We encourage our listeners to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
As Christians, God is the final authority for faith and practical living (as stated in the Bible).
While our eternal citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20), God has temporarily placed us in countries here on earth and wants us to participate in their affairs in a "godly manner".
Given these three fundamental positions, we believe Christians are called to conduct their lives and social engagement according to the values of our permanent “country” (heaven) as spelled out in the Bible.
Lord's Prayer ~ "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
When biblical citizenship is lived out, good things happen in our homes, community, and our nation.
Together, we advance Christian values in society and culture ~ which includes government policy, elections.
It begins when people of faith accept the tremendous rights, responsibilities, influence, and opportunities they have as "Christian" citizens.
Christians need to apply biblical principles to the moral issues that shape and influence the world around us.
Christianity risks losing cultural influence because of the hesitancy to apply the gospel to “pressing world problems.”
Many evangelicals are tempted to withdraw or had already withdrawn from the public witness. As a result, evangelicals are becoming increasingly inarticulate about the social relevance of the gospel.
Instead of withdrawing, Christians need to engage the public by applying the fundamentals of their faith to the full range of issues to which the gospel speaks ~ including government and politics, the sphere that fundamentally orders people’s public lives.
Unfortunately, the toxic tone and extremely partisan nature of our political system discourage many Christians from studying what the Bible teaches about government and considering how faith should inform one’s view of politics.
God is sovereign and controls the heart of the king (Prov. 21:1).
So why risk compromising our gospel witness by getting involved in something so divisive?
Others maintain that Christians ought to be heavily involved with politicians and partisan politics.
They say: because politics are so important, it is worth investing significant resources to educate and mobilize the congregation for political activity.
Which approach is correct?
Both have good intentions.
However, if taken to extremes, both approaches are problematic.
The former can cause us to withdraw from the public and political space.
The latter threatens to obscure the purpose of the church by elevating politics to a level of importance God never intended it to have.
Scripture advocates neither total withdrawal from the political process nor overinvestment in the political arena.
The gospel applies to all areas of life, and the Bible instructs us about government and political authority.
Thus, we need a third approach, a model in which actively engaged Christians faithfully apply biblical principles to the current political challenges.
But what does this model look like?
What are the principles that can help us navigate our divisive political landscape?
