A Christian response to the wrong doing we see about us

Christians have never had it easy should they choose (as they ought) to follow the Lord, come what may, including how to respond when the ungodly rule the roost, which has ever been a challenge.

While they may not like it when we do, but in my country we can more or less say what we believe to be right and call out our leaders if we think they are doing wrong and, within constraints, we can oppose what they do. That is not entirely true of course and there are many instances when people who have spoken out against wrong doing have paid a hefty price – loss of job, income, freedom etc. The writing is on the wall and things may soon get worse for those who don’t toe the line. Moreover, considering the world as a whole, Christians do suffer when they are seen to be a threat or follow a path that is not approved. Given the Devil hates God and promotes ungodliness in the culture, we should expect opposition. History is littered with examples of those paying a high price for acting according to their conscience and it seems in New Testament times they were often under the cosh and limited when it came to changing the world, other than proclaim the Good News of Jesus.

I am sorry to start on this dismal note, but it is necessary to set out my store, so the speak, as we do need to have a reality check of how things are before beginning to formulate our response. We could choose to not get embroiled in anything controversial (as many fellow Christians do) and, providing it doesn’t lead us into doing the wrong thing, it is easy to justify not doing or pushing the right thing. Moreover, our contribution to society can be boiled down to being nice people and to setting an example on how to being compliant citizens (it is back to Romans 13 again).  We can (and ought to) take comfort in the Psalms, e.g. Psalm 37: “Fret not thyself because of evildoers …” but as I have often argued – that is not enough, although knowing what to do, being wise, truthful and gracious is important as we see things happening all around us that ought to be preventable or at least rectified when there is opportunity.

What got me tempting to fret was earlier today watching a video titled: “Boris Sends Another £1.3 Billion To Ukraine While People Here Don’t Have A Pot To **** In” and a few days before that speaking with a local council official friend who told me that on top of the challenge of housing the homeless there is that of housing Ukranian refugees along with earlier refugees from Afghanistan. My annoyance is the British government have got it wrong by backing the wrong villain, been party to causing the problems we are now seeing and neglecting addressing needs it can do something about – and no-one to oppose. While over a month old, concerns I raised in my “What is going on in Ukraine?” post remain. Granted, this may be an odd example but it is one of many I could cite, where I would like to see different responses.

So back to what should amount to a Christian response, I do not have simple answers and, when it comes to the Ukraine question, however right I think I am, there may be precious little I can do about it, besides waking people up to some home truths, doing good when I can, and calling upon the name of the Lord. While our work may be cut out in the seeking truth, doing good, and saving souls department and, while “about us” is what it is, the matter of what our response ought to be, is important – ignorance is no excuse. We do well to recognise not only our limitations to reverse the wrong we see in the world and that of our understanding of what is going on, but rather to place our trust in Him, who does all things well.