Recently someone asked me what Christian thinker had most influenced my social-political thinking. I did not hesitate for a moment in coming up with the answer; Abraham Kuyper. Kuyper, who lived from 1837 to 1920, founded a Christian political party, and he even served as prime minister of the Netherlands during the early years of the twentieth century….
[Kuyper believed passionately that Jesus was king over all.] He insisted that God wants Christians to be active in showing forth the divine rule. Jesus is king, we are his subjects. This means that we must try to be obedient to the reign of Jesus in all areas of our lives:family relationships, friendships, business, politics, leisure time, art, science, farming. In whatever we do, we must seek to glorify God.
My favorite Abraham Kuyper quotation comes from a speech that he once gave before a university audience in Amsterdam. He was arguing that scholarship is an important form of Christian discipleship. Since scholarship deals with God’s world, it has to be done in such a way that it honors Christ. Kuyper concluded with this ringing proclamation: “There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine! This belongs to me!'”
This strong sense of Christ’s cosmic Lordship is thoroughly biblical.’For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him’ (Col 1:16 NIV). To emphasize Jesus’ Lordship this way is very important for a healthier understanding of what we have come to think of as “the ministries of the laity.” The home, the brokerage firm, the auto dealership, the gym and the concert hall–all belong to Christ. Our work in these settings is as much Christian ministry as anything that goes on in a church building.
When Kuyper pictured Jesus as crying out that everything belongs to him, he was not suggesting that the Lord is a self-centered property owner. Jesus isn’t like a toddler who screeches “Mine!” as he yanks toys away from his playmates. Kuyper knew that for Jesus ‘This is mine’ expresses a love so deep that he was willing to suffer and die in order to rescue his creation from sin.
–Richard Mouw, Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World (Downer’s Grove, Ill. Inter-Varsity, 2010 2nd ed), pp. 160-161; and quoted by yours truly in the morning sermon
Richard Mouw delivers the Graduates’ Lecture during Convocation celebrations at The Presbyterian College. pic.twitter.com/jCDNfROaje
— PresbyterianCollege (@presbycol) May 18, 2018