Are ethics a distraction from the ‘main game’ of gospel preaching, or a natural outworking of the gospel in people’s lives? asks Amy Butler.
In our reformed, protestant, evangelical tradition, ‘ethics’ can sometimes sound like a dirty word. The Bible does not have explicit things to say about the complex issues faced by our society. Rarely can Christians of an evangelical persuasion find agreement about public policy issues in the same way we do on doctrinal matters. And besides, isn’t the church’s main purpose to teach people that they can have a personal relationship with God through Christ?
But despite these difficulties and objections, Christians all over Sydney are recognising that the impact of the gospel has far-reaching effects. There is a growing awareness that the question of ‘how to live as members of the wider community in light of God’s grace’ is one that needs to be addressed in Bible study groups, personal conversations, and from the pulpit.
“If Jesus is Lord, then I have a job to encourage people to live so,” says the Rev Terry Bowers, rector of St Mark’s, Harbord. “Jesus’ lordship impacts all areas of our life – how we treat people and how we respond to the social issues our society is confronting.”
While talking, we are approached by a Hari Krishna asking if we will help feed Sydney’s hungry. Moments later someone picks up food out of a nearby bin, reminding us that we make ethical decisions everyday about how we love those around us.
“I understood Jesus’ command to love and care for people,” Mr Bowers explains, “But I struggled with the concept of social action and was wary that it could be a distraction to the gospel.”
Mr Bowers’ awareness of the importance of acting ethically before the non-Christian world began while working in a tax office where he says some of his work colleagues treated the tea lady with disrespect. He realised that the gospel called him to be different in this situation.
“Ethics is the outworking of being people who are loved by God. Just being kind to someone in the congregation, who can be difficult to love, because we know that we should be set apart as people who love, is an example of the practical outworking of our faith.
“But I’m still working out how to help people mature in Christ and to incorporate social issues without losing the plot.”
Terry Bowers is not the only preacher in Sydney grappling with this issue. Sixty preachers gathered to listen to Moore Theological College Ethics Lecturers, Andrew Cameron and Brian Rosner, speak about whether ethics are a distraction or adornment to the gospel, at the recent College of Preachers conference.
“Ethics should be at the heart of the agenda for the missionary church,” said Brian Rosner. “People are less concerned about Christianity’s reliance on supernaturalism than they once were. Rather their main objection to Christianity is the appalling behaviour of the Church.
“Ethics are anything but a distraction to the gospel. If grace, through faith, results in good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do, this suggests that good works are part of our calling and purpose.
“Motivation for preaching ethics must be out of obedience to God and love for our neighbour. This command is focused on the gospel but is broader than just telling the gospel. We must also live it out. Our lives are an ethical apologetic commending or disparaging the gospel.”
However, Dr Rosner warns that if preaching on ethical and social issues becomes disconnected from the gospel, the result will be an empty moralism.
Nevertheless, he encouraged preachers to address social issues as well as personal morality, being open to correction on matters of fact and perspective.
As Alexander Downer pointed out in his Sir Thomas Playford lecture in August, church leaders can too easily speak on issues without having a proper grasp of the facts and details. This, Terry Bowers says, can be more damaging than staying silent.
“Big issues are harder than personal ethics,” he says. “We don’t know who is telling the truth or where to go to find accurate information. When we do engage, we need to talk in an informed way, otherwise it damages our efforts.”
On the other hand, Mr Bowers also recognises that churches may offer the only alternative source of information about big ethical issues to the mainstream media.
“It’s too easy to go along with whoever’s voice is the loudest. Even though I don’t have all the answers, I try to provide Christian food for thought where I can,” he said.
Speaking recently to Australian Presbyterian, Dr Scott Rae, Professor of Biblical Studies and Ethics at Talbot Theological Seminary, Biola University USA, said ethics have an important place in the Christian life.
‘‘Ethics doesn’t receive the attention it deserves because most evangelicals today have a privatised faith,” he said. “This means the average evangelical’s faith is privately engaging but social irrelevant.
‘‘If you ask somebody ‘how’s your spiritual life?’, they interpret that to mean ‘how’s the quality of your time alone with God?’ However, if all of life under the lordship of Christ is spiritual, then ethics must be integrally related to spirituality. Jesus certainly saw it that way. The Sermon on the Mount contains far more teaching about ethics than it does on a person’s private relationship with God. The notion of a privatised faith, in the absence of personal ethics, is still a major problem,’’ Dr Rae said.
Dr Rosner agrees that there is an extent to which the body of Christ must be taken into account when dealing with the tensions raised by the teaching of ethics.
‘‘There is a tension, as we only have finite time,” he said. “One way to resolve this is to consider not simply what I am doing, but what we are doing as the body of Christ. The main task is of course proclaiming the gospel. But we need to honour God with our lives and not just our lips.”
