Societies can, and should be Christian. What does that mean?
29 August 2024
Introduction: What is a Christian Society?
When considering the question of what constitutes a Christian society we must first ask ourselves what a society is and, secondly, how a Christian society differs from any other type of society.
It is widely accepted that a society is an identifiable collective consisting of people. There are various theories regarding how societies are formed, the treatment of which falls beyond the scope of this article, although we will provide a brief overview of Christian social theory in the paragraphs below. Nonetheless, a workable and widely accepted definition would be that a society is a group of people acting collectively. Given the nature of this definition, we will naturally be able to distinguish different levels of society: a family, for example, often acts collectively, such as "we are going to town," "we are listening to music," "we are having a barbecue," "we are on holiday," and so forth. As we will see in this unit, society is nothing more than an extension of the family.
Can a society, therefore, be Christian, and does a Christian society differ from other societies? Consider the example of the family. Can a family be Christian, and does the life of a Christian family differ from that of a non-Christian family? Of course it does. A Christian family, for instance, will pray and read the Bible at home and base their decisions on Biblical principles. A Christian family goes to town just like a non-Christian family, but a Christian family does not go to town on Sundays. A Christian family listens to music like a non-Christian family, but they do not listen to music where the the Lord's name in taken in vain. A Christian family has barbecues like a non-Christian family, but they do not indulge in drunkenness during the event. A Christian family takes vacations like a non-Christian family, but they do not visit nude beaches. Does this mean that the members of a Christian family never sin? Of course not! Does it mean that every member of a Christian family is necessarily a born-again Christian? Unfortunately, not necessarily.
Now let us apply this to society: a Christian society generally contains the same constitutive elements as any other functioning society, but it is distinguished as one where the culture is guided by God's Law rather than man-made rules. A Christian society, in other words, is one where Christ's Lordship over every aspect of life is acknowledged. Yes, this might mean that there are Bible verses written on the walls of a restaurant, that the waiter prays with the diners before a meal, and that restaurants are closed on Sundays. But it will also mean that restaurants ensure their food is not harmful to the body and that the electronic games the children play in the "game room" while waiting for their food are not harmful to their souls.
The Family as the Foundational Social Unit
Within the Calvinist worldview, the family is viewed as the most fundamental building block of society. Every individual finds their primary identity within the family. This fact is evident, especially in the use of last names: people from the same family share the same surname. While parents choose a first name for each child that is born, the child's last name is already predetermined. The reason why the family is primary to society is of course simply becauseit has been ordained by God as the covenant structure through which humanity is perpetuated and through which Christianity flourishes. Our recognition of the family, as opposed to the individual, as the most basic unit of society is also rooted in Jesus' well-known statement about marriage and the family in Mark 10:9: "What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."
Alongside the family and kinship structures, several other essential societal structures exist within God's created order. The Dutch Calvinist theologian Herman Bavinck (1854—1921) identifies three societal spheres in addition to the family as inherent to human society as a created reality: the cultural sphere, the ecclesiastical sphere, and the state.1 Beyond the family as the most basic constitutive unit of society, we also have the nation (or ethnos) as a societal sphere in the cultural realm, the congregation as a societal sphere in the ecclesiastical realm, and the state as a societal sphere in the political realm. Of course, in accordance with the Biblical paradigm (see Acts 17:26-27) these spheres should all correspond in scope and size, so that both the church and the state are homogeneous, that is, essentially national or ethnic in character.
Social Spheres as Covenantal Realities
When we consider these different social spheres, it is important to note that they are not man-made constructs as posited by liberal-humanist social theories. Instead, they are God-given structures, each with a unique role and calling within society. According to liberal theory, the only independent entity in society is the individual, who then chooses to associate with their family or nation, or even theoretically, with the state. In the liberal framework, the state is seen as the product of an imagined social contract in which each individual voluntarily surrenders their rights to enable coexistence within the state. However, this social contract has no basis in reality. In contrast the reality is that every person is born, not primarily as a citizen of the state, but as a member of a family. Only a father and a mother can conceive children; a state cannot. Despite the imagined social contract that liberalism promotes, however, the state is, in practice, considered the only social entity from which we cannot dissociate. You may reject your family, you may reject your church, but you are not permitted to reject the state, for example, by ceasing to pay taxes. This absolutisation of the state over other societal structures is rooted in the anti-Christian thinking of the Enlightenment. As the Calvinist philosopher R.J. Rushdoony explains:
One of the quiet goals of the Enlightenment was the disestablishment of Churches and of Christianity... A first step in this process of disestablishment was to reduce Christianity to an option for man, a matter of choice, not of necessity. The realm of necessity was held to be civil government. Freedom came to mean deliverance from the Church to the State, from supernatural mandates and laws to 'natural' and statist laws. The Reformation had said plainly that Biblical faith requires belief in God's predestination, in God's sovereign choice ... This was reversed by the Enlightenment, and then by Arminianism. Sovereign choice was transferred to man. Man, it was held, has the option to choose God or reject Him, to declare God to be elect or non-elect.2
In contrast to the idea of the state as the most basic societal structure, the Reformed standpoint asserts that society is fundamentally ordered by God's providence through covenantal relationships, all of which flow from the basic created covenantal structure, the family. This does not mean that the family rules over other spheres. No, as Rushdoony points out, like the church, the family, the state, and the nation, are each grounded in the authority of God. The relationship between the different societal spheres is therefore not hierarchical in nature, which means that no one sphere has authority over the others. Instead, they stand in a vertical relationship to each other, all under one and the same authority—God and His Word.
Conclusion: The Christian Mandate to Transform Society
Jesus calls every individual to personal repentance (Matthew 4:17). However, this is not the end of the gospel but the beginning. We, as converted sinners, are then called to be witnesses and bearers of the light of the gospel, to make disciples of the nations and teach them to live in obedience to Christ, who has absolute authority over all things in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18–19). Nations or peoples (Greek: ethnos) are the socio-covenantal structures aimed at in the Great Commission, as opposed to merely individual souls. Therefore, we are called to let our light shine in society, not just for ourselves or our own families, but also for the broader community, so that ethno-nations as covenantal entities can repent and be Christianized. In order for this to happen, personal sanctification must extend to collective sanctification within the various societal structures ordained by God. Here, the Reformed concept of calling and stewardship plays a crucial role. We are to act as stewards with a specific responsibility to God and our neighbour and a particular calling to work in the sphere where we labour—whatever that sphere may be—according to God's Providence and his Law, to His glory, and for the sake of expanding His kingdom on earth. This means that we are called to obey and apply the Ten Commandments in all the social, economic and political settings and relationships in which we may find ourselves.
Fathers are primary stewards in this regard, as they execute an office as heads of their households, responsible for governing their families in such a way that these families serve as examples to bring others closer to Jesus. Furthermore, elders in the church and teachers in schools hold specific offices, each with their own calling to assert Christ's Lordship in their respective fields. Additionally, the prophetic office held by every believer extends to every profession we may practice and the services we render to others—here too, the fruits of our faith must be evident through our economic labors and interactions. Mothers who act as homemakers in particular have a special covenantal calling when it comes to raising covenant children, and it is especially through the execution of this covenantal calling by mothers that the Lord expands His church and kingdom on earth.
When a nation therefore collectively acts in all these offices in such a way that the Lord is glorified in every sphere of life, that is, in the family, the church, on the sports field, in politics, in the economy, and every other sphere, then a society is sanctified and transformed into a Christian society.
1. Bavinck, H. “Het Koninkijk Gods” in Handboekje ten dienste der Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland voor het jaar 1894. Middelburg: K. le Cointre, 1894, p. 249.
2. Rushdoony, R.J. To Be as God: A Study of Modern Thought since the Marquis de Sade. Vallecito, CA: Ross House, 2003, p. 17.