In my 45 years as a journalist I cannot recall a member of Congress so passionately urging conservative Christians to get involved in the making of public policy. Sen. Joshua Hawley’s impassioned plea for Christian involvement is welcomed, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court’s disgraceful ruling in the Bostick v. Clayton County case in which it redefined “sex” as written in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In its ruling, the court said “sex” no longer means “male” and “female” as biological facts, but rather must now include “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”
The implications of this judicial travesty, biological mendaciousness and theological heresy for employment, education and religion will be profound. Christian-run businesses, schools, nursing homes, adoption and foster care agencies and women’s athletics will be impacted. By siding with the homosexual and transgender plaintiffs, the court has put any objections to such lifestyles in the same category as antisemitism and racism. We are now bigots.
“Our legal regime has repudiated the Book of Genesis and the scriptural account of God as Creator,” said R.R. Reno, editor of the Christian journal, First Things. “This puts our law on a collision course with human nature. If we continue on this course, the word used to describe the legal and social reality of this collision will be totalitarianism.”
Such a threat to our freedom demands a strong rebuke from our political leaders, especially those like Hawley whose faith in Christ is supreme.
“(I)t’s not time for religious conservatives to shut-up,” Hawley said in his speech from the Senate floor. “No, we’ve done that for too long. No, it’s time for religious conservatives to stand up and to speak out. It’s time for religious conservatives to bring forward the best of our ideas on every policy affecting this nation. We should be out in the forefront leading on economics, on trade, on race, on class, on every subject that matters for what our founders called the ‘general welfare,’ because we have a lot to offer, not just to protect our own rights; but for the good of all of our fellow citizens; because as religious believers, we know that serving our fellow citizens; – of whatever their religious faith, whatever their commitments may be – serving them, aiding them, working for them, is one of the signature ways that we show our love of neighbor.”
I share Hawley’s passion on this matter. As far as I’m concerned, the U.S. Supreme Court called God “a liar” with its decision. The Bible is clear in what God did when He created a man and a woman. It is not subject to interpretation and God certainly did not get it wrong. “The Supreme Court does not override and will never overturn the Word of God,” said evangelist Franklin Graham. “One day we will all have to stand before God, the Righteous Judge, whose decisions are not based on politics or the whims of culture. His laws are true and are the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
The Bible is full of examples of God’s representatives appealing to government authorities. Moses appealed to Pharaoh, Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar and Darius, Paul to the Roman authorities and Peter to the Jewish leaders. John the Baptist was not beheaded because he preached the gospel. He was beheaded because he “called out” King Herod for sleeping with his brother’s wife (Matt. 14:1-12).
Romans 13:1-7 instructs Christians to be good citizens of the state “for conscience sake” because God has ordained government. It is one of only three God-ordained institutions, along with the family and the Church. Christians are also commanded to be the “salt” of the earth and the “light” of the world in Matthew 5:13-16. Thus Christian citizens should be actively engaged in the marketplace of ideas.
But how?
1. Register to vote and urge fellow believers to do so as well.
2. Support godly candidates and if God calls, run for office.
3. Vote and vote biblical values
4. Pray. Pray for our government leaders to pass God-honoring laws.
When we bring our religious and moral convictions into the public marketplace of ideas we are being Baptists in the finest tradition. There would have been no abolitionist and anti-slavery movement without the leadership and support of people of faith. There would have been no child labor reform movement without the impetus of religious conviction. There would have been no civil rights movement without the moral imperative provided by people of religious conviction.
The awful ruling by the Supreme Court reminds us of the disastrous consequences of what happens without a Christian witness in the marketplace of ideas.