strangers

What is the relationship between the church and society? Or rather, what should it be? Church history has answered this question in three distinct ways. The first can be defined as a counterculture of separatism, stemming from the Radical Reformation by denominations such as the Mennonites, the Amish, and the Hutterites. Christian groups such as these have contended that the church is a separate institution that should in no way allow interference from the state in governing its affairs.

While the separatist movement has been radical and rare, the majority of Christians in the history of the church, particularly since the development of the Industrial Revolution with its rapid secularization of society, have participated by seeking to extend Christian society into secular society, arguing that if it is God’s will for the individual Christian, it surely is His will for all of society. This has been otherwise known as the “Reformed view” of the relationship of the church and the state. That is, moving from individual Christian ethics to corporate political ethics in whatever manner is appropriate to a local society.

The third view, rarely with strong political force, is the Lutheran view that there are two realms, the realm of the Kingdom of God as found in the church and the realm of the state. Lutheran politics contend that the relation between God and His people (the church) and the relation between God and the world are in fact two kinds of relationships. The strategy of God is different for society than for the church.

Regardless of the view, the fact of the matter is that Christians are “strangers” in this world. Peter calls Christians “aliens” or “sojourners” in the world. This term can refer either metaphorically to a Christian’s temporary residence on earth as he or she awaits final salvation – the so-called pilgrimage home – or literally to the social location in their communities. The Greek word for “strangers” or “aliens” (paroikos) refers to people who reside in a given place without the legal protection and rights provided for citizens (i.e., non-citizen residents); the Greek word for “strangers” (parepidemos) refers to people who reside in a place but who stay there only for a brief time (temporary residents). When used metaphorically, these terms emphasize sojourning in a place temporarily or being found as an alien in some location.

The social exclusion the early Christians in Asia Minor faced was due to their conversion to Jesus Christ. Christians who take a stand for truth and who believe that God’s Word provides a unitary perspective for all disciplines will find this world – places such as the university campus – a rocky, uphill road. They will more often than not find themselves socially, morally, and intellectually excluded.

So what does this tell us about the relationship of the Christian to society? Fundamentally, the Christian’s primary group is God’s family (“God’s elect”) and their secondary group is society. In essence, Christians are those people who have chosen to live estranged from the world. As such, their citizenship is in heaven. Christians live temporarily in the world, but on heaven’s terms. That said, I do not believe it is the call for the Christian to coerce, manipulate or drag those living on the world’s terms to switch their mindsets and live under heaven’s terms. Rather, it is the call of the Christian to live strongly, truly and humbly on heaven’s terms and, by their example, win people to choosing to live estranged from the world for a full life in Christ.