Christians in a world of broken cisterns

Jeremiah chapter 2 is God’s lament at Israel’s rejection of His saving grace and protection: 'My people have… forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water' (v13).

As we wait in this season of Advent, we look forward to celebrating the source of that deep refreshing spring.

The great need of our world

This Christmas, our world’s need for Immanuel – ‘God with us’ – is as great as it has ever been. Russia and China continue to flex their muscles, conflicts have deepened not only in Ukraine and the Middle East, but also in many places that receive less coverage, such as Myanmar, Sudan and Yemen. According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project, armed conflicts have doubled over the past five years, while incidents of political violence have increased by a quarter in the last year alone.

More than 60 countries held elections in 2024, including of course the UK and US, with incumbents widely losing power. Economic challenges have been part of the reason for this, but there is also a wider discontent with the democratic process itself. Distrust of institutions and disillusionment with governing ‘elites’, seen to be out of touch with ordinary people, have led to a surge in support for populist parties, particularly in Europe and America. People are searching for meaning, belonging and influence in an insecure world.

Here the political calendar culminated in the support by a majority of MPs for a law to introduce assisted dying for the terminally ill. This reflects the spirit of our individualistic age. A deep unease about the instability of the world and uncertainty of life leads to an ever-greater desire for personal control over our own life and death.

We know that control is ultimately an illusion. But as Christians we do not need to be afraid of this. Psalm 103 reminds us that our lives are like grass: 'they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more'. But the promise of Christmas and Easter is that 'from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him'.

At Christmas, God turned the human desire for autonomy on its head. Jesus entered the world as a baby, not counting equality with God a thing to be grasped but utterly dependant and reliant on others. And at the cross, He humbled himself allowing others to accuse, beat and kill Him. Divinely God, He could have summoned all the angels of heaven to His rescue, but instead He willingly endured to the point of death. In love, He laid down His life for us, to give us access to the eternal spring of peace, joy, and fullness of life.

Let’s remember this as we put up our decorations, shop for our loved ones and sing carols, and as we prepare for the year ahead.

It's vital to engage in society

In a world full of fear, where people desperately try to draw water from the broken and polluted cisterns of self-fulfilment and personal autonomy, it is vital for Christians to engage in politics and society. In the words of James Davison Hunter, we are to provide a ‘faithful presence’, a reminder of God’s love and grace. We are the aroma of Christ, living witnesses to the one who cried out in John 7:37, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink'.

The assisted dying debate has caused a resurgence of voices calling for faith to be removed from public square. These arguments do not stand up to scrutiny. Each of us forms our opinions based on a worldview, whether that comes from a faith in God or a faith that there is no God. There can be no neutrality.

But the debate can be unpleasant, and we may be tempted to duck out, to withdraw into our church lives, focusing on our own salvation.

If we are tempted to withdraw, let’s be clear: this will mean that we are taking down the signposts that point to the well of living water. It will mean ceding the public square to those who have the loudest voices or the most persuasive social media. It will mean accepting new cultural norms that bend in the breeze according to the latest dominant ideologies and – increasingly disturbingly – it will mean yielding further influence to those who are willing to resort to violence or subversion rather than democracy to achieve their aims.

On the other hand, we may be spoiling for a fight, and ready to jump into a tribal trench to defend Christianity from those who seek to Tippex it out of the public square. In this case, let’s be equally clear: we will end up fighting battles that are not ours. The culture wars require their combatants to buy into a package of beliefs and attitudes that do not find their source in the Bible and often do not exhibit any of the grace, love or forgiveness that Jesus models for us.

We are running a different race: our identity is in Christ, not in temporary ideologies or popular politicians. Our involvement in the public square should demonstrate a spirit of service where the wielding of power and influence is redemptive and relational, not self-seeking or greedy.

We are to be signposts to what God’s kingdom should look like, showing a different way to do politics. We are to seek good government, which brings about peace, enables freedom and administers justice. We are to drink from the spring of living water and point others to it, witnessing to Christ’s saving power, which he makes available to all who are thirsty this Christmas.