“…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” – 1 Peter 3:15
The world is like a tumultuous ocean, and the Church is supposed to be like a boat passing through that sea, picking up people who are adrift and rescuing them by pulling them into the boat. When the world starts to flood into the Church, there is a crisis.
In the negative world, the Church has five vital roles to fill.
One, the Church should serve as a voice of godly authority, reminding the government that it is not God and has limits to its authority.
Two, the Church should serve a prophetic function, calling everyone to repent of sin, no matter what their political affiliation may be. If our highest commitment is to the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Church cannot and must not ignore sin just because sinners happen to be on their side of the political fight.
Three, the church should seek to set an example for the state with ethical and godly conduct in obedience to God. Of course, this will be met with false accusations and slander from the world against the Church, but this is exactly what the New Testament repeatedly predicts will occur.
Four, because the state is continuously being pulled toward being degenerate and totalitarian, the Church must continuously push back against these tendencies in lawful ways such as protest, legal recourse, and political involvement. “The church should, then, function prophetically to point out evils when they arise and call the state back to God. In American history, the role of the church in combating slavery is a prime example of the church playing this prophetic role.” (1)
Five, the Church must remain firstly committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, calling everyone to repentance of sin and life under His sovereign lordship. If the Church fails in this task, the entirety of a culture loses its God-consciousness, which leads to tyranny and terror. In his Templeton Prize address, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said: “Over half a century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: ‘Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.’” (2)
In tomorrow’s devo we will discuss the religious history of the United States.
How can you stay committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ despite the government’s pushback against God?
(1) https://www.templetonprize.org/laureate-sub/solzhenitsyn-acceptance-speech/
(2) John S. Feinberg and Paul D. Feinberg, Ethics for a Brave New World (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1993), 396–397.
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