The Lie that Silenced Christians
One of the most consequential lies Christians have bought into is that Christians shouldn't be speaking about political issues, that Jesus wouldn't take sides on the issues of our day and neither should we, that people of faith need to just "stay in their lane."
Evangelists have been convinced that while it’s okay to share the four spiritual laws, it’s somehow inappropriate to say anything about how the gospel impacts the way we think about the issues of our day. Christian apologists have largely been convinced that while it’s acceptable to share scientific evidence for intelligent design and historical evidence for Jesus’ death and resurrection, it’s “putting politics ahead of the gospel” to share how Jesus’ death and resurrection impact family life, economics, immigration, crime, and the role of government.
Pastors—who have been tasked with equipping the saints for every good work and who had previously provided wisdom, insight, and guidance for the whole Christian life—have been convinced that their only role today is to exegete the Scriptures—thereby speaking to the issues of Paul’s day—but not to provide any additional guidance for the unique issues of our day.
For 1900 years, Christians largely knew that Christianity is a comprehensive worldview. The metaphysical and historical realities of God’s creation and His work within creation ought to impact the way we think about every single issue. These realities ought to guide Christians in every field of study, every realm of society, and every issue of the day.
The understanding of Christianity as a comprehensive worldview led Christians to openly condemn practices like the gladiatorial games, pagan festivals, sexual exploitation, and funeral rites that ran contrary to Christian ethics. It led Christians like William Wilberforce to get involved in politics to abolish slavery. It led Christians like George Washington, John Adams, Patrick Henry, and John Jay to found the United States of America, built on Christian and natural law ethics. It led pastors all over America to call for the end of racism. And, thanks be to God, it continues to lead some Christians to speak to issues like IVF, AI, CRT, DEI, socialism, parental rights, child mutilation, and other policy issues today.
The problem is that because so many Christians have bought into the lie that we ought to have nothing to say to “political issues,” the Left typically only has to make an ethical issue into a political issue for Christians to stop speaking about it. And that’s exactly what the Left is all about. The Leftist ideology says that government should be in charge of everything, from your children’s education to your healthcare, to your stance on homosexuality, to your vaccine requirements, to where your charitable giving goes, to what you’re allowed to say and think.
Every issue is a political issue under Marxism. And so all it takes to end the impact of Christianity in a society is to convince Christians not to speak to political issues and then make every issue a political issue.
We have bought into the lies. We have been pawns in the Leftist game of chess. And if we don’t change all of that now, we will be the generation that lost the imperfect-yet-greatest nation for good the world has ever known.
