Darrell W. Robinson teaches that the Church has three principal responsibilities: to exalt the Savior, to equip the saints, and to evangelize the sinners. I definitely agree, as probably the vast majority of evangelical Christians would. But there is a lot of controversy over whether or not Christians (in America) should also take time to influence our society through social and political action. There are those who discourage it. They argue that it is a waste of time and resources that can be better spent on evangelism. There are even those who say that such political involvement is sinful because Scripture commands, “Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves” (Rom. 13:1-2 NASB). Are their conclusions right?
While Scripture commands us to submit to the governing authorities, there are reasonable exceptions. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to obey King Nebuchadnezzar’s command to bow to his idol. They were thrown into a fiery furnace, but God delivered them (Dan. 3). When push came to shove, they chose to obey God instead of man (Exod. 20:3-5; Deut. 5:7-9; Dan. 3:18). They practiced “civil disobedience.” That is not to be confused with rebellion. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not attempt to overthrow King Nebuchadnezzar; they simply disobeyed him. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul never attempted to overthrow the Roman and Jewish authorities that persecuted him, but through his gospel preaching, he obviously disobeyed them for the sake of Christ (Matt. 28:19; Rom. 1:16).
Much unlike biblical societies, America is a democracy where the people (both Christians and not) have the right and the power to influence their governing authorities by voting, petitioning, peacefully demonstrating, and speaking out. I believe those of us in the American Church should take full advantage of our legal rights, lest we lose them! By whatever nonviolent means possible, Christians should fight such politically-oriented national sins as legalized abortion on demand, same-sex marriages, pornography, physician-assisted suicide, tax-funded “safe sex” education, and many others. It also helps to boycott corporate sponsors of highly immoral entertainment and the products whose commercial ads are immoral too. We must contend for the legal rights of public school students and faculty to pray, witness, and read their Bibles in school (during non-instructional times of course)! Is any of that tantamount to rebellion, or even civil disobedience for that matter? I do not think so!
However, I do believe one reason why so few of those efforts seem to be successful is because the Church might be spending too much time and resources on those efforts in place of its greater responsibilities. Jesus told His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples [not moral, pro-family, pro-life conservatives] of all nations” (Matt. 28:19a Emphasis added). We can (and should) save lives by persuading women not to abort their unborn children, by peacefully demonstrating, and by voting only for pro-life political candidates, but those efforts will never save a lost person’s soul. We can (and should) help to keep children safer by throwing drugs, gangs, prostitution, and pornography out of our communities, but those efforts will never save a lost person’s soul either.
In summary, there is a place for political and social action in the Church, but it must never get in the way of the Church’s three principal responsibilities (exalting the Savior, equipping the saints, and evangelizing the sinners) which are more important indeed.
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