This is what we are called to do – even if we must pay a price for it:
If you were asked to explain what a main calling of the Christian is, what is a crucial task we are to perform, what our purpose in being here is all about, there would be many answers forthcoming. Let me offer one answer. It is not the sole answer, but it seems to be a good part of why we exist as believers, and what we are meant to be doing.
My answer comes from some verses I just read again in the book of Isaiah. They popped off the page as I was reading through this part of Scripture, and as is so often the case they acted as a stimulus for another article! The two verses come from Isaiah 42:6-7:
“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;
I will take you by the hand and keep you;
I will give you as a covenant for the people,
a light for the nations,
to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
from the prison those who sit in darkness.”
Before going any further with this, let me point out a few things. Each biblical text has a primary interpretation (which we must seek to discover), but it may also have a secondary application. So as we consider any text we must first determine what exactly it is saying, relying on a historical and grammatical hermeneutic. That is, what did the original author intend to say with a given passage?
Once we have done that, we can then look for any broader applications and messages to believers today. It is the same with this passage. It has a context which we must be aware of, and a primary interpretation. But we can also get derivative messages and application.
As to the original context, Isaiah 42 is one of the so-called servant songs. There are four main servant songs: 42:1-9; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12). Isaiah 42:1 makes it clear that the passage under consideration has to do with the Servant of the Lord:
Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
So the text is dealing with the servant – not you and me as such. But the question has long been asked: Just who is this servant? Does it refer to prophets, or to kings? Both are referred to as servants in Scripture. Or does it refer to the nation of Israel? Or is it referring to a messianic figure, such as Jesus?
That is a large debate which I will not fully enter into here. But I believe these passages certainly do pertain to Jesus. And a main purpose of this article is to look at the secondary application for Christians. Obviously we know that Jesus is involved in giving sight to the blind and setting the prisoner free. As we see Jesus saying in Luke 4:18-19 (quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2):
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And as an extension of the ministry of Jesus, Christians also have a role to play here. As we share the gospel and biblical truth, as we pray for people, and as we minister in Christ’s name and in his power, we too can see the blind given sight – certainly the spiritually blind at least. We too will be involved in setting the captives free.
So that is part of the Christian’s job description. It involves so many areas. Obviously getting people right with God is a crucial aspect of this work that we are called to do. This certainly means seeing people transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
It means setting people free from the bondage of sin. It means transforming people’s lives by delivering them from the sinful addictions and enslavements they are stuck in. It means a whole new way of life in other words. That is what Christians are meant to be involved in.
All this entails the following truth: we must be bold in proclaiming the life-changing gospel and not shy away from it. We must believe that those in sinful lifestyles can be set free if they want to be. We can say to the drug addict that real change is possible. We can say to the homosexual: ‘you don’t have to be gay.’
Paying the price
Of course to affirm the life-changing nature of the gospel is always going to be costly. We will pay a price for doing so. The early church knew all about this. They paid the price big time as they saw countless lives transformed because of the risen Christ.
As but one example, we read in Acts 19:21-41 how a riot broke out in Ephesus because of Paul’s preaching. Those who made shrines for idol worship were threatened with loss of income because Paul was declaring that Christ came to set people free from the worship of false gods.
It is the same today. Increasingly the law is being used against Christians and others who have ministries helping those struggling with various sinful behaviours, including various sexual sins. In Victoria for example the recently passed ‘anti-conversion’ laws now makes it a crime – punishable by ten years in jail – to merely offer counsel or prayer to someone struggling with their same-sex attraction.
The radical anti-Christian state of Victoria keeps getting worse in this regard. Consider new legislative developments in another area. The Church and Nation Committee of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria has sounded the alarm on changes to working-with-children laws that will negatively impact on Christians and others who affirm traditional moral and sexual values. Their new update on this says in part:
The Commission for Children and Young People has announced that all Victorian organisations that provide services or facilities for children must implement new ‘Child Safe Standards’ by 1 July 2022. This includes Churches, religious schools and youth ministries amongst many others. Penalties for non-compliance include de-accreditation, fines, and increased liability and likelihood of lawsuits….
Superficially, the latest Victorian Child Safe Standards appear somewhat neutral, for example the phrase ‘the organisation pays particular attention to the needs of … lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex children and young people’. However, the interpretation of the new standards by government departments and government recommended accreditation agencies (whose ‘expertise’ are used in Court to help measure guilt in civil cases) demonstrates that Christian organisations in Victoria (and any that do not condone transgenderism) will find themselves outside the law.
For example, harming the wellbeing of a child does not only involve clear cases of abuse and neglect, but harming a child’s ‘sense of identity’ or ‘feelings of belonging.’ Unfortunately, refusal to affirm, celebrate or teach the validity and morality of homosexuality and transgenderism are now listed as signs that an organisation has failed to create a ‘child safe’ environment.
Increasingly those who need and want help to change are being denied that right, and those who seek to offer life-transforming ministry to needy people are more and more becoming criminals in the once free West. This certainly makes for challenging times for Christians who believe that Jesus transforms lives.
Although it is becoming ever riskier to do so, Christians must continue
“to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
That is our job description, and we dare not shy away from it.
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