The Christian’s duty in a revolutionary age (part 2)
Last week we summarized the extraordinary, unprecedented and cultural, philosophical, and theological overturn of Western Civilization’s basic foundational values in a breathtakingly rapid period of time.
More and more Americans of sufficient age (old enough to have some memory of the 1960s) increasingly realize that far too many Americans have taken a wrong turn and it has devastated our entire culture. Instead of heeding God’s laws (the Decalogue) and shouldering our responsibilities and fulfilling our obligations, they have allowed liberty to descend into mere license, focused entirely on “rights” and “privileges.” The American landscape is littered with the real and virtual corpses of the resulting victims—children, spouses, parents, neighbors, etc.
More and more Americans also sense that American culture is reaching a critical moment, “a fork in the road moment,” when a culture takes a direction from which it is difficult, if not virtually impossible, to retrace and rectify.
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In the 2008 election cycle, former President Obama traveled the country proclaiming that he wanted to “remake” America. His opponents responded with their desire to “restore” America, addressing her shortcomings, but maintaining her basic foundations.
The eight years of the Obama presidency demonstrated that he was not speaking rhetorically, but quite literally in his intentions. I have been asked many times, “how do you explain the unprecedented phenomenon of Donald Trump as a successful presidential candidate?” My answer, “Barack Obama!” “President Obama fomented so much change at so radical a pace, President Trump was the living, breathing ‘backlash’!” Without Barack Obama there never would have been a President Trump.
Couple that with President Biden’s extremely liberal governmental programs (perhaps the most liberal president in American history) and you have the extremely volatile political and social “culture storm” that Americans find themselves currently experiencing.
As Christians, it is imperative that we start with a renewed and deeper understanding that the “Kingdom of God embraces every aspect of life: ethical, spiritual, and temporal.”[1] We must recover a comprehensive understanding of Christian truth and its applicability to every area of life.
As born-again believers, we must allow the Holy Spirit to disciple us into the spiritual reality that Jesus has commanded us as believers to be the “salt” of the earth and the “light” of the world (Matt. 5:13-16).
As “salt” we must be a moral preservative against the decay of sin, the corrupting influence of the prince of darkness. As light, we are to be used to penetrate the darkness, to light the way to life and purpose. There is no room in being obedient to the command of our Savior for withdrawal from engagement with the culture. The obedient Christian must be in the world (salt must make contact with what it preserves or purifies) and light which is to “shine before men,” but not of the world (James 1:27).
Whatever the issue at hand, sexuality, the sanctity of human life, racism, marriage, human freedom, etc., we as Christians must strive to have what Helmut Thielicke, a theologian from an earlier generation called “simultaneity.” In other words, to be faithful to our Lord’s mandate, it must never be “either/or,” but always “both/and”—salt and light.
Let us all resolve to follow our Savior’s example and be about our Heavenly Father’s business. As changed people, let us help other changed people change the world. And when distractions tempt us, remember that though
“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”
[1] Charles Colson, Kingdoms in Conflict (Grand Rapids; Zondervan, 1987) 86-87.
[2] Robert Frost, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.
Dr. Richard Land, BA (magna cum laude), Princeton; D.Phil. Oxford; and Th.M., New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, was president of the Southern Baptists’ Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (1988-2013) and has served since 2013 as president of Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, NC. Dr. Land has been teaching, writing, and speaking on moral and ethical issues for the last half century in addition to pastoring several churches. He is the author of The Divided States of America, Imagine! A God Blessed America, Real Homeland Security, For Faith & Family and Send a Message to Mickey.
