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June 2003 Issue

Contending for Righteousness
Pastors and Public Policy
by David Roach

Pastors have a Scriptural mandate to contend for justice and righteousness in the arena of public policy, according to Ken Connor and R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

At a time when many Christian ministers hesitate to apply the Scriptures to political issues, these two prominent evangelical leaders have devoted significant portions of their ministries to contending for Christian truth in the public square — a practice they say is demanded by the Bible.

"The Scripture tells us that we are to occupy the world and to essentially try to fashion a society that reflects the righteousness and justice of God," said Connor, who serves as president of the Family Research Council, a leading pro-family public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. "I think what has happened, sadly, in our society is through a misunderstanding of the role of church and state, too many of our pastors have bought into this notion of so-called radical separation.

"But in truth, it seems to me that the Scripture is emphatic that our faith should permeate all areas around us to build a moral and social consensus that reflects the justice and righteousness of God."

For Connor, this commitment to cultural engagement has translated into a lifelong ministry of Christian activism. As a young trial lawyer in Florida, the works of Francis Schaeffer heavily influenced Connor, and he developed passion for relating Christian truth to public policy.

"As a Christian and a lawyer who was profoundly influenced by Dr. Francis Schaeffer, I've had a keen interest in helping people to understand how our Christian faith has had such a significant and positive impact on the form of government that we have and the nature of the freedoms that we enjoy," he said.

This passion for worldview studies led Connor to become increasingly involved in public policy work. While in Florida, Connor chaired the State of Florida Commission on Ethics and served on the State Constitution Revision Commission. Additionally, he served as president and chairman of the board for Florida Right to Life and vice chairman of Americans United for Life.

In 1994, Connor was a contender for the Republican nomination for governor of the state of Florida. In 2000 he was named president of the Family Research Council — a position where he regularly articulates a Christian worldview in the national media.

Through these years of public policy engagement, Connor has emphasized the need for Christians, and pastors in particular, to relate Christian truth to public policy.

"As Christians I think we have a unique perspective and a unique obligation to bring our worldview to bear in the culture, not only because of our desire to see men and women, boys and girls come to Christ, but because the values that inhere in the Christian tradition...wind up helping to accord the greatest freedom and the greatest protection to all members of a pluralistic society," Connor said.

As president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and a prominent evangelical spokesman in the media, Mohler also urges pastors to confront American public policy with the Christian worldview.

"There is a political dimension to every meaningful area of life, and certainly when it comes to the shape of our culture, the structure of our laws, and the vision of our society, that is an issue of deep Christian concern," said Mohler. "And it must be of direct concern to one who would lead the church as pastor."

Delivering the keynote address at the Salem Communications Talk Show Conference in Washington, D.C. in March, Mohler urged Christian leaders to adopt a political theology similar to that of the fourth century church father Augustine in this classic book The City of God.

Augustine taught that Christians are simultaneously to live as citizens of the city of man and citizens of the city of God, Mohler said. The Christian's supreme calling is to love God and to love those He has created. The Christian must take care, however, not to love the city of man for its own sake.

"We are to love the city of God and we are to love those who are in the city of man. We are not to love both cities, but we are for the sake of the Creator, to love those whom He has created — the citizens of the kingdom of man," Mohler told conference attendees.

He continued, "The proper proportion is difficult to achieve. The danger is that we will confuse the one city for the other and exchange the one love for the other. The only way to achieve this proper proportion is to make certain that we who are Christians set our sights on the city of heaven and measure our citizenship in the city of man by the revealed Word given us from the heavenly city."

Both Connor and Mohler highlight several issues they say pastors must speak to in the city of man. Paramount among these issues is the sanctity of human life, a topic they say no faithful pastor can fail to address.

"The whole concept of imago Dei is essential to retain if we're going to resist the onslaught of biotechnology that would effectively turn people into products and if we're going to contend for social justice for unborn children who are being slaughtered by the millions in this country," Connor said.

Among the specific issues pastors must address are abortion, cloning, embryo research, and euthanasia, according to Mohler. Additionally, pastors should be prepared to speak to issues dealing with the homosexual agenda and social justice.

Pastors should heed a word of caution before addressing these issues though, Connor said. "The biggest red flag to avoid is to have a pastor endorse or affirm a particular candidate in a particular election," he said.

In addition, "pastors do well...to speak in areas where the Scripture speaks. And they do well when they speak with the authority of a pastor ... to limit themselves to areas where the Scripture has a unique point of view to offer."

By speaking to issues where the Bible is silent, Connor warned, pastors run the risk of undermining their credibility and diluting their authority as ministers of the gospel.

These cautions ought not, however, deter pastors from speaking boldly on difficult issues, said Mohler. "Certainly according to IRS guidelines, the church cannot give primary attention to the endorsement of a candidate, but there are situations in which a minister will inevitably speak to issues in a way that will implicitly if not explicitly imply a favored position or candidate."

Mohler concluded, "We need to return to a pattern whereby the Scripture sets the agenda. And if a faithful pastor will just preach through the Scripture, he is going to preach texts that deal directly with issues such as the sanctity of human life, the demands of justice, the distinction between righteousness and unrighteousness, and the dignity and freedom of human beings before God.

"With that as a framework, the pastor then needs to look at the issues of the day where those biblical imperatives are being challenged or denied or compromised."

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