Reflection:

I enjoyed learning about Sociology from a biblical perspective. The following is a paper I wrote about one of the texts in the course, Henry and the Great Society by H.L. Roush. I also studied A Christian Approach for Changing the World by Cynthia Tweedell and For Better, For Worse by John Drescher. I feel that my studies in Sociology have better equipped me in ministry to churches and families.



Henry and the Great Society

Melissa L. Morgan

Sociology

February 1, 2011



Henry and the Great Society relates the story of one family caught in a trap of materialism and change. In the story, Henry is changed by society, from an independent, agrarian farmer to a broken, insignificant cog in the wheel of industrialized progress. The story is an allegorical tale of western society, which has morphed into a madcap, suicidal rush to keep up with the latest “conveniences” and gadgets. Christians are sold a counterfeit “health and wealth gospel,” in which Jesus died to make us wealthy, if we only have enough faith. Yet, Christ, our example, had no earthly wealth.

Henry's predicament (how to climb out from under a mountain of debt, and still afford modern conveniences) is common to western society. However, it represents a more significant struggle than a conflict between rich and poor, or the “haves and have nots.” Henry and the Great Society begs the thorny question: What really matters in life? How can Christians keep equilibrium in a materialist and rapidly changing society?

 Roush, in Henry and the Great Society, writes: “Think back how many times you sat down and set your mind to a determined plan to possess that which you knew you could live without, but felt it would add to the contentment of life. You knew it was beyond your means; yet you pursued it anyway and came back with it to learn you had been deceived once more. You paid the price a thousand times in contentment destroyed and happiness spoiled.”

Of course, once we achieve our goal, and buy the latest and greatest of life's conveniences, we are not happy or content. We just want more. Does this mean that in order to be content, we should all live as the homeless do, in poverty, dependent on the government for basic needs? Definitely not! To keep our equilibrium, we need to remember that God will meet all our true needs (but not necessarily all of our wants): physical, emotional and spiritual. We need not seek after riches (which will rust and decay, anyway). However, the scriptures say that “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4 NIV)

If we have nothing but our basic needs, we gain lasting contentment in life when we:

·   Read God's Word daily

·   Pray daily

·   Encourage and are encouraged by other mature believers

·   Be thankful in our current condition

·   Forgive

·   Seek first God's kingdom--He is sufficient.

The author of Henry calls 1 Timothy 6:6-21 “the most important practical passage in the New Testament on the subject of how a believer should look upon life in this present world.” Roush describes the characters, in the beginning of his story, as at first “seeking but food and raiment and had found perfect contentment. At the last, the pressure of the great society upon them, which could not stand the testimony of their contentment against it, caused them to “will to be rich”...The results upon the saved are seen in verse 10: erring from the faith and piercing themselves through with many sorrows.”

As we are thankful and contented, we are encouraged to seek Him more. Yet as we seek to be more like Christ, we become more content in His love. As the old hymn goes, as we turn our eyes upon Jesus, “the things of earth become strangely dim.” If we keep our eyes on our Savior, and seek to please Him who gave up His life for us, then He will provide what we truly need. Most often in my experience, my Lord has provided far more than I could think or ask.

Like the lost sheep, the sparrows of the air, and the lilies of the field, Christ loves and cares for each of us. We are here on earth, for only a little while. He is our true and lasting treasure.