In our accountability group class yesterday at church our discussion started out about tomorrow being the 6th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As the topic shifted and new subjects were brought up I noticed that everyone in the group, myself included, seems to have their own opinion on what a Christian’s role in society is these days. Some seem to to feel that a Christian should pray for our government as commanded in the Bible but spend the rest of our time trying to spread the Gospel of Christ to the exclusion of getting involved in any politics. Others felt that while evangelism was important we still have a civic responsibility to promote candidates that support our beliefs.
This really got me to wondering, what does the Bible say our responsibility is in society? Should we support organizations such as the ACLJ? Or should we spend all of our free time witnessing to the unsaved among us? Do we stand up and fight against the homosexual agenda or do we stay in our prayer closet and continue to pray against it? Do we protest outside of abortion clinics or sit at home an pray for a change of heart in the doctor and nurses that work there? Do we voice our opinions or just keep them to ourselves and continue in prayer?
Right now I think a Christian should both pray about these things and then, after spending some time in earnest prayer seeking God’s Will, speak out and take an active role in the political and legal arenas. But, is that what God says? The Bible is clear in it’s command to pray for the government and to pray for the lost and seek to evangelize. And, to be perfectly honest, I think if the majority of Christians would just spend time, daily, in prayer for our world that things would change drastically. But is that enough? Should we do more than just pray? I’m unaware of any scriptures on our role in the realm of government/political activism. The only thing that comes to mind is:
- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
- Edmund Burke
But that quote says Edmund Burke under it, not God; so while it makes sense to me I’d still like to see what the scriptures say about it all. So, fire away people. Let me know what you think a Christian’s role is in our society.
