Real-World Obedience
Introduction
We live in a world where people have become increasingly isolated from one another. Every day there seems to be some new gadget or app specifically designed to remove us from the actual world we inhabit and transport us into the virtual realm. Technology has the potential to improve our lives, as it did with the invention of the lightbulb and the refrigerator. But technology can also generate new temptations for us. It all depends on how we use it. And with the advent of social media, technology has now made it possible for someone to have a digital profile and persona that does not reflect at all the actual person in the physical world. Twitter allows the Christian to comment on any and every event in the world and to keep those comments at arm's length. Facebook and Instagram allow the Christian to present the world with a curated version of life, but those closest to us may doubt our authenticity.
This raises crucial questions. How should the church understand and interact with our Social Media age that enables this dualism? And what are the long-term effects on our faith when we divorce our minds and will from our physical bodies? How does the requirement of Christian obedience relate to our online presence? In short, the danger social media presents is the potential to undermine the reality of obedience. By “reality of obedience” I am referring to both the necessity of obedience and the physical dimension of obedience; in other words, “real-world obedience.”
The Concrete Commands
First, is the actuality of the command to obey. Dr. Bradley Green, describing the relationship between faith and works in the life of the Christian, says this:
There is a real and meaningful and necessary obedience—a changed life that includes my obedience—in the here and now. This is not a perfect obedience or perfect law-keeping, but it is real obedience, an obedience that (1) flows from the cross, (2) is a partial fulfillment of the promised blessings of the new covenant (e.g. from Jer. 31:31–34; Ezek. 36:26–27), and (3) is sovereignly and graciously elicited by the God of holy Scripture (e.g. Phil. 2:12–13).[1]
All throughout the New Testament, we see over and over again a link between loving or knowing Jesus and keeping his commands. Many examples could be pointed to, but Jesus himself is most explicit when he says in John 14:21, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.” To be clear, this “keeping of commandments” is in no way meritorious; it does not deserve or earn anything in the way an employee earns a wage. Faith is a gift. Someone once said that faith is the hand given by God to receive the gift of grace from God.
Paul is clear in Philippians 2:12-13 when he says, “...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Paul expects the Christians in Philippi to “work out” their salvation, that is, to obey. But he doesn’t expect us to do it on our own, under our own power, earning our own salvation. God gives the command and then enables and empowers his people to keep the command, without minimizing the importance of human action. Augustine in his Confessions sums it up well in one sentence: “Lord, command what you will and grant what you command.”[2]
Our Tactile Obedience
However, it is one thing to know and believe these truths, but it is another to obey the commands of the Lord in our actual day-to-day lives. When the NT writers talk about obedience they use action words and phrases like “walk,” “work out,” “put to death,” etc. These all convey the physical reality of our obedience. We can not separate ourselves from our physical world (our daily lives) and the virtual world (our conduct on social media).
For instance, Paul commands in Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” This command applies to us and our lives—the entirety of each of our lives. Our speech should not be corrupting but edifying both in our physical environment, as well as in our virtual environment. We are not dualists. The Bible does not describe us in ways that allow us to separate or compartmentalize our bodies and souls from each other. We are human beings made in the image of God, broken by sin, but by the power of the cross being remade into the image of Christ.
Toward Taking Steps
What, then, are some practical ways that we can fight this unique temptation? First, lean into community. The effect of being in community is that you are presented with opportunities to interact with sinners just like you. So have a conversation with a real person with real consequences. Doing this will display the immediacy of the effect of our speech on others. And it is in this that we see where and when the gospel can be applied to ourselves and to those in our community.
Gospel community is the arena where we can obey the commands of God in the tangible world around us. It is a means of grace, given to us by a loving God, where we can learn and grow in gospel fluency and godliness. So, by the gift of grace and by the power of the Spirit, let the gospel infuse and inform all of your conduct in this real world that God has made.
Notes:
Bradley G. Green, Covenant and Commandment: Works, Obedience and Faithfulness in the Christian Life, ed. D. A. Carson, vol. 33, New Studies in Biblical Theology (England; Downers Grove, IL: Apollos; InterVarsity Press, 2014), 19.
Quoted in Green, Covenant and Commandment, 31.