On being a romantic

William Blake, “Pity” (1795)

There is much about Romanticism that I find attractive. That should not surprise me, for many years ago, a dear friend who had been converted and mentored under Martyn Lloyd-Jones commented on my approach to doing church history: “Michael, you are a romantic when you present the history of God’s people.”

I am pretty certain that he meant it as a friendly critique and not as a compliment. In other words, I was far too idealistic in my presentation of the Church’s past—it was not grounded enough in the real world.

Over the years, I think there are elements of truth in that critique. I admit it: I am an idealist when it comes to the life of the Church.

Case in point: I do not think the statement that we must choose the lesser of two evils is a helpful piece of advice on how we should navigate the world in which we live.

To be sure, we must do all that we can to live in peace with one another (Heb 12:14a; Rom 12:16a, 18; 1 Thess 5:15), but this does not mean having anything to do with what is evil (Heb 12:14b; Rom 12:21; 1 Thess 5:22).