ENGAGE 33 APRIL 2023 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition e y d c e e e h e y s g , s n c n l d l e f f g e ? n o g s , , m e f - e n , t n , f We must set up our own ecclesial courts to resolve social or civil disputes. Paul gives original jurisdiction in civil matters to the church (1 Corinthians 6:1-7), reserving criminal matters to the state (Romans 13:1-7). We must train our elders to adjudicate both law and equity, recovered from the secular schools of law (Exodus 18:13-26) and a legal system that is taken captive and serves only the wealthy. Wemust seek newways to bring the best healthcare services to our own, including our poor (Matthew 10:1), and charity to all as we are able (Matthew 8:16). We must reimagine how to reclaimhealthcare education from the standardizedmedical schools. (1 Timothy 5:23). The Arts and Sciences We must resist the trend toward illiteracy, beginning with the Bible, the greatest of the Great Books in our literary tradition. To read the Bible, our people must be taught to read. Even better, they should be taught the literary arts. We must rediscover the beauty of art and the art of the poetry by which we imagine heaven, all in order to improve the human condition (Matthew 6:10; Colossians 3:1-2). We must teach our people to dream again. We must likewise rediscover the roles of mentorship and apprenticeship for the socially vital arts and sciences of a civilized order (1 Kings 4:32-33). Above all, we must foster grace and tolerance while striving to accomplish our Lord’s Great Commission, his prime directive, namely sharing the glorious gospel of the Son of God, the Savior of the world (Matthew 28:19-20). We must do so in a context of the good works (James 2:24) that authenticate a grace salvation (Ephesians 2:10). The collapse of the West can be met by the churches with hope and a renewed sense of mission. We can become “intentional neighbors” to all, welcoming and helping everyone through personal and ecclesial generosity. We can enthusiastically welcome the outcast and lift up the downcast, just as Jesus did for us. The Lord’s “mercies are new every morning,” as Jeremiah sang in the shadow of a ruined city and a desecrated temple (Lamenations 3:21-23). We can, and God-willing we must, herald a bright new dawn of hope. We face a future where the light of the Savior can shine brightly forth through us once again! We must build the church alongside the Lord of the Church and reflect in our earthly cities the light of the Great City of the New Jerusalem, the eternal city that we keep dreaming of. Christians of the world: unite! Your chains have already been broken! Dr. Warren A. Gage holds a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary, a J.D. from SMU School of Law, and a Ph.D. in philosophy and literature from the University of Dallas. He also completed a year of post-graduate study at Tübingen University in Germany. He worked for twelve years as national counsel and a trial attorney for a Fortune 500 company. He served for twelve years as a seminary professor in Old Testament and in Christianity & Classical Studies. He is married and lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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