...Christians rightly understand that impacting a soul with the Gospel is the most important work to be done. While there is no questioning that reality, we irresponsibly jump from there to the absurd conclusion that in terms of importance to God’s Kingdom, the missionary is greater than the mayor, the preacher greater than the prime minister, the priest greater than the president. This is nonsense.
No one questions that the humble missionary in India is impacting the eternal trajectory of souls when he converts a lost man to Christianity there. But had Churchill not defeated Hitler, the Third Reich would have certainly ruled India, if not the world. If that had occurred, would our humble missionary have been allowed to make his trip to the conquered German province? Very unlikely. Churchill too then impacts the eternal trajectory of souls by stopping the march of the evil tyrant.
Consider the great Christian statesman William Wilberforce of England who experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity in 1786. His devotion to Christ nearly convinced him to leave Parliament and pursue a career as a clergyman. But in his personal diary, this man who single handedly would sway an entire nation’s political leadership to bring about an end to the horrific slave trade, wrote these profound words that altered the course of human history:
“My walk is a public one. My business is in the world, and I must mix in the assemblies of men or quit the post which Providence seems to have assigned me.”[i]
After transforming Great Britain, Wilberforce wasn’t content. Instead, he began taking this Christian political mission overseas and around the world. Countless Africans owed their freedom in no small part to Wilberforce’s revelatory wisdom that a parliamentarian can be just as influential in doing God’s work as a preacher.
As Hugh Hewitt correctly observes,
“If inviting non-believers to worship matters, then so does preserving the freedom to worship. If ministering to the needs of the poor is a mandate, then changing the policies creating poverty is very much within that mandate. And if building shelter in developing countries is part and parcel of a Christian’s burden, then so is the destruction of the power of tyrants who oppress peoples around the globe.”[ii]
Far too many Christians have ignored this advice and have retreated to our Holy Huddles while our culture has declared outright rebellion to God. But here’s the hard truth for the disengaged ambassadors amongst us:
Pretending there is no cultural war on God’s authority doesn’t make it go away. That war has been declared by the forces of this world as they seek to gain influence over an entire culture. When a war has been declared, you have only two options: engage or surrender. The truth is that in American society, Christians are largely not engaging. And why? What is the justification we offer for our surrender?
First, we say it doesn’t matter. “Jesus didn’t come to save a country, so we shouldn’t waste our time on politics and those earthly pursuits of power,” we self-righteously opine. It’s certainly true that Jesus was no politician. His ministry was to impact the souls of man so powerfully that it would transform countries all over the world. To say He and His message has no impact on politics or government is to be (1) blind to history, and (2) guilty of limiting the scope and power of the Messiah.
Imagine the stupidity of saying, “Well, Jesus wasn’t a parent or a husband, so since He didn’t find that important, I’m not going to worry about it either. There’s more important things for the church to talk about than family.” Or imagine if Wilberforce had said that about the African slave trade, “Jesus was no abolitionist of bodies, he was just worried about souls. So I’ll just preach because any change has to begin with the heart.” This is exactly the statement being made by countless disengaged Christians throughout our culture, as the supreme authority of God is restricted and confined in its scope by its supposed ambassadors.
The truth is that God is either sovereign or He’s not. If He is sovereign, then His truth and its transforming power is to go out into all the world. From dining rooms to boardrooms to schoolrooms to courtrooms, and yes, even to palaces and White Houses. And just who do you suppose are the ones entrusted and charged with taking it there?
Pretending that the fate of our civilization is of no eternal significance is stupidly shortsighted, and it foolishly collapses backwards into the “in, but not of” philosophy. Of course the collapse of the United States of America does nothing to end the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Of course the disciples faced far worse conditions than we would face even if the nation we live in ceased to exist tomorrow. But just because the Gospel will survive doesn’t mean that the collapse of our civilization wouldn’t be a victory for Satan in his efforts to hamper the Great Commission.
Hewitt highlights that Sudanese Christians being tortured to death will not be helped by a shackled and empty American church. Starving throngs in the third world will not be fed both physically and spiritually by non-existent missionaries, prevented to travel either by hostile economic or spiritual conditions here. Orphanages and widow’s homes across the globe run by the compassion and financial investment of Christians will be strangled of support and shuttered should our civilization disappear.
Stop perpetuating the lie that God’s truth applies only within the church walls or in a “religiously oriented” profession. It applies everywhere, all the time.
The second reason we retreat from our culture isn’t born of ignorance like the first. Instead it’s born of fear. We are scared of the conflict that we will encounter, either because of our reserved personality or because we make the assumption that conflict is automatically counterproductive to the message of Christ. It’s funny how we come to that conclusion since Jesus didn’t think so. In fact, Jesus told us to expect it if we are faithful to Him:
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”[iii]
“You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”[iv]
“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”[v]
Why would Jesus do that to us? The answer is pretty simple and pretty motivating. He had an urgent message that needed to be proclaimed without reservation to the very ends of the earth. He needed it proclaimed from rooftops and mountaintops, pulpits and lecterns, doctors’ offices, hospital rooms, nurseries, flower shops, dance halls, bars and brothels, abortion clinics, gay pride parades, Congressional hearings, town hall meetings, phone calls and at bedsides.
And He entrusted us with the privilege of being His messengers, no matter the place, no matter the time, no matter the cost. Truth is truth and we are called to speak it.
