I do believe that it has been on the plane of ideas that the process of the secularization of culture began,
and that is only by a change of ideas that this process can be reversed.
~ Christopher Dawson, The Historic Reality of Christian Culture
Over the past several decades, we have witnessed two problems unfold in the Christian community that are deeply impacting our country’s political climate. The first is a surface-level problem – a lack of Christians participating in the voting process and engaging in politics. The second, deeper issue explains why the first problem exists at all – a lack of teachings in the church that inform and equip believers to defend biblical views on political topics in the public square. Engaging in politics is a biblical calling that the church must answer. At FPIW, we recognize both of these problems in the modern church and are prepared to help solve them.
Solving Problem #1. The first issue, that of believers not engaging in the political process, can be addressed through several of our informational booklets: Why Vote?, Vote the Bible, Just Preach the Gospel?, and Strategic Plan. These booklets equip believers to take action in the public square and provide a direction for Washington residents to get involved. We are also in the process of developing a groundbreaking new app that will allow Christians to stay up-to-date on Washington news, connect with like-minded believers, and engage in local politics both practically and efficiently.
Solving Problem #2. The second, deeper issue relates to how we defend our beliefs. We need to equip ourselves with a sharp cultural apologetic to engage in debate; merely citing a Bible verse is not enough in a culture that does not recognize Holy Scripture as an authority. This second problem needs to be addressed not just individually by believers, but by the church as a whole. We need pastors to rise up and disciple their congregations on how to defend biblical beliefs on hot-button issues, such as parental rights, marriage, and abortion. Too many in the church are content with surface-level understandings of these issues and are never encouraged or taught how to dig deeper. New research confirms that the number of Christians with a solid understanding of the biblical worldview is continuing to decline at a rapid pace. George Barna, Director of Research at Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center, explains:
“[O]ur research is showing the average American combines nine different worldviews to get to their own customized worldview,” “They’re drawing ideas from many different places [such as] post-modernism, secular humanism, eastern mysticism, Wicca, Satanism … Marxism, and putting them together into a customized blend that makes us feel comfortable, that makes us feel secure or safe, that we see other people adopting so we know it’s popular. … Those are based primarily on emotion and circumstance, and so they can change willy-nilly. What we really want people to do is to recognize there’s a source of unchanging truth that is God. God defines truth. We want to be aligned with that truth because it honors and glorifies him, but it’s also in our best interests.” (emphasis added)
Citing a bible verse to justify your position is not sufficient in this day and age – Christians need to be equipped to logically, factually, and soundly defend their beliefs in the public square. We need to strengthen the church’s teachings on the biblical worldview and prepare both children and adults to enter the world and defend their faith. The following booklets can help pastors and believers better understand the Christian perspective on critical political issues: Parental Rights, Defining Marriage, Pro-Life Logic, and When Jesus Is Not on the Ballot. (More booklets are coming!) In each booklet there is, for example, a Debate section where the reader is equipped with how to reply with logic to common criticism from a secular, godless culture.
If you recognize these problems in the church as well and would like to be part of the solution, please consider joining our team of Defenders.
- Want to Change Our Culture? 500,000 DEFENDER Prayer Warriors Are Needed.
- Want to be Heard in Olympia? 200,000 DEFENDER Activists for Political Power Are Needed.
- Want to Change Washington’s Laws? 450,000 DEFENDER Signers of Initiatives & Referendums Are Needed.
- Want Lasting Change? 1.7 Million DEFENDER Voters for Conservative Candidates Are Needed.
Join us! Please sign up to become a DEFENDER today.
