In the past I've shared some principles from John Inazu, a professor at Washington University. While reading one of his books, I suspected he was a Christian, and it turns out he is. He and Tim Keller have collaborated in writing a new book called Uncommon Ground. In it, they provide biblical foundation to the points Inazu makes in his book Confident Pluralism, where he talks about how we can remain together, even as we talk about very controversial topics. I would recommend Uncommon Ground by Keller and Inazu; it not only includes their content but is a collection of various people's testimonies of how they have put their faith to work in circles which oppose Christianity.
The beginning of the book covers Inazu’s point concerning civility in which he said that if there's any hope of civility in our country, it's going to require humility, patience, and tolerance. Andy Crouch, who regularly writes on issues in culture has recently said the Christian has a particular angle to bring to each of those qualities: it's because of our faith that we are able to be humble; it’s because of our hope that we are able to be patient; and it's because of our love that we are able to be tolerant. We will look at 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 to expand on these biblical concepts.
Faith to Be Humble
Humility is essential in conversations with people who disagree with us, whether it be Christians with strongly divergent views on something in society or with someone who does not live according to a biblical worldview. Humility should first come from the realization that we have only been saved by grace through faith. Faith only receives grace; it doesn’t earn it or find it. Paul affirms this in our text when he says: “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).
Humility also comes from the realization that our reason is limited. Therefore, by faith we must also rest on God’s word for certainty, not our perceptions. We know what we know from Scripture but our minds are not infinite and not always accurate. There are blind spots, prejudices, and knowledge we don't have at our disposal. This requires us, then, in any conversation where there is a difference of opinion, to listen. And before we take a hard and rigid stand, we must try to see things from the perspective of the other person and seek to understand where they are coming from. This requires humility.
Philippians 2:5-7 says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.” Paul says the application of this with one another is that we are not to look out only for our own interests but also for the interests of others. Consider one another more important than yourselves, he says elsewhere. At the end of Romans, he says, "For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me” (Romans 15:3). We are a people who are not for ourselves. As Christians, we should be leading the way in humility, even in situations where we're being disagreed with, mistreated, or attacked.
Hope to Be Patient
Nobody is today who they will be in the future. Opinions can change. People can change. When we know (or feel) that somebody is wrong, we should be patient. We should be willing to take the long road with them, even as Christ has with us. Think about the way you viewed things when you first became a Christian. For some of those views, many of us today likely think, "how in the world could I have thought or lived that way?" Yet Christ was, and is, patient with us. More than that, God is patient with us because he doesn't see us according to who we are currently but as who we are in Christ and who we are going to be (1 Corinthians 1:4). We must be patient with one another, and this requires hope.
Because we have a sure and certain hope, we can be secure. We are “waiting for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7-8). Most of our lashing out at one another in these days comes from fear. We're afraid of what might happen to us. We feel threatened. But if your hope is rooted in the certainty of Christ’s present Lordship and his coming Kingdom, you can live patiently in the meantime.
Love to Be Tolerant
The third point Inazu makes about civility is that we must be tolerant. Tolerant does not mean we compromise our convictions. It doesn't mean we give credence to every worldview there is–that's impossible. Tolerance does mean, from a Christian perspective, continuing to love even when you are disagreed with, opposed, and hated. This can happen within the body of Christ, too. Paul exemplifies this in the way he loves the Corinthians. The members of this most dysfunctional church in the Bible accused Paul of lying, criticized his preaching, called him a coward, took sides against him, called into question his character, tolerated immorality, chose heresies and fought with and sued each other. But Paul loved them and shed tears over them because he refused to view them ultimately in any way other than in Christ.
Jesus didn't say, "just tolerate them...try to live peacefully with them...try to compromise with them." Jesus said, "love your enemy...do good to those who persecute you...pray for them...pray for the peace of the city, even a city that hates you" (Matthew 5:43-47; Jeremiah 29:7). We don't see this taught anywhere in man-centered philosophy. We don't see it in our culture at large. We don't see faith, hope, and love so we don't see humility, patience, and tolerance. It's increasingly hard to see it in the churches. But if we say we believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must stand up and be those who are known for faith, which results in humility. We must be those who are committed to a sure and certain hope, which results in patience. And we must be those who are loving, which results in tolerance.
Finally, let me remind you: the end of this story has already been written. We have it in the book of Revelation. Christians have lived through far worse than what we're going through. And they have lived triumphantly. Here is the end which has been written:
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death." (Revelation 12:10-11)
Sisters and brothers, let us be vigilant to exemplify the gospel among ourselves and to the world, and show the world there is infinitely better news than any other competing worldview. We look forward to the day this hope, to which we now look, is realized.
