The Daily Practice of Public Influence

Over the last number of years, one of my frustrations as a Christian in the Reformed tradition is the lack of involvement in the public square on the part of those who call themselves Calvinistic or Reformed. As a way of correcting this, let me start with three basic presuppositions we need to operate on as we go out into the public square.

I am going to assume the cosmological principle-the sovereignty of the triune God over the whole cosmos in all its spheres and kingdoms, visible and invisible. Thus, all of life, including culture, must come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and absolutely nothing is to be extracted from the rule of God. Second, I think we need to emphasize that we are utterly dependent creatures and that all of life is moving forward based on the purposes of God and His sovereign will. Thus, if we are to maximize our influence for Christ in the public square then our purposes should reflect God's purposes and our values should reflect God's values. Third, bowing to the Lordship of Christ means living under the authority of God's Word completely. When Francis Schaeffer talked about the uniqueness of Christianity, he stated that "Christianity is not a series of truths in the plural but rather truth spelled with a capital T - Truth about total reality, not just about religious things." Biblical Christianity is truth concerning all of reality and the intellectual holding of that truth and then living in light of that truth.

On the basis of these assumptions, I want to focus this article in the following sections: (1) The Christian as arbitrager; (2) The Christian in the personal sphere; and (3) Two critical areas in the public sphere that we need to emphasize, namely, leadership and entrepreneurship to make a difference for Christ.

The Christian as arbitrager

In the financial world, arbitrage is when someone takes advantage of a price differential between two or more markets. A person will use a combination of matching deals to capitalize upon pricing imbalances and then try to lock in a profit. One of the conditions necessary for arbitrage to take place is that an asset with a known price in the future does not today trade at its future price. An arbitrage is not the act of buying something in one market and then selling it in another market at a different point of time. It's the buying and selling simultaneously at the same time to squeeze out a profit.

Let me give you a quick example. If you had a business run by competent management within Alberta that was trading at S5.00 per barrel of oil in the ground, and you had another business within the same province that was trading at S10.00 per barrel you would buy shares in the one at S5.00 because the market is mispricing this. In reflecting about this concept recently, it occurred to me that the ultimate arbitrage is the Christian life. One's lasting impact on the public square will ultimately correlate with how well one understands that we really should dispense with the short term and go long with the long term, which is completely mispriced in our culture. This is what Paul is getting at in Philippians 3:7-9, 14 when he says,

but whatever was my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ my Lord. For whose sake I have all things, I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which is true faith in Christ the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

If we are going to be Christian lights in the public square, we must begin by making that our ultimate arbitrage in life. To me this is the ultimate trade that we all engage in as Christians. Since the Christian long-term position is of infinite and eternal value and since arbitrage is a zero sum game, it means the party on the other end of that transaction is in big trouble. In finance, that"s what you call bankruptcy. In the Christian life, a person on the opposite end of that trade faces an eternity in hell.

The contemporary phenomenon of shortermism is not contained just to the financial or capital markets; it is pervasive in our culture. This should not surprise Christians. After all, why should we expect people to think long-term and to make self-sacrificing decisions that are only inter-generational when there is no consensus in our society or culture on any of the foundational issues like moral behaviour, moral authority, epistemology, metaphysics and even why one exists?

The public square will ultimately be influenccd by those who can rise above the moment and take a long-term view. We must consistently develop a long-term view by aligning ourselves with the Lord of history and by infusing every day we have, every circumstance that comes our way, with lasting meaning and value by bringing all into captivity to the obedience of Jesus Christ.

The Christian in the personal sphere

In the personal sphere, 1 think it is critical that we start with the person. How can someone really step out into the public sphere in any kind of meaningful way if the personal house is not in order? We have too many people running around the public square that are utterly dysfunctional in their personal lives. One's personal walk with Jesus Christ, one's family life and one's involvement in the local church are at least three non-negotiable areas of one's personal life that must be solid if you are going to stand out consistently and be used by God.

To speak of the importance of one's personal walk with Jesus Christ isn't revolutionary but I think it needs to be emphasized. We need to be true Christians, regenerated by the Holy Spirit, bowing to the Lordship of Christ and His Word. We will not have ultimate cultural change if it's not championed by Christians who are regenerate, who bring the reforming, regenerating message of the gospel into the workplace. We are utterly dependent creatures; we need God's strength constantly if we are to stand in a difficult environment and in the public square consistently without falling. This is why one's personal walk with Jesus Christ (of which the spiritual disciplines such as Bible reading and prayer are an integral part) has to be the starting point before going into the public sphere. In Ephesians 6: 19, Paul goes through the full armour of God and its importance and shows his dependancy upon God when he says "pray also for me that whenever I open my mouth words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel."

It is also important to have one's household in order and as strong as possible. The family remains the integral part of our society in the maintaining of law and order in a civil society. How can one step out in the public square and consistently offer the Christian message and influence the culrure when your own home is in disarray? This is a recurring theme in the Bible. Stay home and make sure your home life is strong before you run around telling other people what to do.

A second point under this area of family life is that of loving your spouse. For single people, this means looking forward to marriage, respecting marriage and seeking a partner as God leads. One issue that should grieve us is the level of divorce in the Christian community. Have we not, as a community, undercut the institution of marriage by our own inability to live out before a watching world what marriage should be? Has this not hurt our legitimacy to speak out on gender issues, homosexual issues, abortion and so forth? If we want to step out in the public square, this emphasis on the strength of our marriages and the strength and integrity of the family unit is absolutely essential.

The third area under family life is children. Children are a blessing from God, the most important treasure that God has given us apart from Himself and our spouses, and we need to be those who are serious about creating the next generation. One of the biggest issues facing our world today is the unprecedented drops in birth rates around the world and the dramatic aging of the world's population. For example, China, which involved itself in the practice of wholesale abortion and infanticide as part of their one child per family policy, is going to see the implications of that gross sin. The dependency rates are going from 6.4 working people to 1 retired to about 1.2 to 1 in the next 30 -35 years. China will be the oldest civilized society within about 30 years. I call that the judgement of God for immorality and the implications of that, economically, are huge. In Power to the People, Lori Ingrim points out that the 11% of the population in the U.S. that will have 4 or more children will control 25% of the future generations. You want to impact the public square? Well then, let's raise the next generation of young people in the church, in the fear and admonition of our Lord and turn them out.

The third aspect under the personal sphere is the whole issue of the local church. Christ loves the church and died for her. Invest time and energy in your local church. How can we possibly influence the public square without strong and vibrant church communities which are set as anchors for families and the propagation of the gospel of Christ to the next generation? The church is the critical element for consistent instruction in the Word, spiritual growth, accountability and outreach in the community. In a multicultural setting like Canada, it's the ultimate melting pot that unifies all races in Christ as they bow the knee to Him.

Critical areas in the public sphere

1. LEADERSHIP

When one steps out into the broader culrure there are two issues we must look at: leadership, or lack thereof, from a Christian perspective, and entrepreneurship. An honest look at our own culture and its various spheres underscores the dearth of true leadership. And tied in with the loss of leaders is the lack of character in our culture. Most people will agree that we need a renewal of character and leadership in our day but they do not really know what they are asking for. To have a renewal of character in this new generation, you need true leaders who are bound to Christian truth, who believe in constraints and limits and believe in things that bind and obligate. They must believe that people are compelled to act morally and ethically in conformity to a standard. And that standard has to be God's Word and His revealed will. But this is too high a price for our culture that talks about character but can never really ultimately produce it.

Paul's words in 2 Timothy 3:10-4:8 have really helped me in thinking about these matters. In this brief section, you have Paul handing the baton to Timothy and providing pithy instruction about eight elements of leaders