Herman Bavinck was born in The Netherlands in 1854 and died there in 1921. He is probably most well-known for his monumental work, Reformed Dogmatics (Gereformeerde Dogma­tiek). What is perhaps less well-known about him is his political involvement in Holland and his occasional writings on the subject of the Christians involve­ment in society. These writings were borne out of a wealth of practical ex­perience and a broadness and depth of knowledge of life that was unequalled by many in that land. His relevance for us today cannot and must not be under­estimated. In a day and age where many Christians are anew posing questions such as, "What does it mean to be a Christian in today's pluralistic society? What should my relationship be to poli­tics or other cultural phenomena? What type of ethical decision is required of me here?" We would do well to listen to this Reformed teacher and draw from his wealth of experience and ex­pertise both in his theological pursuits and political practices.

The Imitation of Christ⤒🔗

The first article by Bavinck that we shall examine is entitled The Imitation of Christ and Modern Life (De Navolg­ing van Christus en het moderne Leven). This article was written in 1918, only a few years before Bavinck's death, so it gives us his mature thoughts and anal­yses. In this article Bavinck concen­trates on the First World War and be­gins to make evident to the reader that a certain "tension" existed in the lives of the Christians of his time. This ten­sion manifested itself most clearly in the relationship "between the gospel of Christ and the culture with its different elements of State, science, occupation, commerce, industry, art, etc." How ought a Christian to relate and to react responsibly to these realities?

It might appear to some, referring to the title of Bavinck's article, that he was going to follow in the same foot­steps of Thomas a Kempis, since he borrowed part of the title of the article from the latter's famous book. In reali­ty the contrary is the case.

Balance←⤒🔗

Bavinck is rather adamant that the position of a Kempis suffers from a cer­tain one-sidedness. He sees in the mysti­cism of a Kempis a contempt for the world and a denial of the earthly tasks that men have been given by God. Unfortunately, many in our time have taken this position. The mystical ele­ment might not be so obvious or pro­nounced, but in one form or another, either consciously or subconsciously, there is a retreat from the world. The primary difficulty, as Bavinck sees it, is the disposition that one maintains between nature and grace. The mystic has the tendency to attempt to withdraw to the "storm-free" waters of life.

The beliefs and world view of the Reformers, on the other hand, made the necessary corrections on this mystic tendency. Yet, this mystical strain re­curred in various guises such as Ana­baptism, Pietism, Herrnhuttism and Methodism. Bavinck describes the attitudes of these Christians in the follow­ing manner:

They complete their obli­gations, are trustworthy in their oc­cupation, but they have little joy in life, do not enjoy the beauty of nature, and are indifferent to the discoveries of science, the creations of art, and the wonders of technology.

We must be careful that we do not identify "the wonders of technology" with having our own home computer or a micro­wave oven. No, Bavinck is looking for something much deeper than that. In a very true sense, Bavinck was warning against Kitsch, i.e. that which is bereft of originality and smacks of superficiality. Kitsch, whether it be Christian in its endeavor or not, leaves one with a semblance of purpose, endeavor and activity but is, in essence, void of any of these properties. Positively, what Bavinck is advocating is full joy in the life of the Christian. He should appre­ciate the rich diversity of nature, use an analytical and positively critical ap­proach to the State, science, painting, dance, architecture, sculpturing, music, economics, politics, and attempt an evaluation of their discoveries and di­rections. "The wonders of technology" need not be that you have a satellite dish in your backyard that makes you into a slave to the banalities of the one-eyed monster that we call TV.

Contrary to what the mystic thinks, nature and grace are not separate. God is working graciously in and through nature to restore it. Grace restores na­ture; all of it, not just part of it. God's restoration of the fallen world extends to all segments, facets, and elements of that world, and the Christian is to be in­volved by being a child of the King in all parts of the kingdom, whether it be earthly or spiritual.

Absorption←⤒🔗

If mysticism is one of the problems that faces the Christian in terms of causing him to withdraw from culture, the counterpart to that problem is the situation wherein the Christian becomes so immersed in and absorbed by his culture that he is both in it and of it. Bavinck quotes the philosopher Mill who had a rather scathing critique of the life-style of many Christians.

John Stuart Mill said that hardly one in a thousand Christians allow themselves to be led by the admonitions of the New Testament; practically, man adheres to the cultural norms of his environment and then brings Christianity into har­mony with those norms.

Virtually any pastor who knows his members will affirm that one of the greatest dilemmas that he has, both for himself and for those under his charge, is the secularization of the thoughts and actions of the members of the covenant community. What Bavinck is opting for is not intellectualism wherein every Christian is a candidate for a Ph.D. or Th.D., but certainly a situation wherein the Christian both knows and applies Biblical wisdom in his life. He is opting for the situation where the Christian can live life to the fullest and can be thankful for the earth and the fullness thereof, knowing that it is the creation of his heavenly Father. As such he has a particular relationship first to the Creator God and then to the creation itself. He is looking for the warm colors of creation under the layers of asphalt and concrete around him. He is search­ing for the harmony of God's recreat­ing work through the haze of smog, ex­haust fumes, and other pollutants. He is willing to swim against the tide of secularization and to learn to think — not superficially or in clichés — but Biblically. The Christian is on his guard against the Kitsch of the world and is able to discern that which by virtue of its very nature is immature, sham, fa­cade, the mere mouthing of clichés, and anti-God.

Quite often, however, one of the reasons Christians react to various sit­uations is because they are tainted by secular thought. They have bought the lie. They let the State, for example, dic­tate to them: separation between Church and State. Hardly one in a thousand have thought Biblically enough to dis­cern that that does not mean separation of God and State. God does not aban­don the State to its own devices and its own autonomy.

Bavinck is warning us that the problem of the absorption of the Chris­tian into society requires a concerted, consciously Biblical effort in order that we might not only fulfil our Biblical mandate to be in the world but not of the world, but that we might be able to live and function effectively as Christians in our participation in politics, economics, and the fine arts, only to mention a few. If we are to fulfil our Scriptural mandate(s), we must attempt with all that is in us to live as Christians who are actively and consciously engaged in the nature restoring properties of the grace of God, and perform that restoration both in communion with Christ and with our fellowman.

Private Life←⤒🔗

The third category that Bavinck mentions is the one where the Chris­tians desire to maintain the Christian morality for the private sector of life but, either consciously or unconscious­ly, esteem Christian morality to be in­adequate, insufficient, or in some other sense lacking for public life in politics, society, and culture.

In this regard Bavinck cites the ex­ample of Bismarck, who in his private life was a Christian, but in his "Real Politik" did not take the Christian ethic into account. If by anything, the later decennia of this century, up to and in­cluding our generation, can be typified by the same type of thinking and ac­ting. Our culture in the West is often — correctly — characterized by personal peace, affluence, and plurality. Our decisions are as often as not made with the words, "I feel this or that." One hears, "I know what I like," and those words are not so disturbing when they are used in reference to the liking or disliking of pecan praline ice cream (although it is difficult imagining that someone would truly dislike pecan praline ice cream), but when they refer to a Biblical conviction which is simply maintained in private, that is another matter. Those things of which we are convinced they are Biblically true must have value for all of life and not simp­ly for our private spheres of endeavor. This existence of double standards was brought home to me again recently when I observed an automobile being driven along Highway 401 in Toronto which bore the bumper stickers, "Honk if you love Jesus" and "Live and let live," simultaneously. The driver, ap­parently, saw no contradiction in the two.

We have become so accustomed to the notion of plurality in our lives that we are failing at crucial points to be willing to sacrifice our personal peace and affluence in order to be pervasive influences in the culture we are helping to mold, either by our participation in it or by the lack thereof.

Have we forgotten the threefold use of the law? Do we even bother to read it any more in the worship ser­vices? If we do read it, do we realize to what extent it is an indictment in our lives of our lack of ability to serve the Lord of our lives as we ought? It is not the purpose to again explicate the three­fold use of the law, but I would remind the reader that in Reformed and Luther­an circles the first use is the specifically public function. As Christians we must not be duped into thinking that the Creator's law, His perfect norm for human action and attitude, has been relegated to that private domain known as the individual or the church or "reli­gion." The first function of God's law encompasses all of life, both for the Christian and the non-Christian. Our forefathers knew of the transcendental and were not ashamed to frame it into the very documents that rule and gov­ern our inalienable rights as citizens. It is only when Christians begin to seek their own well-being and quietude that mankind becomes dehumanized. Ba­vinck said in another context that the major beliefs of the Enlightenment, which are rife in our society today, do not give man the freedom he is seeking or the freedom which it promises, but rather, it dehumanizes his very humani­ty by taking him out of the realm of his responsibility to God. Precisely because Christians are called to be in contact with reality they must be involved with the claims of God — let's call them the ethical claims of God — upon man­kind.

Bavinck closes the first part of his article dealing with the imitation of Christ and modern life with the admoni­tion that the Christian is to be involved in all the various realms of public life (to the glory of God and not simply to make money at it or to have a vocation) and is to have a world view that is con­stantly being formed and informed by God's Word. As Christians we are to have good, contemporary answers for the various ethical issues that confront both us and our society daily. For, as Bavinck says elsewhere, religious life and ethical life cannot be separated, and all ethical norms have been given with the creation itself.