Rick Phillips on eschatology, politics, and Christian action
Surely two of the influences that have generated the evangelical neglect of public works (in society in general and in our cities in particular) are our premillennial fervor and our marriage with other political conservatives. This does not mean that premillennials do not believe in or perform good works or that it is wrong to be politically conservative. But premillennial fervor (particularly in many dispensational circles) has led us to abandon the future and the civic involvement needed to shape that future. This is where the recent resurgence of postmillennial theology (for all its problems, in my view) has helped us to renew our confidence in the ability of Christians to spread light into the darkness of society. As for conservative politics, for all the worthy battles in the culture war that have been thus fought, the fact is that evangelicals have looked upon politically-liberal urban areas as either unworthy of our concern or as adversarial to our interests. Evangelicals must reconsider both our eschatological vision and our political agendas, not only as our duty to the Lord Jesus but for the sake of the gospel in our nation. We can retain our fervor for Christ’s return and also have a positive fervor for the kingdom of God in this world. We can also continue to pursue social reform and repentance while expanding our politicial vision to include matters of social justice and mercy. What this means is that we must abandon false dichotomies that have caused us to neglect our calling truly to be salt in the world.
Posted at Reformation 21