Guest columnist Lia Milousis reflects on how we are called to live our faith in a post-Christian nation
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We live in a world that does not understand faith and does not see religion as being in the public good. If this column were longer, we could walk in-detail through recent Canadian public policy examples such as: parliamentary recommendations calling for an end to “advancement of religion” as a charitable purpose and an end to charitable status for “anti-abortion organizations;” restrictions on Canada Summer Jobs funding that excluded pro-life and Christian organizations; and Quebec regulations restricting wearing religious symbols and praying in schools and other public places.
Tragically, our world has increasingly begun to see and treat religion – particularly Christianity – as detrimental, as harmful to societal wellbeing. Notwithstanding the Christian heritage of this country, expressions of faith are increasingly excluded from the public square and relegated to private spaces for limited personal devotion only.
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Carter regarding euthanasia, I saw a church leader try to comfort congregants by reassuring them they were citizens of heaven, not of earth, as if to suggest that these cares ought not to concern us. Respectfully, I could not disagree more.
Our call to be ambassadors of Christ includes seeking to create a just society. To seek the welfare of the city (as Jeremiah 29:7 instructs) is to seek the welfare of its inhabitants. In that sense, no matter what comfort we can find in being citizens of heaven, we cannot rest while the other religious inhabitants of our city, province or nation face discrimination because a faith-centred life is so misunderstood and maligned.
We can grow weary of policy and politics. But we cannot grow weary of doing good.
So how then shall we live? What then shall we do?
Support for policies that facilitate freedom of religion depend on the public seeing the value people of faith – the Church – bring to society. We need to look different. We need to act differently. We need to live out the call of justice in our day-to-day lives.
At times it can be hard for Christians to agree on what is just. Policy discussions and political debates are divisive. But crafting the perfect public policy or voting for the right political party was never central to being a following of Christ. We can grow weary of policy and politics. But we cannot grow weary of doing good.
So while we might respectfully disagree about how to solve societal issues, the call to do what is right and good and true – the call for you and me to love our neighbours – remains.
Do you know your neighbour’s name? Start there. Care for the widow – who is contemplating euthanasia and questioning the value of her life. Care for the orphan – who is deconstructing and feeling isolated from his family. Visit a long-term care home. Help your colleague move. Invite your neighbours over for a BBQ. Share a smile with the stranger on the street.
We need to live our lives so it’s evident there is a King among us. We need to live aware of the presence of God, aware that all people are image bearers of God. We need to distinguish ourselves from the world by the way we champion human dignity. And that is seen most clearly in how we act in the millions of small, seemingly insignificant but profoundly important opportunities we have each week to let our light shine.
As we review the state of society and grieve the policies that are eroding religious liberty, there is no need to despair. Yes, some are calling what is good evil and what is evil good. But it is still possible for our world – whether our local neighbour or our new prime minister – to recognize what is good and right and true when they see it.
The value of Christianity is not found in the abstract. Rather its light, beauty, comfort, guidance, friendship, wisdom and love are found in journeying with Christ. So while we are waiting and praying for our fellow Canadians to journey with Christ themselves, it is our privilege and our duty to bring as much of that value to their lives as possible and, in so doing, be ambassadors of the goodness of God.
Lia Milousis of Ottawa is litigation counsel with the Acacia Group (AcaciaGroup.ca). Kevin Wilcox is an assistant Crown attorney in Ontario.