Some Thoughts

Francis Schaeffer has been a big name in our family for many years–especially for my parents. So it was only natural that, now that we’re all getting older (“we” being my four [five] siblings and I), he should be a big name at Christmas, too. I bought Joe his trilogy (containing Escape from Reason, The God Who Is There, and He Is There And He Is Not Silent), and I bought Ryan the How Should We Then Live? DVD Series. Besides being brilliant, one of the things I appreciate about Schaeffer is his lack of hesitation to bring new forms of media under the scope of the cultural mandate and harness them for the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Schaeffer put this series out (on VHS, of course) way back in 1978! (RC Sproul was also an early-adapter in the tape ministry arena.) My brother Ryan is in LA in the film industry attempting to make a similar contribution using a similar medium (so I thought this gift was particularly appropriate for him). We watched the first two or three episodes together before he left. Here’s a quick summary of what we learned:

If the overall world- and life-view of a society is not built on a strong enough foundation, it will fall. Rome, for example, tried building the society on the opinions of the elite–and that failed miserably. Next (or at another time–I’m no historian) they tried building the society on a pantheon of finite gods (which were little more than glorified humans), and that, too, failed miserably. Again, they tried to build it on the authoritarian rule of a divine-human ‘caesar,’ which–yep–failed miserably. Rome fell not from external attack, but from internal moral decay. The wealthy turned from education to etertainment, from philosophy to fornication, from hospitality to hedonism. “The good, the beautiful and the true” orientation of the culture at-large gave way to “beer and a circus” at the coliseum. Appreciation for art was displaced by a lust for violence. The foundations were weak; the building that was Rome crumbled. If a society never answers Pilate’s question, “what is truth?” there can be no strong foundation–no “true truth”–and that a society will inevitably fall.

As it goes with societies at large, so it goes with individuals. Yet if we examine the strength of those individuals in the early church, who “loved not their lives, even unto death,” who “overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony” (that is, they “held fast their confession of faith” even unto death), we find lives built on a strong enough foundation to destroy the possibility of fall. What was it that gave these individuals–the church, society’s antithesis–the strength to persevere, to withstand personal adversity and personal atrocity?

Schaeffer said that “it was not the religiousness of Christianity, nor even the religious experience of Christianity, but the true-ness of Christianity that captivated them. Christians believed [and true Christians still believe] that the absolute and personal God entered history, in time and space, and gave them the truth, the foundation upon which to base life and thought and thus, society.” (That was a paraphrase.) Pilate’s question had been answered, and they had (and we have) a foundation strong enough to build on–that can never fail. “For it is built on Christ, the Rock, and those gates of hell cannot prevail against it.” That’s good stuff. No wonder my Dad says “Schaeffer? Oh yeah! He’s my guy!”

So there’s just a quick taste of Schaeffer that I thought I’d share with you. Hope you’ll toss a book or two of his (such as his Trilogy, mentioned above) on your reading list…I’m sure you’ll gain much from him–we all could! (You could also start with his excellent little essay, The Mark of the Christian, which is available online for free.)

I’m looking forward to talking with Ryan a bit more about this video series as he makes his way through it–and with Adam & Evita about Beale’s The Temple and the Church’s Mission (as these busy parents-to-be find the time!), with Joseph about Schaeffer’s Trilogy, with Sarah as we go through Graeme Goldsworthy’s According to Plan together, and with my parents as they begin a journey through Calvin’s Institutes.

Thank you, my King, for a great Christ-mass.