One Voice for Public Policy | September 2019
Dear Christian Friends,
“… creator of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”
It will come as no surprise to anyone when I say that the pace of change in our society has been, and continues to be, dizzying! In fact, so many elements of our cultural foundation have been overturned or called into question that it has become tempting to withdraw from the cultural conversation / battle entirely . . . to stop even trying to understand what’s at the heart of it all . . . to stop investing effort in reigning in its many excesses. And for pastors especially, it’s tempting to pretend that we might be justified in our lack of engagement because “these changes don’t have a direct connection to the Christian Gospel, the proclamation of which is, after all, our primary calling.” But nothing could be further from the truth!
Granted, today’s cultural radicals generally do not directly attack the person and work of Jesus (2nd Article) or the person and work of the Holy Spirit (3rd Article), but they most certainly do attack the person and work of God the Father, “creator of heaven and earth” (1st Article). And why do they do so? They do so because they know as we do that the 1st Article serves as the necessary foundation for and the logical precursor of the two Articles which follow. Which is to say, they choose this as their target because they understand that to the same degree they can entice a person to God’s creative powers, that person will also question His redeeming and sanctifying powers.
And so we can understand why the radicals have been so militant, for example, in advocating the teaching of evolutionary theory in public schools and the popular media while studiously ignoring the accumulating mountain of scientific evidence which now confirms the complete inadequacy of mutation and natural selection to explain the living world as we know it.
We can understand why, even in the face of natural law and millennia of lived human experience, the binary nature of human sexuality has been rejected along with the obvious complementarity of males and females.
We can understand why, having rejected the role of parents as the primary authority in the life of their children, they now push the State to mandate a new and radical sex-ed curricula in public schools which would effectively prevent children from developing the stable self-identity so essential to living a healthy and God-pleasing life. Indeed, taken as a whole, we understand why they are investing so heavily in a concerted effort to completely dismantle and redefine reality.
So, what are we to do in the face of such radical and multifaceted cultural project?
1. It is essential that we return to the Bible
We must return to that one source from which we receive reliable information both about ourselves as human beings, about the created world in which we live, and about the God who created that world and us. In short, we need to be serious about being ‘in the Word.”
Both we and our children need to be proactive in divorcing ourselves from those elements of our culture (schools, media outlets, and social and political organizations) which seem so intent on contradicting the Scriptures, and in particular, fostering doubt in God’s creative power.
2. We need to be regular in our prayer and strategic in our teaching
We should be regularly including petitions in our corporate worship which ask God to restrain these efforts to distort God’s good, created order and seizing opportunities in our preaching and teaching to point to the many evidences of God’s creative power.
Take the time to familiarize yourself with the compelling new scientific evidence which now so effectively discredits the basic claim of classic Darwinism, namely, that mutation and natural selection have the capacity to imitate the effects of a creative mind. (A key resource you might use is the new book Darwin Devolves by Michael Behe.)
3. We need to seek out reliable sources of news and commentary
It’s important to stay current with our swiftly changing cultural circumstances. To that end, allow me to recommend three sources I’ve found to be concise, timely and trustworthy:
The Colson Center. In particular, let me point you to their “Breakpoint Daily” offering. I’ve found it to be consistently accurate and insightful in dealing with the most pressing issues of the day from an orthodox Christian perspective. I highly recommend it!
Want to take more action?
Consider attending the . . .
Protect Kids Rally
1:30 - 3:30 p.m., September 22
At the Minnesota State Capitol
More details – go to ProtectKidsRally.com
This rally will focus on one particularly dangerous piece of legislation, MN HF 1414, which would mandate “Comprehensive Sex Education” (CSE) for every preK – 12 student in every MN school district. CSE is intended to normalize all forms of gender identity, teach about having sex outside of marriage, and encourage other harmful sexual behaviors.
OR
MN House (informal) Hearing on a proposal to legalize physician-assisted suicide (PAS)
1:00 p.m., September 11
Room 200, State Office Building, St. Paul
Anti-PAS attendees are asked to “wear red”
For more details – go to the Minnesota Family Council – mfc.org
May the Lord continue to bless your ministry to God’s people.
In Christ,
Rev. Fred Hinz
LCMS Public Policy Advocate
Minnesota South & North Districts
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod