Tim Wildmon

AFA president

May 2002 – “When the church takes a stance that emphasizes political activism and social moralizing, it always diverts energy and resources away from evangelization,” writes popular Bible teacher Dr. John MacAurthur in his book Why Government Can’t Save You. 

“No it doesn’t,” writes not-so-popular columnist Tim Wildmon in the May, 2002, issue of the AFA Journal.

Yeah, that was me quoting myself in the above sentence. I’ve never done that before. I just thought I sounded more authoritative that way. By the way, I don’t know anyone who believes government can save us in any kind of spiritual sense, do you? If so, please ask them to contact me; I’d like to talk to them. 

Dr. MacArthur’s book, published in 2000, was brought to my attention while reading another book, Why You Can’t Stay Silent, by Tom Minnery. I would highly recommend Minnery’s book, by the way. It makes the case solidly for Christian activism and engagement of the culture to help bring about change. It contains both biblical and common sense. Not that the two are separate anyway. 

But it’s the philosophy of MacArthur and other Christian leaders who believe as he does that bothers me. He argues, using the Bible as his authority, that for a Christian to be involved in government, politics or social moralizing, at best, has no eternal value and, at worst, is a sin. MacArthur says it’s temporal.

AFA, although not named, would be in the “social moralizing” camp, and so we are the ones taking away energy and resources that could be better used in evangelistic efforts. 

This made me think if giving time and money to organizations like AFA which stand for biblical righteousness is taking away from the Kingdom of God, wouldn’t also eating out, watching TV or taking a vacation fall into that category? In fact, anything that is not aimed at evangelization is by definition taking away from evangelism, if you follow MacArthur’s reasoning. 

MacArthur even writes of Christians, “We are to obey every civil authority, no matter how immoral, cruel, ungodly, or incompetent he or she may be.” I don’t believe that. Hitler? Forget it. Stalin? Nope. He also states, in making his case against Christians involving themselves in government, that the people of the former Soviet Union were wrong to abandon Communism, and the reason they have a high crime rate in Russia today is because they disobeyed God. Huh? 

He continues this theme by writing that, “…the United States was actually born out of a violation of New Testament principles, and any blessings that God has bestowed on America have come in spite of that disobedience by the Founding Fathers.” Bet you never considered America an illegitimate country, did you? 

While Dr. MacArthur makes some valid arguments in the book, particularly about our attitude as Christians in a hostile world, I think his thesis is wrong. I believe Christians should be involved in government, politics and social moralizing and to do so is a noble and honorable investment of our time, energy and resources. We are a nation of laws and somebody is going to make those laws, based on their view or collective views of morality and justice. What MacArthur and folks who believe as he does teach is that Christians have a biblical obligation to obey the law, but to spend time trying to shape, influence or mold that law is wasted time that should be spent preaching the gospel. Huh? Makes no sense to me. 

There is more to serving God than evangelizing. Certainly it’s among our top priorities, but not the only thing that is important. For example, how about defending freedom and liberty in the public square as we do at the AFA Center for Law and Policy? If we don’t go into the courtrooms of America to defend religious freedom, we may lose our right to proclaim the gospel. If we don’t fight the pornography industry, we will see more marriages destroyed and more children sexually molested. When we promote legislation that upholds the sanctity of human life, certainly we are honoring God and His creation. 

I believe that to be an American is a blessing from God. I believe God has given us this country and all its benefits and continues to ask us: What will you do with this gift?