1. The American Revolution - Case study in Christian activism – from John Adams diary

“We see every day that our imaginations are so strong and our reason so weak, the charms of wealth and power so enchanting, and the belief of future punishments so faint that men find ways to persuade themselves to believe any absurdity, to submit to any prostitution, rather than forgo their wishes and desires. Their reason becomes at last an eloquent advocate on the side of their passions, and [they] bring themselves to believe that black is white, and that vice is virtue, that folly is wisdom and eternity a moment…”

The diary of John Adams, Sunday, Feb. 9,1772.

The actions and writings of Adams, and the great majority of America’s founding fathers, reveals a deep commitment to the God of the Bible. In his time, faith had been fanned into a powerful flame by The Great Awakening of 1730-1760. From this spiritual revival emerged the authors of the most remarkable institution of government since theocracy of the Old Testament. They translated Biblical truths about freedom, liberty, justice, and the fallen nature of man into a radical new vision for the American colonies and literally risked all they had to bring it to reality, entrusting it to the care of succeeding generations.

Their Christian peers, of various denominations, believed in these principles so strongly that they were willing to lay down their lives if necessary to fight for the formation of a government based on those principles. We American Christians and Jews, of all of the many people on earth, have a particular responsibility for guarding that sacred trust, by virtue of our reverence for Freedom’s Author.

As Adams and many of his contemporaries wrote, the challenges to this Biblical concept of freedom are ever present. The desire for power, wealth, and pleasure continually seduce the unwary and undisciplined, and erode their ability to see the truth as God has revealed it. In place of the truth, they progressively accept the interpretations of the secular thinkers, gradually loosing the means of discerning vice from virtue, and eventually becoming “…senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”, Rom. 1:31 as evidenced by our ever worsening cycle of depravity, violence, and abuse of power.

Nowhere is the abuse of power more evident in America than in the erosion of the safeguards found in our federal and state constitutions, which protect our liberties and religious freedoms. The unconstitutional expansion (read usurpation) of government power is increasingly being directed at the most enduring bulwark of democracy, which is Christ’s Body, the Church.

These abuses, largely by secularists, are often subtle, appearing in various new laws that deserve to be exposed to the light of scripture. Will the Church continue be ”…the light of the world” as the Savior declared Mat 5:14, and if so, how?

2. Why we the church often do not engage - Why it is “we” who must engage

Speaking for the founding fathers, in the midst of the Revolutionary War, James Madison said, “We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-governance; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.” 1778

Madison, later known as the “Chief Architect of the Constitution”, the man who introduced the Bill of Rights, and the 4^th President of the United States, was another of the passionate students of God’s word who crafted a Biblical foundation for our system of government. Where, but in the scripture, do we learn what the Declaration of Independence expresses “…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

For the first time in history, a covenant unanimously attested by multiple provincial governments declared, “We hold these truths to be self-evident…” To whom could they be self-evident other that a community of Bible believing Christians and a small number of Jews? These Biblical “truths” had escaped the attention of all pagan people throughout history, and continues to do so.

Thirteen years after the Declaration of Independence was signed, the U.S. Constitution was also drafted. Daily deliberations opened with fervent prayer for the providential guidance of the triune God, with many of the delegates on their knees. Over half of the signers were divinity college graduates representing their various colonies. The result was a divinely inspired framework for an orderly society that has been frequently imitated but never improved.

Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength … Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mar 12:30-31 According to Jesus, this is the bedrock of all just law. It is the very foundation of America’s admittedly imperfect efforts at justice. Notably absent from Jesus’ statement is any reference to a hierarchy of superior men or system of laws of human origin eligible for “commandment “status. Those things have been the hallmark of all the man-made systems of government since the beginning.

Our founding fathers acknowledged that the rights of the people, identified in our Constitution, were granted by the creator God alone, not the government, lest anyone should try to curtail them. A delicate balance of authority within different branches of government was created to prevent abuse of power. The Constitution was drafted to preserve the balance of power as well as protect the individuals’ and the states’ rights. Yet the American citizen ultimately has the responsibility of preserving the Constitution by insisting that it be respected by those in authority. As Thomas Jefferson said, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance”.

So why have we Christians been self-conscious about exercising our constitutional rights as Americans and executing our civic responsibilities collectively as members of Christ’s body? Why do some of us believe that the Church must separate itself from the front line battle for the preservation of Judeo/Christian morality? Evidently, it is because we have been instructed numerous times that whatever spills into the realm of government is political and therefore outside of the boundaries of “the spiritual”. Perhaps we should be asking whether there is any aspect of life which is not now vulnerable to such secularization.

Are we now persuaded by the infamously misrepresented quotation from an obscure 1802 letter of Thomas Jefferson, which refers to “a wall of separation between church and state”? An expanded acquaintance with that letter actually reinforces the fact that our constitution protects religious freedom from intrusion by the federal government, while it never even implies that any of our government bodies is somehow insulated from the overwhelming influence of Christianity upon it. The tide of proof supporting this conclusion is so vast and the evidence to the contrary so conspicuously missing that Jefferson’s quote alone has been made to serve as the single pillar for a massive separationist world-view. It is as if they sought to support the Queen Mary on a marshmallow.

The separationists have persistently attempted to twist Jefferson’s meaning into the exact opposite of what he said. And how could they not mislead people this way? Since their goal is to make man and not God the ultimate source of all truth and authority, and the final arbiter of morality, there is no alternative but to misrepresent, marginalize, or muzzle those whose God is the Lord. As Adams said, “Their reason becomes at last an eloquent advocate on the side of their passions.”

Will we be deceived by the tumult of secular voices purporting that it is inappropriate for the faith community to voice a world-view opposed to theirs? Clearly we, who revere the Trinitarian theology on which the Constitution rests, have the right to engage in its preservation. After all, it is those who oppose that theology who publicly declare that the Constitution is evolving daily according to the latest trend in secular thought. Who but God’s faithful have the guidance of the Holy Spirit and therefore the obligation to protect the precious heritage enshrined in it?

3. Oregon’s experience – Defense of Marriage M36 – SB2 & HB2007

As we consider the words of John Adams, we wonder, how we can know which influence will prove to be fatally seductive and which folly masquerading as wisdom warrants opposition from within our congregations. Man’s foolish ideas are as numerous as the stars after all. Are they neatly listed in order of importance somewhere such as the Book of Proverbs? God knows that such a list is impossible, so instead, he gives us a framework for discernment. “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.” Pro. 3:7

To paraphrase both the Scripture and John Adams, when, men do what is right in their own eyes it is usually the result of wish fulfillment rather than reason. If, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” Pro. 1:7, perhaps we need to shift our focus entirely to what God emphasizes, in order to discern what hills we should be willing to die on to defend His Church.

The emerging anti-Christian world-view we face is intensifying. It is not surprising that the conflict we see today between the Kingdom of God and of Darkness was clearly described in Genesis, and was over the same issues we face today, namely:

1. The supremacy of God and his status as creator and Lord of all creation

2. The sanctity of life

3. The sanctity of marriage and traditional family

4. The obligation of parents to raise godly children

5. The equality and dignity of the individual

6. The freedom to openly worship God according to our own conscience

Let’s amuse ourselves by considering a ridiculous, but not unprecedented, question. Should my pastor use the Sunday pulpit to mobilize opposition to a bill proposed in Congress to euthanize everyone over eighty years of age? Given the state of our social security system, this may not be so far fetched. If my pastor looks out at an elderly congregation every week, he may have no trouble in choosing his course of action. If he pastors a seeker-driven church predominantly under the age of forty, they probably know more about Dr. Kevorkian and Darwin’s survival of the fittest than about God’s delight over his creation. How does he determine what to do?

Another example to consider is a bill mandating the elevation of the GLBT lifestyle to the same level as Biblical marriage throughout our state and including aggressively pro-homosexual, bisexual, and transgendered indoctrination of public school children (not simple tolerance). What Christian congregation has so little respect for children that they would pay public schools to instruct them that sodomy and promiscuity are healthy behaviors?

Surprisingly, the majority of Christians have already done exactly that! The 2007 Oregon legislature controlled by the liberals, passed SB2, which, among other pro-gay milestones, mandates “A program of public education calculated to eliminate attitudes upon which practices of discrimination because of …sexual orientation… are based” Sect. 2 (1). It is not discrimination itself, but politically incorrect attitudes (read beliefs) that are being attacked. These are current events and no longer amusing hypotheses.

At the same time, our elected representatives and governor passed HB2007, which legalizes homosexual marriage. It violates Oregon’s Constitution amended in 2004 to define marriage as one man and one woman. How can such abuse of power be permitted?

Sadly, only about 30% of Oregon’s churches recognized the threat and held petition drives to refer this bill to the voters for repeal. With only 1100 more petition signatures SB2 would have been referred to the voters in November 2008. With only 96 more validated signatures the HB2007 referendum also would have succeeded. My purpose in delivering this gut-wrenching news is to empower churches to avoid this kind of disaster in the future.

4. Simple Steps for Engaging

One responsible step that all churches can take to “stand firm” Eph. 6:14, is to adopt written policies defining which doctrines of our faith are sufficiently important to defend, which issues to stand firm on. With a written policy drafted prayerfully by godly men the way our U.S. Constitution was, the appropriate steps will be easier to identify when a crisis occurs. Without this framework, the authority and parameters for making urgently needed decisions is uncertain, and the result is often inconsistent and contentious.

The Referendum and Initiative processes defined in Oregon’s Constitution allow a short time period within which to collect the tens of thousands of signatures required. Typically, by the time a bill is signed into law and is brought to the attention of the pastors and elders, there is little time to develop a general policy on petition drives and subsequently hold the actual drive, if that should be their decision. Often, the deadline for submitting petitions arrives before the elders have had sufficient meetings to determine the appropriate response. The discussion itself tends to be driven more by personal views than by a set of standards drafted in a calm setting, well before the urgency of a petition deadline.

Sadly, lack of preparation for this civic responsibility had much to do with the inaction of the Body of Christ in 2007. There is no doubt that it substantially reduced the number of signatures collected. The rate of signatures being submitted was accelerating throughout the 90 days allotted. Many congregations simply had not yet decided what to do. May we shepherd our flocks “... in a fitting and orderly way.” 1 Cor 14:40, anticipating the dangers and taking proactive steps.

Why is there a recent national tidal wave of this kind of legislation? Why were more Christians not made aware of the vital issues impacting their constitutional rights and given the opportunity to sign petitions at their churches? Have we invited the secularization (read paganization) of our society by our passivity? Will we tolerate any absurdity and submit to any abuse of power rather than stand firm as representatives of Christ for the sake of our children, each other, and our communities?

Developing a policy concerning “political activity” that results in a petition drive does not compel any church member or visitor to adopt certain ideas or take action. It only allows these ideas to be introduced so that the hearers may decide for themselves. “Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.” Rom 14:5b. As we have seen in many churches, there is a spirit of unity that transcends the many viewpoints found in most congregations.

Our Christian forefathers (men and women) had no delusions about the ever present threats to liberty and Christian morality. They believed what Jesus said in Mat 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” Where we see the Lord’s church being “trampled by men”, we should look for the loss of saltiness.

God grant that we not indulge ourselves in other passions and petty distractions and thereby invite enslavement. Let us instead, soberly consider our responsibilities and the issues confronting us.