Who are you serving?
- May 28
- 3 min read
This article comes from
“But you’re going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed. / You’re going to have to serve somebody. / Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, / but you’re going to have to serve somebody.”
These lyrics from Bob Dylan’s "Gotta Serve Somebody" point to a biblical truth. People can claim to be nonreligious, but we all believe in something. Despite claims to the contrary, there is no neutral vantage point that transcends religion and belief.
The Apostle Paul describes alternative worship this way. "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25). Worshipping what God has made or something we have manufactured rather than the Creator distorts the created order.
People may refuse to subscribe to a traditional religion, follow formal rites or assent to an articulated set of doctrines, yet everyone grants something sovereignty in their life. Every one of us decides what’s sacred, what counts as good or bad, right or wrong, and what constitutes human flourishing.
Whether fully articulated or not, these commitments shape our understanding of human dignity, including who deserves respect and care, and what that care entails. These commitments reveal how seriously people respond to abuse and victimization, and whether exceptions are made based on age, proximity, favouritism, wealth, genetic ties, sex, race, ethnicity or religion.
Because of his beliefs the Apostle Paul was chased out of Thessalonica. But Athens treated him differently. There Paul’s "spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols" (Acts 17:16). The Athenians even maintained an altar to an unknown god. Unlike the Thessalonians, the Athenians welcomed discussion of new teachings, and when Paul challenged their beliefs some wanted to hear more, although others walked away.
In Canada today how do our Christian beliefs show up in our words and deeds? Do we challenge ourselves (not just our neighbours) about the temptation to live comfortably conformed to the spirit of the age? Do we recognize the idols of our age as idols, lest they find a home in our family or churches?
Institutions are also guided by beliefs. Governments, educational institutions, and churches operate according to principles and norms – often articulated in constitutions, policies, doctrines or value statements – that direct activities and define purposes. These commitments shape how decisions are made and what ends are pursued.
Governments choosing not to regulate a particular activity are not being neutral. They are taking a stand guided by underlying principles. In British Columbia, humanists and others are in court arguing that a Christian hospital’s policy of transferring patients rather than permitting euthanasia on its premises imposes religion on others.
Yet requiring that hospital to comply with a euthanasia-affirming belief system is itself an imposition of belief.
The real test of religious freedom lies in how dissenters are accommodated.
Some governments are more forthright about advancing the values that animate them. Quebec cancelled a contract with a Christian organization because its pro-life beliefs were deemed contrary to the province’s "fundamental principles." Denying access for dissenting groups to publicly owned spaces is not neutrality, but what I call elsewhere a new orthodoxy.
Historically Canada has pursued a model of pluralism that seeks to enable individuals and institutions of differing faiths to live out their lawful beliefs, and contribute to the public good. Governments are expected to act fairly and not privilege one sect or system of belief over others. While this approach began in managing relations between Roman Catholics and Protestants, it has gradually expanded to include a wide range of religious and nonreligious belief systems.
In a democracy some belief systems will inevitably prevail. The real test of religious freedom lies in how dissenters are accommodated.
We live in a religiously plural society where people and institutions adhere to competing systems of belief. The question is not whether belief will shape public life, but which beliefs will be allowed space to do so, and whether a societal commitment to religious freedom will permit dissent and promote an open pluralism.
Will we follow the approach Paul models in Athens?
Bruce J. Clemenger is senior ambassador and president emeritus of The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and author of The New Orthodoxy: Canada’s Emerging Civil Religion (Castle Quay, 2022).
Author: Bruce J. Clemenger
