number of total ruling elder “no” votes might have been around 62 out of 616 in attendance.
Does this suggest a disconnect between pew and pulpit (RE/TE)? Or is it a metro/blue suburbs vs. rural/red suburbs disconnect? Or southeastern vs. the rest of the country (assuming more REs attend from the southeast)? There are likely many theories, no one of which explains all.
The recorded “no” votes can be found on pages 89-99 of the 2021 GA minutes.
Brad Isbell is a Ruling Elder in Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Oak Ridge, Tenn. This article is used with permission.
