Faith and Practice

Faith and religious practice are intrinsic to public life.

Faith is what we believe. Our religious practice is the behavior that follows.

All religious practice is worship. For the Christian, this includes obedience, charity, love, service, witnessing, prayer, fasting, singing, and other activities.

There is a deep historical and social precedent for religion and its role in human life. We cannot divest ourselves from our past. Our need to understand the meaning and purpose of our lives is too great to be ignored.

Our religion is part of who we are. This is true of every culture and faith in the world. But that does not mean that every culture is right and every faith is true. This has become the challenge of multiculturalism and diversity in the modern world. We can celebrate our differences in nationality, heritage, and family. But that does not mean that we must hold tightly to the traditions that are attached to our forefathers. What we seek is truth, goodness, justice, and beauty. Where we find them, we should praise the God who gives us the true, good, just, and beautiful.

But the creator and God of the universe did not leave us to devise our schemes for self-fulfillment or self-actualization.

God revealed himself in time and space. The only question is how the associated practices with any religion point us toward God. And this is where Christianity distances itself from other religions. Because God chose to pursue the people of Israel we have the law and the prophets. Because God chose to become a man and die for our sins we have Jesus and the church.

We cannot check our minds, hearts, or souls at the door.

When we think, speak, work, and lead we bear witness to the power of Jesus to transform our lives. Our life and work are built upon a theological and philosophical foundation. This worldview shapes who we are and how we see the world.

We act on certain moral presuppositions. Some are properly basic and do not require our ascent to become functional. Some assumptions are false are require modification or rejection for our lives to function properly.

How does Christian leadership play a role in the United States of America?

Christianity is woven throughout our nation. The Bible is integrated into our laws and written on our buildings. Our founding songs and art express the sovereign will and glory of God. We must look to the history of the church in Western Civilization to understand how this body of believers that spans thousands of years impacts our lives today.

Christianity affects our modern world. Worshiping Jesus has been instilled in our religious, social, and family life. We honor Him when we submit to his lordship and seek the fellowship of believers.

We must walk the line between religious adherence and legalism. We should obey God fully. We should encourage others to give their lives to Jesus, and disciple them so that they too can be transformed. We should uphold God’s moral law in our civil laws and political process. This means that we justly prosecute wrongdoing. But we should not expect that unrepentant sinners will behave according to the law that they have rejected. And we must not become pharisaical in our approach to the rules and regulations in a particular sect rather than adhering to the most unified and clear teachings of Jesus Christ and the proper theology that flows from it.

America needs Christian leaders who understand this. The evangelical, fundamental, and orthodox Christian faith must be at the head of the table in our national discourse or we will be destroyed.