Business As Usual? (1964)
Message Delivered at Urbana 64by Stacey Woods
“This is a moment of crisis. Therefore we cannot think of business as usual.”
I wonder as you look ahead into your future, what is your hope? What is your ambition? Have you accepted the recent promises of the Good Society? Do you look forward to two chickens in your pot, two cars in your garage? Do you look forward to business as usual?
For all of us who are Christian, when we consider Christian service, do we consider Christian service as usual? Do we anticipate that as things have been for the last fifty years, they will be for the next fifty years?
To what extent are we really aware, personally aware, of the crisis of our
age, of some of the things that are happening in the world outside that will
radically affect you and me, our lives, and our children: the fact of the population
explosion and the decline of Christianity; the fact of racism which grows worse
and worse; the fact of more and more in some countries and less and less in
others; the fact that possibly in this year more people have starved to death
than in any other year in the history of the world, and with the prospects
of the future worse and worse; the whole question of what is called the post-literate
age and what this is going to mean for the preaching of the gospel and the
communication of Christ; the effects on this age of scientism and unbelief,
of the creeping growth of communism which is by no means being halted?
Are we aware, in the world of philosophy, of the decline or the rejection of the fact of objective, eternal, unchanging truth; of the rejection of an absolute ethic, an absolute moral standard of the influence of relativistic existentialism, of this whole area of no truth and what this means?
This is the world. What about the crisis for the Christian student tomorrow, perhaps today, of the debacle within the church where more and more church leaders are saying there is no transcendent, personal God, no God over all blessed forevermore; that no longer can we accept the Bible per se as truth, but rather relativism and relativistic thinking affect it; that the church is beginning to say, "Yes, yes the world is right after all; there is no absolute standard of ethics, no absolute standard of morals."
Buy the book put out by the National Council of Churches which essentially says just that. Think of the Christian minister, a minister of the United States who could publish an article and remain a minister, encouraging young people to fornicate, saying that the only reason God forbade fornication was the danger of pregnancy. But now birth control takes care of that.
Think of the situation in the university. I wonder to what extent you and I are aware of a radical change that is taking place in our university. Dr. Hans Burki of the IFES staff has just completed two missions, one in Munich, one in Heidelberg. And he was staggered by the impact of the tremendous change in university thinking in Europe. Mr. John Stott had a similar experience in Oxford this past year. Think of the emphatic rejection of the supernatural in university thought and the effect this is having on students in relation to Christian faith and morals.
And then think also of some of the answers that some Christian agencies working among students are giving. At least they are aware of the situation. Most of us are asleep at the switch. These agencies are saying we are in a new age. They recognize it, but they say we must have a religionless Christianity.
There must be a kind of what is called anonymous Christian presence in the university, and Christ must be part of secular life. We were even told by one church leader that Christ today is in the midst of violent revolution, and if we want to be identified with Christ we must be part of the violent revolution in society.
It is being said openly that the Christian mission is finished. There is to be no proclamation, there is to be no formulation, and there is to be no teaching: we will no longer pray, and we will no longer study the Bible. And this is being said by religious leaders. But at least they are aware of this age, the age in which we live.
What must be our attitude? My great concern is that all too few of us are really aware of the implications of what is taking place for our own lives and for our Christian witness. I am afraid that too much of our time is spent in thinking of Christian witness as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be without any change. And we are living in a fast changing world. To what extent are we aware of this, in terms of the worldwide outreach of the gospel to university students?
We must at least understand what is happening. We must read, we must seek, we must study God's Word, and we must pray. One thing is obvious, that in today's situation if our spoken witness is to be at all effective, if we are to win the right to be listened to let alone to be believed, we must validate our message. We must authenticate our message in terms of a life lived, a life in which we demonstrate the reality of God by deeds of love to those around us, a life lived in the power of the Holy Ghost.
For, girls and fellows, the university of today will no longer listen to the gospel message unless they are being made aware of the reality of that message; unless it is authenticated in terms of a life lived before the unbeliever in the power of the Holy Ghost. There is a life that must be lived as there is a message that always must be proclaimed.
We were stimulated by this morning's Bible reading in terms of the emphasis properly given to the intellect in terms of the defense and proclamation of the gospel. Where can we look today for a relevant apologetic to meet this current wave of unbelief? Are we in our student movement by God's grace going to develop such a relevant meaningful apologetic to the students of our generation? How are we best going to argue the gospel and proclaim the gospel in our university?
Do we realize the new trend or tendency in the battle for the mind, which is the battle for the soul? To what extent are we being prepared and are we preparing the future generations of students for this new situation? Let it be said, of course, that there is this unchanging message and the unchanging essential method, the power of the Holy Spirit - not the energy of the flesh - that will be used by God. We do not look for a new message, but we must understand the situation.
One of the great problems we are facing in many parts of the world in the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students is this, that theology is a part of the regular university discipline; and this is affecting student witness as we find the foundations of theological force collapsing in terms of historic Christianity. One of the moves that we are making is the appointment of a theological secretary; and we hope to be able to hold courses in theology, brief courses in particular subjects all over the world, and to help national movements develop in this direction. For we must meet the situation as it is arising and as things are changing.
And so my plea to you as we face the coming days is that we face reality. You know what was said of David of old. He served his generation by the will of God. To what extent are you, to what extent am I, ready now to serve this our generation according to God's unchanging will?
Supposing tomorrow morning you were to read in the newspaper that the iron curtain or what is called the bamboo curtain were lifted, and there was an opportunity to go into Eastern Europe and into China with the gospel. How many of us are prepared to go? Oh I don't speak of physical preparation of money and airplane tickets and that sort of thing. Anyone can get them. Anyone can raise that sort of money. But what is our spiritual preparation? If that door should be opened, are we spiritually prepared to go to those people with the gospel? We should be preparing today for the opportunities that God will yet give in this changing world.
This is a moment of crisis. Therefore we cannot think of business as usual. Let's not be deceived by false concepts of the Good Society. Let us live as Christian soldiers engaged in this eternal warfare for Christ's sake.
Unless otherwise noted, all materials on the urbana.org web site are Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.
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