Nothing Is Sinful Because It Is Pleasurable

It is not that uncommon to come across non-Christians who think that the Christian faith is, to some extent, against people experiencing pleasure. And this thinking is one reason why some are put off our faith.

Reasons why some people think that the Christian faith is negative towards pleasure

There are two reasons why some non-believers connect our faith with a negative attitude towards pleasure.

First, there are some Christians who, to a certain extent, really do view pleasure negatively. So when non-Christians encounter Christians who think this, they sometimes assume that this attitude towards pleasure is a standard part of the Christian faith.

Second and more importantly, some non-believers see Christians opposing various things that give pleasure, such as getting drunk or having sex outside marriage, and they often just assume that the reason we oppose these things is because they are pleasurable.

The result of these two factors is that there is an impression among some non-Christians that the Christian faith is, to some extent, against people experiencing pleasure.

God is positive about pleasure

It can hardly be overstated how wrong it is to think that the Christian faith is against pleasure.

To begin with, we need to understand that God Himself experiences pleasure. The Bible is full of references to God taking pleasure in people and things.

For example, in Psalm 149:4 we read:

‘For the LORD takes pleasure in his people . . .’ (ESV)

What is more, even before God made the universe, the love relationships in the Trinity between Father, Son and Holy Spirit undoubtedly caused God a tremendously deep source of pleasure.

Secondly, a major part of God’s purpose in creating humans was so that we could experience pleasure – first and foremost pleasure in God Himself, but also pleasure in human relationships of various kinds and in other aspects of creation.

To put it bluntly, God is thoroughly in favour of people experiencing pleasure.

Things are not sinful because they are pleasurable

If something is against God’s will, it is important to understand that there is always some reason other than it being pleasurable that makes it sinful.

So, for example, getting drunk is not sinful because it is pleasurable, but because it causes people to lose self-control. Losing self-control can lead people to do unwise things, and it also fits poorly with the dignity of human beings as creatures made in the image of God.

Similarly, sex outside marriage is not sinful because it is pleasurable, but because God designed sex to cement the marriage relationship between husband and wife that mirrors the relationship between Christ and His church.

It is crucial to understand that God is not a kill-joy. He isn’t against pleasure. There is no activity that is sinful because it is pleasurable. The world as God made it is simply not like that.

A special case

Despite what I have just said, there is one kind of situation where pleasure is a problem in and of itself. This is when people treat pleasure as an idol and seek it more than they should.

Sometimes a person can become obsessed with seeking after pleasure, and in that sort of situation there is a sense in which pleasure itself is a problem for that person.

However, the point still stands that in terms of what any particular activity involves, it is not the pleasure derived from an action that makes it sinful. It is always something else.

Living in a time of war

If Adam and Eve had not fallen into sin, and if there had been a human race that had never sinned, everyone would have experienced nothing but great pleasure all the time.

Similarly, after we die or Jesus returns to earth, our lives will be nothing but pleasure, and this is what God will want.

However, the reality is that the human race has fallen into sin, those of us now on earth have not yet died, and Jesus has not yet returned. This means that it isn’t possible right now for us to experience pleasure all the time. Although pleasure should be a part of our lives, suffering is also unavoidable to a certain extent. We are living in a kind of wartime, when normal peacetime activities can’t always be enjoyed.

In 2 Timothy 2:3-4 Paul tells Timothy:

‘Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.’ (ESV)

There should be no doubt that these words are meant to apply to all Christians. We are all soldiers of Christ Jesus, and soldiers can expect to experience hardships of various kinds. A time will come when suffering and hardship become things of the past, but that time is not yet.

Correcting wrong ideas

When we come across non-Christians who have wrong ideas about the attitude of the Christian faith towards pleasure, it is worth trying to correct those ideas if we have an opportunity.

As I have already noted, some non-believers are put off our faith because they think that it views pleasure negatively to a certain extent. When people decide not to follow Jesus and reject the salvation that is in Him because of wrong thinking like this, it is a real tragedy.

If we can help them to view things correctly on the real Christian attitude towards pleasure, for some it may make the difference between the decision to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord and the decision not to.

It is also worth trying to correct the thinking of Christians who have a poor understanding in this area. Some believers view God as more severe than He really is, and they seem to imagine that to some extent He is against us experiencing pleasure. If we can help them see reality better on this topic, it could only aid them in their relationships with the Lord.

 

See also:

Charismatic Churches and Their Attitude to Hardship

Is There Any Place for Entertainment in Church Services?

How and Why Should Christians Rejoice?

What Is the Christian Faith Really All About?

In What Order Should Christians Choose to Help People?

There was some controversy recently when the American Vice President, J. D. Vance, made some suggestions about the order of priority in which people, including Christians, should help those in need.

Vance stated:

‘. . . there’s this old school concept – and I think it’s a very Christian concept, by the way – that you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community. And then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritise the rest of the world.’

Vance made his remarks in the context of trying to justify the U.S. government’s cancellation of most foreign aid. Unsurprisingly, there was a lot of pushback against him from people who wanted the aid to continue.

So what should Christians make of what Vance said on this topic? Does he have a point, or is he making a mistake?

Some relevant biblical verses

As Christians trying to understand this issue, the first thing we need to do is turn to the Bible.

Importantly, there are biblical verses that support a principle of Christians especially helping people who are close to them in some way.

1 Timothy 5 includes some relevant verses, as follows:

‘But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.’ (1 Tim 5:4; ESV)

‘But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.’ (1 Tim 5:8; ESV)

‘If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.’ (1 Tim 5:16; ESV)

These verses make it clear that Christians have a special obligation to help blood relatives. And because our resources to help others will always be limited, these verses certainly support a principle of prioritising helping them over helping others.

Another relevant verse is Galatians 6:10, which says:

‘So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (ESV)

This verse is clear that Christians have a special obligation to help spiritual relatives, i.e., fellow believers in Jesus Christ. And, again, because our resources to help others will always be limited, this verse supports a principle of prioritising helping them over helping others.

Expanding the list

So the Bible encourages us to prioritise helping blood relatives and fellow Christians.

But what about other groups of people, such as those in the town where we live or the country where we live?

I think that the principle of helping blood relatives in 1 Timothy 5 can naturally be expanded to include these groups too, and that they should be prioritised to a certain extent. It would seem strange not to do this.

Some examples of prioritising helping those close to us

If, then, Christians have children who lack decent clothes and there are other children who also lack decent clothes, they should prioritise clothing their own children.

Or, if there are some fellow Christians in a foreign country who are in dire poverty and also some non-Christians in the same country who are in the same level of poverty, Christians should prioritise helping their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Or, if there are people in our town who are hungry and others in a more distant town who are also hungry, I think we should typically prioritise feeding those who live nearby.

This list could be extended with other similar examples.

Priorities in tension with each other

Of course, sometimes priorities will be in tension with each other. So, for example, if there are fellow Christians on the other side of the world who are in some great need, and there are non-Christians in our own town who are in equal need, who should we prioritise helping?

I think there is no simple formula to answer this question and that God’s will will vary from case to case. It isn’t my intention in this article to get into details like this. I am interested in the main points of this issue.

But generally speaking, it makes sense for Christians to prioritise helping groups who are close to them: their own families, fellow Christians, people who live nearby and people of the same nationality.

Not going too far

So Christians should prioritise helping various groups of people who are close to them in some way. Importantly, however, there is a limit to how far this principle should go.

What prioritising groups close to us shouldn’t mean is that we always find excuses to give to these groups instead of outsiders. There is a world of difference between, on the one hand, feeding your own children before other people’s children, and on the other hand, giving many luxuries to your own children while other people’s children go hungry.

In other words, it is right to prioritise getting groups close to us to a certain level of material provision, but there is no justification for getting groups close to us to a level of material provision that is leaps and bounds above that of suffering people who are more distant from us.

Galatians 6:10, that I quoted above, points us in this direction. When this verse says that we should do good to everyone and especially to fellow Christians, this clearly implies that we should normally expect to be doing at least some good to non-Christians. And, given that doing people good often involves meeting their physical needs, such as providing food and clothing, the verse surely implies that we should help non-believers in this way.

So Galatians 6:10 clearly teaches that we should help people in one group that is relatively distant from us, i.e., non-Christians. But the same principle surely applies to other groups that are relatively distant from us too, such as those who are not blood relatives, those who don’t live close to us, and those who are of a different nationality.

Governments of countries

So far I have been talking about how individual Christians should approach the issue of how to prioritise helping people. But it seems to me that the same sort of principle should certainly be made about the governments of countries.

Firstly, a government should help its own citizens in need before it helps those in another country.

If, for example, there were devastating earthquakes in Indonesia and Pakistan at the same time, it should be obvious that the Indonesian government should prioritise bringing help to affected people in their own country before helping those in Pakistan. And likewise the Pakistani government should help its own people first.

But secondly, just as the principle of prioritising certain groups for help shouldn’t be used as an excuse by individual Christians not to help outsiders, so the same is true of governments.

A government can always find useful ways to spend money to help its own citizens. But it often happens that, for one reason or another, people in other countries urgently need help in some way. When this happens, countries should be generous in looking out for each other. This is surely the will of God.

Getting back to J. D. Vance, I am aware that I can’t see what is in his heart with certainty, and I don’t want to judge him without knowing all the facts. Nevertheless, I do think I should say that the impression I get is that he is looking for excuses not to help people around the world who are in need. Some of the aid money that the U.S. government has cancelled really does seem to be money that was used to help people in significant need.

Vance gives the impression of wanting to solve almost all of America’s problems before helping others. If that is true, there is nothing in Scripture that would support such an attitude.

 

See also:

Christians Must Be Generous in Giving to the Poor

The Ministry of Kindness

The Importance of Sympathy and Empathy in Christian Living

The Prosperity Gospel Is a False Gospel

Is America Really the Greatest Country on Earth?

I keep hearing American Christians confidently and proudly declaring that the United States is the greatest country on earth.

I find this troubling, not just because I believe it is incorrect, but because I think that many of those who say this have set up their country as an idol. And idolatry is a grave sin.

I am not American

Before I go any further, I should say that I am not an American myself. I think some Americans will therefore probably be offended by me giving my opinion here.

Nevertheless, I believe I am justified in doing so. If some American Christians are guilty of idolatry in this area, as I suspect they are, then if I can help to counteract this, I will be doing them good. I am only trying to make constructive criticism that builds people up. I am not trying to push anyone down.

Besides, it is my sincere belief that my own country, the United Kingdom, is even worse than the U.S. So I am in no way writing from some imagined position of superiority. And if American Christians want to write criticizing the U.K., then as long as the criticism is fair – which it isn’t difficult to believe it would be – then I would be the first to say “Amen.”

When the late British queen was still alive, I actually wrote an article encouraging British Christians not to idolize her, so I have a track record of criticizing my own country in this sort of way anyway. I haven’t written an article specifically directed towards British Christians who think that the U.K. today is a great country, for the simple reason that I have hardly ever heard any British Christian say that.

What counts as a great country in God’s sight?

When considering this topic, we first need to think through what we mean by the greatness of a country.

As Christians we obviously want to have the perspective that God would have on this issue, what Paul refers to in 1 Corinthians 2:16 as “the mind of Christ.” So we are really asking what God sees as greatness in a country.

A good place to start is Luke 16:15, where Jesus says in no uncertain terms:

“For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.”

The things that the world admires and is impressed by are usually things that are totally unimpressive to God. And this surely applies when considering whether countries are great or not.

So, for example, the U.S. is the wealthiest country on earth. But we know from Scripture that wealth doesn’t impress God at all.

For instance, in Revelation 3:14-22 we read how the risen Jesus sharply rebukes the church in Laodicea. Materially this church was well off. But Jesus describes it as “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (v. 17) because of its sins. And if God ignores wealth when forming a judgment on how impressive a church is, it makes sense to think that He would do the same when forming a judgment on how impressive a country is.

So the wealth of the U.S. certainly doesn’t mean that it is the greatest country on earth. Nor does its power. Here 1 Corinthians 1:27 is relevant, where Paul says that “God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” It is true that these words are about individual people, but the words tell us about God’s perspective, and it makes sense to think that they would apply to countries too. God is unimpressed by power.

Instead of thinking along the lines of wealth, power, opportunity or anything like that, I would suggest that the issue of how great a country is boils down to one simple thing. Surely in God’s sight the greatest country on earth is the one that pleases Him the most. Surely it is the country where the laws are most pleasing to Him and where the people act most in line with His will. The whole Bible from cover to cover would lead us to think this, wouldn’t it?

Is America the most pleasing country to God?

So our question about whether America is the greatest country on earth is really about whether America pleases God more than all other countries on earth.

I don’t pretend to have special access to God’s mind on this point. But even so, I find it impossible to believe that the U.S. is the country that pleases Him the most. Some of the evils that are tolerated and practiced in America are truly horrifying.

Let’s start with abortion. This is a monstrous evil that has claimed the lives of millions of unborn babies over the last half century or so in the U.S. It is true that Roe v. Wade has finally been overturned, but this is unlikely to reduce overall abortion rates more than a little for the country as a whole. And widespread abortion is not something that has been forced on an unwilling population by the American government. It is what most U.S. citizens want.

Of course, there are countries where abortion laws are even more relaxed than in the U.S. and where even more of this kind of evil occurs. But there are also more than a few countries where abortion is much more tightly controlled. In some parts of the world, the value of unborn children is set much higher than in America.

I would suggest that this issue on its own clearly disqualifies the U.S. from being the greatest country on earth.

But let’s think about another issue too, so-called “gay marriage.” Arrogant Western countries, including the U.S., have dared to try to alter God’s created order for marriage by claiming that it is possible for two men or two women to get married. Like abortion, this is not something that has been foisted on the people against their will by the government. It is what most American citizens want, and it is a massive insult to God.

It is important to understand that there are many countries where people wouldn’t dream of trying to change marriage in this way. In many parts of the world, the vast majority of the population rightly sees “gay marriage” as unnatural and an affront to God.

I really don’t think I need to provide any more evidence to make my case. How can American Christians possibly claim that their country is the greatest on earth? Do they think God overlooks the unborn babies being cut to pieces every day? Do they think He overlooks being insulted when the husband-wife relationship that mirrors the holy relationship between Christ and the church is discarded in order to promote perversion? Do they think the fact that many other countries displease Him far less in these areas is a trivial matter?

Regardless of how great America may or may not have been in the past, at the present time it is surely not the greatest country on earth.

God is not mocked

In Galatians 6:7 Paul tells his readers:

“God is not mocked.”

Of course this isn’t to be taken literally, as if people don’t actually mock God. God is mocked all the time, whether explicitly or whether implicitly in things like abortion and “gay marriage.”

What these words mean is that no one mocks God and gets away with it without repentance. Either they will repent and find forgiveness for their mockery, or they will be punished for it.

I would encourage American Christians who think that their country is the greatest on earth to ponder these words.

For my own part as a British Christian, I would never even contemplate saying that the U.K. is the greatest country on earth or anything remotely close to that. It is an evil place that is piling up its sins against almighty God, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it is down near the bottom of the list in His sight.

Which are the greatest countries?

So if America isn’t the greatest country on earth, which one is? I am not at all confident about the answer to this question. But if I had to guess, I would say that the best countries today are probably some of those in sub-Saharan Africa that have a lot of Christians.

The worldview in these countries tends to be much more grounded than in the West. There is more of a humility before God, an understanding that human beings are creatures under His mighty hand, who have obligations to fit in with His created order.

To be fair, even the best countries are full of sinful people committing sins. So perhaps we should refer to the least bad countries rather than the greatest ones. But I would guess that some of these African ones are top of the list.

 

See also:

The Will of the People: A Big Idol among Christians Today

“Human Rights”: A Big Idol among Christians Today

Most People in Western Countries Completely Misunderstand What Human Beings Are

A Plea to British Christians Not to Idolise the Queen

Is Jeremiah 13:23 Racist against Black People?

Opponents of the Christian faith sometimes claim that Jeremiah 13:23 shows a racist attitude towards black people, and they see this as evidence that our faith is not true.

In fact, this verse is not racist at all, as I will try to explain in what follows.

The text and its correct interpretation

Here is the text of Jeremiah 13:23:

‘Can the Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? If so, you might be able to do what is good, you who are instructed in evil.’ (CSB)

‘Cushite’ in this verse refers to dark-skinned people who came from the land of Cush, the area immediately to the south of Egypt, where modern day Sudan is located. Many translations have ‘Ethiopian’ in this verse instead of ‘Cushite’, although modern-day Ethiopia is not really the same location as ancient Cush. For our purposes, however, the details of this are not important, because, regardless of its location, the inhabitants of Cush were known for their dark skin. They were what we would describe as black.

In this verse God is sharply criticising the Jewish people of Jeremiah’s day. He is saying that they are so in the habit of doing evil, that there is no more likelihood of them changing and doing good than there is of a Cushite changing his skin colour or a leopard getting rid of its spots.

Changing the skin colour of a human and changing the visible appearance of an animal are obviously good examples of something that is impossible, which helps to drive home how immersed in sin and evil the Jewish people of that day were.

I think the precise examples of a Cushite and a leopard were chosen because they would both have been unusual and attention-grabbing sights in Judah at that time.

Jews would have known about dark-skinned people from Cush, but it seems that they would have been few and far between in Judah, so if someone saw a Cushite, it would have been a sight that caught people’s attention.

As far as leopards are concerned, these animals clearly have a very distinctive appearance compared to most other animals. And I think they would also have been rare in Judah at that time, which would have made them stand out all the more when they were seen.

The striking appearance of dark human skin and leopard spots seems to have been why these examples were chosen.

Answering an objection

There are a couple of different ways in which this verse is said to be racist against black people.

Firstly, it is sometimes said that the way the verse sets a Cushite alongside an animal is demeaning to the Cushite, as if to some extent the Cushite is being brought down to the level of a mere animal.

This objection is completely wrong. There is no more suggestion in this verse that the Cushite is being brought down to the level of the leopard than there is that the leopard is being raised to the level of the Cushite. Neither is being brought to the level of the other at all.

Instead, what we have here is simply one example of a striking appearance that is taken from the world of human beings and another example that is taken from the animal kingdom. For Jews of the day, the Cushite’s skin colour was an unusual and striking sight among human beings, and the leopard’s appearance was an unusual and striking sight among animals. Humans and animals are not being confused here at all.

Answering a second objection

There is a second and more common reason why this verse is said to be racist against black people, which has to do with the reference to changing appearance.

The Jewish people in view in this verse are evil, and the verse is clearly implying that it would be good if they were able to change for the better (although this is impossible). Some therefore claim that the analogy of the Cushite requires that we understand the verse also to be implying that it would be good if the Cushite were able to change his skin colour. In other words, it is sometimes said that this verse looks at dark skin colour negatively.

This objection also completely misses the mark. Crucially, we need to take note of how in this verse the Cushite’s skin and the leopard’s spots are parallel to each other. The same point is being made about both.

So logically, if we were to say that the verse is implying that it would be good for the Cushite’s skin colour to change, we would also have to say that it is implying that it would be good for the leopard to lose its spots.

But the verse cannot possibly be implying that it would be good for the leopard to lose its spots. Why? Because leopards look fantastic! And there is no doubt that it isn’t just in our day that people think this. Surely people throughout history, including in Jeremiah’s day, have thought the same. The way that the Romans, for example, took great trouble to bring leopards to Rome is just one of many pieces of evidence for this.

This verse, then, is in no way implying that it would be good for leopards to change their appearance. So it cannot be implying that it would be good for Cushites to change their appearance, because exactly the same point is being made about the leopard and the Cushite.

The comparison of evil people with a Cushite and a leopard is therefore limited to the point that there is inability to change. The comparison doesn’t include whether it would be good for change to occur. Of course, it would be good if these Jews were able to change, but this is simply not the point that is being made by referring to the Cushite or the leopard. The point that is being made is just that the Jews in Jeremiah’s day are as unable to turn away from their evil as a Cushite is to change his skin colour or a leopard is to get rid of its spots.

Summing up

The idea that Jeremiah 13:23 is somehow racist against black people, then, is completely mistaken. In reality, this verse just mentions the skin colour of a Cushite as an example of something that cannot change, without anything negative about the Cushite or his skin colour being implied.

Moses married a black woman

While we are on this topic, it is well worth noting that Numbers 12:1-9 tells us that Moses married a black woman and that God approved of the marriage.

In Num 12:1 we read:

‘Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because of the Cushite woman he married (for he had married a Cushite woman).’ (CSB)

In this verse the Hebrew adjective (koosheet) that is translated ‘Cushite’ is closely related to the Hebrew noun in Jer 13:23 (kooshee) that is translated as ‘Cushite’ in that verse. There is no good reason for thinking that these words have different meanings, which means that Num 12:1 is telling us that Moses married a Cushite woman, who would surely have been black.

We see from v. 1 that Miriam and Aaron criticised Moses for marrying this woman. And then in verses 5-8 God rebukes Miriam and Aaron for their attitude to Moses.

It is true that God’s rebuke seems to be at least mostly because Miriam and Aaron were assuming more importance than they should have, not specifically because they had criticised Moses’ marriage.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the passage is implying that Moses did nothing wrong by marrying the Cushite woman. Verse 1 tells us that the precise reason Moses came under criticism by Miriam and Aaron in the first place was because he married her. So when God then responds to this criticism and describes Moses as ‘faithful in all my house’ in v. 7, this has to mean that God had no objection to Moses’ marriage.

For yet another reason, then, the charge of racism against black people that is sometimes levelled against the Bible fails completely.

 

See also:

A Christian Perspective on Race and Racism

The Arrogance and Hypocrisy of Western Society

“Human Rights”: A Big Idol among Christians Today

The Will of the People: A Big Idol among Christians Today

Should Christians Try to Make the World a Better Place?

As every Christian will be very well aware, we live in a world that is full of all sorts of evils, injustices and avoidable human suffering. Sin has messed up our world in a big way, and no genuine believer would want to deny this.

As every Christian will be well aware too, there are a multitude of organisations and movements in the world that are trying to get rid of some evil or other. Wherever you look, there seems to be a governmental or non-governmental organisation that is working in this way.

Of course, some of the things that non-believers call good, God actually calls evil. So some organisations that claim to be making the world better are really making it worse.

Nevertheless, it should be recognised as a fact that there are many organisations, movements and campaigns in existence around the world that are trying to making the world a genuinely better place.

WHAT ATTITUDE SHOULD CHRISTIANS HAVE?

This raises a question. What attitude to this issue does the Lord want Christians to have? Does He expect us to support those who are trying to improve the world, and to get involved in this activity ourselves? Or is this a red herring? Are we called instead to put all our energy into specifically Christian things like proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ?

I am sure that on this issue, as on so many others, there is a balance to be struck. And I am also sure that many Christians fail to get the balance right. Some put too much emphasis on trying to make the world a better place. And others put too little emphasis on this.

Let’s take each of these mistakes in turn:

PUTTING TOO MUCH EMPHASIS ON MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

Firstly, there are professing Christians who focus too much on trying to improve the world.

Some of these are more in the wrong than others.

Social gospel

The worst offenders are those who support the so-called “social gospel.” According to these people, the heart of the Christian faith is about bringing change to society by helping the poor, downtrodden and abused.

Those who follow this teaching have no time for the idea that people need to be saved from God’s judgment. In their view, although Jesus’ death on the cross served in some way to demonstrate God’s love, it wasn’t a sacrifice for sins. And they don’t believe that people in their natural state are on track for hell after death.

It is quite right for genuine Christians to vigorously oppose this movement. These views are far removed from the Christian faith of the Bible and are thoroughly heretical. In reality, the social gospel is not Christian at all.

Another group

There are many other Christians who would reject the extreme views of the social gospel, yet who still seem to be partly under its spell.

You will often meet professing believers – and I expect that many of them are genuinely born again – who just don’t seem to understand the urgency of proclaiming salvation by faith in Christ. They seem to be more interested in things like combating poverty and tackling climate change than they are in telling people they need to be saved.

I think unbelief is at the root of this problem. Despite what they may say, these Christians don’t properly believe what the Bible teaches about the reality of hell. Nor do they properly believe what it says about the need of people to trust Jesus in order to avoid ending up there.

As it happens, the Bible knows nothing whatsoever of any morally accountable person living in the Christian era, who will avoid going to hell without specifically having faith in Christ. If God does ever save anyone in this category, we can expect it to be at most a tiny proportion of people.

Many Christians just don’t seem to have understood this as they should. It’s as if this information has bounced off their minds and hearts. And the result is that they downplay the importance of evangelism and overplay the importance of making the world a better place.

PUTTING TOO LITTLE EMPHASIS ON MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

There are also more than a few Christians who focus too little on trying to improve the world.

To be fair to these believers, they usually understand some major biblical principles very well. They rightly see the huge importance of people being saved from their sins through faith in Jesus. And they rightly understand too that before He returns, there will always be an enormous amount of evil and suffering in our world.

Nevertheless, they go too far by thinking that Christians are wasting their time if they try to make the world a better place.

There are a few points to make here:

Biblical passages that encourage us to try to improve the world

To begin with, although the Bible makes it clear that there will always be great evils in the world before Christ returns, it never says that we shouldn’t try to make any difference at all.

In fact, some passages seem to suggest that there is a place for Christians acting to improve the world.

For example, in Matthew 5:9 Jesus teaches His disciples, and by implication all later Christians too: 

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”

Jesus doesn’t specify the kind of peacemaking that He has in mind here, but this is no doubt deliberate. He is surely referring to peacemaking in a variety of contexts, whether in personal relationships or in situations that involve large numbers of people. And some of this peacemaking would surely mean making the world a better place.

Another relevant passage is 1 Timothy 2:1-2, where Paul writes: 

“1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all those in authority, so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

Here Paul encourages Timothy to instruct Christians to pray for secular rulers, so that we may be able to live in peace. To some extent, then, Paul clearly wants believers to pray for the world to be a better place than it might otherwise be.

Although Paul is talking about prayer here, it seems unlikely that we should separate what he says about praying for the improvement of the world from acting for its improvement. It would be very surprising if Paul, or God, wanted Christians to pray this for the world but not to act, where appropriate, towards the same goal.

Paul’s words in this passage therefore provide some biblical support for the view that Christians should sometimes try to improve the world.

Summing up, then, we can say that the idea that Christians should completely avoid trying to make the world a better place fits poorly with the Bible.

Biblical instructions to love and do good

Secondly, doing good to people will sometimes mean trying to improve the world.

Christians are, of course, under a huge obligation to love and do good to our fellow human beings, especially believing brothers and sisters, but also non-believers as well.

In Galatians 6:10, for example, Paul tells the churches in Galatia: 

“So then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially to those who belong to the family of faith.”

Along the same lines, James writes in James 1:27: 

“Pure and undefiled religious worship in the sight of our God and Father is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” 

Note in this verse how no less a thing than “religious worship” is summed up as the performance of just two kinds of act, one of which is to help people in need. Of course, this shouldn’t be taken to mean that helping people and keeping morally pure is all that is involved in the Christian faith. There is clearly hyperbole in James’s statement. Nevertheless, this verse strongly underlines the importance of giving help to those who need it.

A multitude of other Bible passages also teach us to love and do good to people.

Importantly, there are many ways in which people are treated badly that result from customs and habits of different cultures and societies around the world. So if we are to do good to people, this will inevitably at times involve trying to change these customs and habits. And this will mean trying to make the world a better place.

In a nutshell, it is not possible for Christians to love people wholeheartedly, without in some respects aiming to make the world a better place.

An aid to evangelism

Thirdly, in some ways trying to improve the world actually helps spread the good news of Christ.

Ironically, those Christians who downplay making the world a better place because they think we should be focusing exclusively on things like evangelism, are actually hindering evangelistic efforts.

As far as is possible without compromising on our values, Christians should aim to foster a good reputation among non-believers (e.g., 1 Corinthians 10:32-33; 2 Corinthians 6:3). Even Jesus can be found acting in this way at times (e.g., Matthew 17:27).

When we don’t do this, it often puts non-Christians off the gospel. And that is exactly what we would expect.

For example, if a non-Christian is distressed about the problem of human trafficking, and then they see Christians who seem not to be interested in doing anything about it, they will probably be put off the Christian faith. Or if someone is enthusiastic about tackling climate change, and then they see Christians brushing aside the scientific consensus on this issue, it will probably push them further away from the salvation that is in Jesus.

We need not only to proclaim the good news to people but also to try, where reasonably possible, to attract them to the Christian faith.

Of course, we must never compromise on our values, and standing firm on these will inevitably mean that many non-Christians are offended by what we believe. However, in areas where no compromise is involved, we should go out of our way to make the Christian faith seem like something people want to be part of. And siding with those who are aiming to make the world better is an important aspect of this.

SUMMING UP

There is, then, a balance to be struck on how much emphasis Christians should put on trying to make the world a better place.

Too much of this, and the importance of salvation by faith in Christ can be eclipsed. Too little of it, and love and the effectiveness of evangelism are reduced.

We should all therefore do our best to get the balance right on this issue.

CHRISTIANS WILL BE CALLED TO DO DIFFERENT THINGS

Up to this point, I have been concentrating on the general attitude of Christians towards making the world a better place. Ideally, our attitudes on this topic should be in agreement.

When it comes to how we act, however, there will be great variety in what God wants individual Christians do.

Some will be called to spend a lot of time and effort trying to improve the world. For example, some Christians are led to get jobs with charities that aim to make a difference in one way or another.

Most of us, however, are not called to channel nearly so much time and effort into this. For the majority, it will be a case of doing our best to listen to the Lord’s voice, and then acting as and when we think it is appropriate.

See also:

How Seriously Should Christians Take Warnings of Climate Change?

American Christians and Gun Control

Christians Must be Generous in Giving to the Poor

Getting the Balance between Expecting Too Little and Too Much from Prayer