Working Together for the Common Good
In his book, The (Un)Common Good, Jim Wallis asks the question, “Whatever happened to the common good?” It is a question that I have asked myself in one form or another for many years. I look at the raging battle that seems to be going on between extremists in both major political parties and wonder how men and women who spend so much time arguing and name-calling and refusing to budge an inch towards working a compromise can ever accomplish anything that needs to be done for the common good of our citizens.
Wallis writes, “The most dysfunctional city in America is Washington, DC … a capital concerned not with governing but only with winning and losing. Instead of promoting the common good, we see politicians holding the nation hostage for the sake of their ideological, political, and economic self-interests. We’ve lost the old and honored vision of the common good … Fighting for political ideology and self-interest has replaced finding solutions to problems or practicing the ethics of public service.”
As Christians, our understanding of the common good comes from the teachings of Jesus, most especially from his command that we love our neighbors as ourselves. Wallis calls this “the most transformational ethic the world has ever seen.” And most faith traditions also have some notion that loving our neighbor is a requirement if we say that we love God. When we have a strong relationship with God, it will change the way we relate to one another. We find that we can and do love our neighbors, and even our enemies, with the love of Christ.
Just imagine if every Christian in Congress actually lived out the faith that they profess to believe. All of public life would be made better, it would be transformed. The common good would become the top priority for actions of our representatives. There would once again be a commitment to working for the good of all, and being willing to cross the aisle, so to speak, in order to pass good legislation.
While it is important to live out our faith in our public life, even for politicians, that is not the same as saying that we impose our faith on others. It is simply a matter of leading based on a moral foundation. We don’t need a religious right or religious left to dictate policy; instead of looking to the right or to the left, Wallis says that we must go deep. We tap into a shared understanding of personal and social responsibility.
As United Methodists, we have a strong tradition of working for the common good. John Wesley famously stated that the world was his parish. He went out into the streets, into the fields, out to the mines, and wherever the people were in order to share the message of the gospel. And those who became part of the Methodist movement got involved in public service and working for the common good. Methodists set up orphanages and medical clinics; they worked to end the slave trade in England; they spoke out against labor practices that were unethical and in favor of a reasonable work week; they advocated for the end of child labor; they visited those in prison and even rode to the gallows with those who were to be executed. Methodists practiced what they preached. They heeded John Wesley’s words, “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
A part of our understanding of the common good is the recognition that human beings are made to live in community with one another. We are not born to exist in isolation. As Archbishop Desmond Tutu put it, “You can’t be human all by yourself.” And spiritual thinker Henri Nouwen wrote, “Community can make us think of a safe togetherness, shared meals, common goals, and joyful celebrations … Community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are not alive for ourselves but for one another.”
That understanding of Christian community the apostle Paul refers to as the body of Christ. As Christians, we do have a personal conversion and relationship with Jesus. But we also are called into public practice of our faith. Jim Wallis writes, “Jesus calls us to conversion and to community, to personal salvation and to social justice, to individual transformation and to societal change. People come to Jesus as persons, but then they join something called the body of Christ, which is the only community that exists to serve its nonmembers and has the vocation of demonstrating God’s purposes in the world.”
In this 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul describes how he understands the body of Christ will function. The church is to be one body, in which all people are welcome and in which each member has something to offer to the body as a whole. Paul is writing about the wonderful diversity within the unity of the church, the fact that God has placed a variety of gifts in a variety of people on purpose for the common good. When I stand here looking at you this morning, I can name in my mind some of the unique gifts God has placed in each of you. Some of you are gifted teachers, others have musical talent, others are good at finance and crunching numbers. Some of you are great organizers, others are bright encouragers. Some are gifted in art, or carpentry, or gardening, or sewing. No matter what gifts you have, God can use you to serve the church and the world.
When God gives us spiritual gifts, God gives them not for our own personal pleasure or pride, but so we can use them in the church. Every one of us needs to find a means of service that puts our gifts to good use. Using our gifts builds up the church, and I believe, builds up our society as well. Spiritual gifts are not given by God for our own personal enrichment, but for enriching others. When we all work together, each person doing what he or she can do, the church becomes strong and vibrant and impactful in our community. To maintain both our diversity and our unity at the same time, I believe, is the greatest strength and most unique gift of the Holy Spirit. When even one member fails to use the gift that God has given them, the whole body is losing something. We have our gifts for a purpose, and that purpose is to use them to show love to the members of the body and to our neighbors. Just as our spiritual gifts are not given for our personal gratification, so they are not given only for the members within the body of Christ. They are given to benefit those out-side the body of Christ also.
Some of you may know that I really, really don’t like spiders. But I have always been fascinated by spider webs. Spider webs are truly remarkable constructions. The chemical makeup of one strand in the web is 5-10 times stronger than steel in the same proportion. The web can be stretched up to 20% more than its original length without breaking. A spider web is the single strongest structure in nature, by virtue of the strength of each strand and the engineering design. Even today scientists have not been successful in creating that kind of strong fiber.
Now, what does a spider web have to do with anything? Well, let me tell you. The church as the body of Christ is an intricately woven web, and the weaver is the Holy Spirit. Church members are bound together by the presence of the Spirit, a connection stronger than steel. The web is woven across generations and between the diverse spiritual gifts of individuals. The Holy Spirit has woven us together in a web of love and binds us together through relationships into the strong structure known as the church, the body of Christ. When we work together, when we all use our spiritual gifts for the common good, we can literally change the world.
At the end of his book, Jim Wallis offers suggestions for 10 decisions that we can make in order to work for the common good as people of faith. Let me briefly summarize each one:
Parents should decide to make their children the most important priority in their lives and build all other commitments around them. If you are not a parent, you should decide to look for children in your life who would benefit from your investment in their lives.
If you are married, decide to be faithful to your spouse. Keep your commitment and demonstrate love to your partner. If you are single, measure your relationships by their integrity and not by their usefulness.
Persons of faith should focus on how they act on their beliefs and show their love for God by loving their neighbors.
Decide to take the place that you live seriously. Take responsibility for the place that you occupy.
Seek to develop a vocation and not just a career. Discern what gifts you have as a child of God and listen for your calling, rather than looking for opportunities.
Make choices by distinguishing between what you want and what you need. Then choose what is enough rather than what is possible to get.
Look at the place you work from an ethical perspective and challenge anything that is dishonest or exploitative. Help your place of work do well by doing good.
Ask yourself what most breaks your heart and/or offends your sense of justice. Then decide to help change that by working with others already involved in that work.
Get to know your political representatives at all levels. Pay attention to their policy decisions and examine their moral compass. Make your own convictions and commitments known to them. And hold them accountable for their actions.
Ask yourself what is important enough to give your life to and for.
It is my belief that we cannot possibly find a place of personal good and live happily in isolation from the world. We are meant to be involved in working for the common good, beginning with our work within the body of Christ. Our faith will not allow us to simply find a place in church where we can be comfortable and just maintain there. It pushes us to move beyond the walls into our community, into our nation, into our world. If Christians all demand that our political representations work for the common good, we will not only change lives in this country, but perhaps in the far corners of the world. So let’s make a commitment in this New Year, on this Human Relations Day, on the day before we commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to work together for the common good.