Capital Prayer Alert

A few days ago, I happened to be driving through some towns on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. For those of you unfamiliar with that area, I would describe it as very traditional, conservative, patriotic and quite different from the Washington, D.C., suburbs of Maryland or the city of Baltimore.

On the Eastern Shore, flags fly proudly, crosses appear on farms that dot the landscape, hunting is the favorite sport and there is a wonderful down-home quality to the people. They are straight forward, hardworking and genuine.

This drive, which is usually marked with those images, was instead jarred by new ones, which shook me out of my pleasant trip down memory lane. The small-town church had a gay pride flag flying out front. The local armory had a flashing sign begging people to come to a presentation for anyone interested in becoming a Maryland state trooper. And a roughly painted handmade sign in one yard read "Pray for America."

All told the drive was a startling reminder, a wake-up call of sorts.   And yet, should I have been surprised?   As a whole, the Church has begun to retreat from Biblical truths, law enforcement numbers are dwindling as respect for its officers has been undermined and there's a hunger out there to make things right, to pray for change.

And, pray we must. We are called to pray in all seasons and throughout the hours of our daily lives.   Pray we shall. But as men and women of faith we have the opportunity and the responsibility to also act.

To convince ourselves that we can go to church on Sunday, read the Bible and pray, and then expect that the culture around us will not take advantage of our absence from the civic and public policy battlefield is pure folly.

There are those in the Church who seem determined to keep the Church out of the great struggles in our culture that are raging around us. They are happy to encourage believers to bolster their faith walk by going deep in prayer and Bible studies and church work. And yes, we should be doing all of those.

But, if you have lived through the last two decades and have not noticed a hard turn away from Biblical truth and values, then you might just be a modern-day Rip Van Winkle, who fell asleep for years and woke up to a people and country he did not recognize. He had an excuse in his legendary sleep. We who have witnessed the last 20 years have no such excuse.

Disturbing as it is to admit to these extreme changes, there is a sense that the American people are coming out of our "sleep" and waking up to see a country that has gone astray. And there is a common thread in daily news stories that illustrates efforts to limit our rights in practicing and living out our faith and speaking out in the public square.

Something feels different as issues of freedom and personal rights reach critical mass. As residents of Northern Virginia, it feels like people all around us are now focused on issues related to government edicts of when and how churches could meet during COVID, school curriculum that undermines a Biblical worldview and the rights of parents to determine what their children are taught in the public schools.

In the midst of these days, too many churches have been AWOL in not encouraging their congregants to exercise their civic responsibilities to educate themselves and then to vote. In an understandable effort to stay out of partisan politics, too many churches have shied away from even encouraging civic engagement.

In doing so, those who disdain the Biblical worldview become more and more emboldened and move into the vacuum created by a nervous faith community. The result is that faith is marginalized, mocked and undermined, religious rights are narrowed and there are fewer opportunities to impact our culture.

In short, why should we be surprised by the trends we see?

When you look back at key moments in history, the Christians we remember and admire are those who engaged in the great moral issues of their times. Believers are embarrassed by the number of churches in Nazi Germany that brought swastikas into the sanctuary.

In contrast, men and women of faith are moved and emboldened by Dietrich Bonhoeffer's bravery in publicly resisting the Nazi dictatorship even to the point of imprisonment and death by hanging.

In our own country, how could Southern churches in the 1840's and 1850's not preach against slavery? And in his quest for equality, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., did not hesitate to appeal to the Scriptures as he called on America to fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence.

As for today, the Bible is clear on the definition of marriage, yet many American churches refuse to be clear in their teaching. Similarly, the sanctity of human life is crystal clear in the Bible, yet too many churches refuse to touch this issue. These are not "political issues." They are moral issues!

May I urge you to look at your home church through the lens of Biblical and moral clarity? Is your church engaged or afraid? Here are some ideas to start the discussion.

Invite the director of the local crisis pregnancy center to speak.
From an overseas missionary learn about the challenge of standing for Christ in a country with little religious freedom.
Ask your church to sponsor a forum for school board candidates.
Undertake a voter registration drive in the spring and a voter education drive in the fall. There is much you can do, and time is critical.

Go to the Lord with humility and openness. Share with our Heavenly Father your admiration for past giants of the faith who were willing to stand firm for Biblical truths in a conflicted culture. Ask Him to pour into you the desire, the courage and the strength to stand for His values in a culture where doing so could have a cost.

Pray for opportunities to live out your faith in your home, church and among your friends and neighbors. Ask Him to open your eyes to others who share your Biblical worldview and pray for opportunities to encourage and lift up one another.

Thank God for living in a society where you can still speak up, and pray that you will not take that right lightly. Ask for boldness as you speak and act in your church home.

P.S. Gary and I want to thank you for your continued prayers, encouragement and partnership with us as he fights this battle every day for faith, family and freedom. We appreciate and thank God for each and every one of you!