Introduction: This coming Sunday as the saints gather at Christ Covenant Church (3cs-canton.org) I am going to teach from Ecclesiastes 5 on “The posture of the Christian.” The word posture has its roots in Latin and is rooted in the idea of “position” or “station.” We might think of it as the disposition or pose of the mind/soul towards God.

Why It Matters: Why should this matter to us? Well, in short, because all of us have to deal with the God question. How you and I respond to the reality of God has consequences. Do we respond in repentance and faith in Christ or do we harden ourselves and suppress the truth of God in our unrighteousness?

Text: “If you see in a province the oppression of the poor and the violation of justice and righteousness, do not be amazed at the matter, for the high official is watched by a higher, and there are yet higher ones over them” (Eccl. 5:8).

Context, Context, Context: Solomon is here writing a book of wisdom with the overarching theme of contrasting worldviews–namely, secularism (life under the sun) vs. theism (life under God). Solomon is a master teacher. How so? Well, he teaches by way of contrasts–this vs. that; light vs. dark; fulfillment vs. futility, etc.

Teaching: In Eccl. 5:8, what we have is wisdom regarding the reality of human fallenness. To use a military analogy, it’s having an accurate sight picture. It’s seeing things as they are, not how ​we might wish they are. It’s coherence. It’s using terms that accurately correspond to the way reality is. A is A, in other words. A is not non-A.

Solomon teaches here that we should “not be amazed at the matter” of human oppression or “the violation of justice and righteousness.” Why? Because this is a fallen world. The world is composed of sinners; therefore, expect them to act like sinners. To use a homely expression, “What’s down in the well comes up in the bucket.” That’s good country wisdom. How so? Well, it reminds us of what Solomon teaches–namely, that this world is fallen.

Since this world is so fallen, how will Christians position themselves? What is to be our posture? Are we to hide the light of truth under a basket? Jesus had some rather strong words about that posture. Should we try to force belief upon people as some worldviews do, i.e., convert or die? No. Christianity alone rests upon the loving, clear declaration of truth and leaving it up to the individual how he will respond.

We don’t force belief; we simply present the truth and back it up with evidence. Others will do as they will. Hell’s doors are locked from the inside, you see. The people who hate God choose their destiny. Heaven would be hell for the one who hates God, in other words. Hell’s “doors,” so to speak, are therefore locked from the inside. Why? Because the denizens hate God, refuse God, and reject God.

Encouragement: The posture of the Christian, therefore, is one of submission to the truth of God in the midst of a fallen world, wherein we labor to be salt and light in a world of moral rot and darkness. Why? To preserve, to be the light in the darkness, to call out corruption in prayerful hope that cleanness will be brought instead. But that cleanness is not something we manufacture; it is the gift of God. And God uses the posture of Christians to bear witness to that cleanness.