How to survive in
pluralist world

Keeping a clear Christian voice in a multi-voiced society

DON POSTERSKI
From True to You

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth ... and ever since that time people who live with a commitment to God have had to figure out what to believe and how to behave. As every age in history is unique, so too are the circumstances in our current culture. And just as others who have gone before us have found their ways to live faithfully, we can live in the pluralistic multi-mindedness of the modern world and find our ways too.

Trust God and follow Christ. The Christian way begins with God. Those who are created not only acknowledge the Creator, they allow the God who conceived and shaped the world to shape their lives too. They are convinced that God is good and fair and just. In quiet moments, they sometimes deal with doubts and wonder if the whole Christian scheme can be trusted. Still, Christians in the modern world continue to count on the uniqueness of Christ and the drama of the cross. They keep saying “yes” to Jesus’ invitation to “come unto me.”

Be true to yourself. People who are in touch with God also have inside information about themselves. They can know what is healthy and strong and good. Followers of Jesus also know what is weak and wrong. They seek to discern God’s truth about themselves as well as about issues in the world.

Those who take the time to do so carve out convictions concerning what is important to them. They self-define. Because of their connectedness to God, they know what they believe, who they are, and how they aspire to behave. They are true to themselves. Without apology, they speak with a clear voice in a multi-voiced society.

Give regard to others. Although Christians are ready to take a stand, they are also committed to stand with others. The Scriptures press them “not only to look out for [their] own interests, but also the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).

Rooted in the security of their own convictions, God’s people extend compassion to others who are different from them. They know that the world God created belongs to everyone. They make room for others whose views differ from their own. Diversity is valued.

Committed Christians are neither permissive toward themselves nor judgmental toward others. They realize that, rather than coercing creation, God gives people choices. They aim to treat people like God treats people.

Relinquish rights for the common good. Although Christians believe their way of understanding life is right and best, they also believe in relinquishing rights for the sake of the common good. God’s people reject the notion that one particular voice can speak for everyone. In a democratic and pluralistic society, no single sector has the divine right to rule.

But neither can a society be built exclusively on diversity. Individual and group autonomy must surrender to the collective good. Personal preferences need to bow to measures of community control. Beyond the requirement to live within the boundaries of the criminal code, all citizens must be willing to sacrifice private desires for shared public goals.

Fly your flag in the pluralism parade. A democratic society invites its citizens to participate. Consequently, one prerogative of life in Canada is the freedom to influence public policy. A pluralistic culture provides social structures for cradling diversity. Accordingly, people who are different from each other can live together in the same society.

Christians and those who believe otherwise have the same privilege to self-define. As we live together in the midst of our multi-mindedness, pursuing principled pluralism will help us live peacefully and productively with our increasing diversity.

As all members of society both take permission to be true to themselves and give permission to others to be true to themselves, we will stand together on level cultural ground. Only then will we be free to unabashedly fly our multi-coloured flags in the pluralism parade.

Love and lobby. Christian flags are multi-coloured too. Although members of God’s family believe in the same Creator and Redeemer, differences mark their lives. Even though they are embraced by the same Spirit and nurtured by the truth of the same faith, God’s extended family is profoundly diverse. It is multi-coloured.

But Christians are also marked with some common colours. Their shared life in Christ generates common commitments. In these pluralistic and multi-minded times, people of faith are called to live a life of love and to lobby for the ways of God. How else can “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?”

Donald C. Posterski now serves as director of church relations for World Vision International. This article is the concluding chapter of his book, True To You: Living Our Faith in our Multi-minded World (Winfield B.C.; Wood Lake Books, 1995). It is used here with permission from the author.

Be true to yourself. People who are in touch with God also have inside information about themselves.