Christian evangelicals are bracing for a political tug-of-war as the clock runs down to Election Day. On one side are politically active evangelicals working to make a difference in the political and cultural spheres by taking a principled stand on issues and defending those stands when necessary. On the other side are politically passive evangelicals calling to "depoliticize" Christianity to avoid offending those who disagree.
The Alliance Defense Fund, or ADF, a pro-family legal defense group, is challenging unconstitutional restrictions placed upon pastors by the Internal Revenue Code. ADF released an initiative May 9 presenting a focused effort to "reclaim freedom for the pulpit."
Through this project, ADF is "seeking pastors to preach from the pulpit a sermon that will address the candidates for government office in light of the truth of Scripture" on Sept. 28, a day designated as "Pulpit Freedom Sunday." According to ADF, "Churches and pastors have a constitutional right to speak freely and truthfully from the pulpit, even on candidates and voting, without fearing loss of their tax exemption."
On the other side of the evangelical ideological divide, a consortium of leaders, portending to be peacemakers in search of civil discourse, issued an "Evangelical Manifesto" May 7 at the National Press Club. The document includes a reasonable statement of faith, but employs enough doublespeak to give one pause.
In a clear affront to Christian law organizations working to protect religious liberties, the manifesto states, "Unlike some other religious believers, we do not see insults and attacks on our faith as 'offensive' and 'blasphemous' in a manner to be defended by law, but as part of the cost of our discipleship that we are to bear without complaint or victim-playing."
Conservative evangelicals involved in defending freedom and human dignity are subtly characterized as "politicizing faith" by being coercive in imposing beliefs and behaviors on others. This results in the manifesto's charge to both "reaffirm our identity" and improve the image of the evangelical movement.
In spite of the fact that Christian free speech is under attack in education, employment, media and the military, the document's authors "repudiate" those whom they view as giving a "preferred place in public life to one religion which in almost all most current cases would be the Christian faith."
In the present climate of intimidation and threat toward liberty being leveled against those upholding both Scripture and constitutional freedom, it is ironic that a select group of evangelical leaders would embark on a public relations effort to discourage Christians from speaking out politically six months before a major election. This "call to inaction" is particularly troublesome in light of the fact that two of the three presidential contenders voted against banning the horrendous partial-birth abortion procedure.
The manifesto states, "All too often we have attacked the evils and injustices of others, such as the killing of the unborn." It calls "for an expansion of our concern beyond single-issue politics, such as abortion and marriage."
While all can agree there are many issues of concern to Christians in today's world, we also ought to agree that we have a firm responsibility to intervene politically for the victims of infanticide, since that is the level at which such practices are either protected or banned. And downplaying the grisly nature of partial-birth abortion and similar violations of human life and dignity in the name of "civility" is a gross misrepresentation of our calling as followers of Christ.
Placing the sacrifice of Christ on the same level as caring for the earth and artistic endeavors, the authors state, "All too often we have concentrated on great truths of the Bible, such as the cross of Jesus, but have failed to apply them to other biblical truths, such as creation. In the process we have impoverished ourselves, and supported a culture broadly careless about the stewardship of the earth and negligent of the arts and the creative centers of society."
The manifesto calls for evangelicals to enter into civil discourse with those holding other belief systems, including atheists. This is well and good. The problem arises when the manifesto implies that evangelicals should not offend those of other faiths with their differences. The manifesto states, "… we repudiate those who believe their way is the only way and the way for everyone."
Since the Gospel proclaims that Christ alone is the way to salvation, it follows that in order to avoid offense, evangelicals must silence themselves. This results in an emasculated gospel – in essence, no gospel at all.
In his book "Redefining Christianity," pastor and author Bob DeWaay states: "The world will never reject or persecute a version of 'Christianity' that reflects its own wants, needs and values. A non-confrontive 'gospel' is a popular gospel."
Concern over image is at the epicenter of the "Evangelical Manifesto." Yet Christ distinctly said the world would hate us, and it was precisely His and the apostles' activism that offended. They spoke the truth in love addressing moral issues like homosexuality and describing marriage between a man and a woman as being representative of Christ and the church. They spoke the truth of the Gospel in love. The sick were healed through their love, yet those who saw their actions and heard their words hated them.
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations …teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (Emphasis added).
Should Christians share the truths of Scripture? Should pastors step to the fore in leading the charge to speak out on the same issues that Christ and the apostles did?
Not only do they have a right under the Constitution to do so, but most importantly, God commands it.
And the world needs to hear it.
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Olivia St. John is a freelance writer with almost 20 years of experience as a home educator. Her work has been featured in several online publications and she is currently working on a book promoting home education.