A Blueprint for Society
What if you could design a culture and society according to your own plans? What if you could create your own Utopia? What would it look like? What kind of laws and institutions would you establish?
Men have been designing, ordering, and establishing societies according to their own ideals since the very beginning of time. Plato, in his Republic, advocated a society where practically everything was controlled by the city-state. The State controlled the education of the youth; the State controlled human reproduction, regulating marriages and births. In his ideal city, all property was under the careful oversight of a philosopher-king, who was supported by an elite professional army. Plato was convinced that civil power wielded by a wise philosopher-king could produce an ideal society.
Societies will be ordered. People living in groups will develop a social order of some kind. The question is whose ideals will structure a given society? Will it be the ideals of Plato, Marx, Muhammad, or some other visionary? Some type of social order will be established and maintained; the question is which one?
Modern Americans trained in state-run schools have been taught to embrace a social order that is centered on the State. We look to the civil government for everything. “There ought to be a law” is the modern American’s solution to every social problem. We believe the civil government is to blame for everything, is responsible for everything, and ought to do something about everything. Modern Americans act as though the Messianic State can save them from all their woes. For all practical purposes, the state is a god.
In contrast to this, the Bible offers a blueprint for a culture where people do not put their trust in princes or depend on the help of a nanny state. It is a social order where the only King who can save is the Lord Jesus Christ, and men are given the freedom to enjoy life under God’s perfect law of liberty. In the words of our founders, it’s a society that preserves our God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Some may be stunned to hear me claim that the Bible has anything to say about the ordering of society or culture. They believe the Bible only speaks about spiritual things and doesn’t have much to say about everyday life in this world. Contrary to this truncated view of God’s word, the Bible sets forth a comprehensive world and life view that is sufficient to direct us in everything, including the establishment and maintenance of a well-ordered society.
Others will be horrified at the thought of the Bible serving as a guide for the establishment of a social order, wrongly believing Scripture advocates some kind of ecclesiastical tyranny; they prefer the fevered dreams of some utopian. In future articles I hope to show that the Scripture provides a blueprint for a culture where people can enjoy true liberty, a social order where people are set free to live the good life.