Below is the text of my report to our church for this month’s newsletter (“The Voice”).
FBC Sebring Family,
I hope and pray that this edition of The Voice finds you well. I want to tell you about the meeting that I was a part of last week in Washington, D.C. I am a member of the Leadership Council for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention. The ERLC is the arm of our convention that presents biblical positions on public policy, working directly with legislators, publishing resources, and fighting for religious liberty in the public square. I have been greatly blessed by the ERLC’s investment in me this year.
The meeting in our nation’s capital last week was a leadership summit regarding the current status of religious liberty in our country. Religious liberty is often referred to in the United States as our “first freedom,” since it was much of the reason for the founding of our nation. Many of our earliest colonists came to the New World to escape oppression from their own governments regarding the practice of their faith in the public square. As Baptists, our own heritage is strong in the area of defending religious liberty – including for people beyond our own denomination and even beyond Christianity. No one should be compelled by their government to violate their own conscience and their religious beliefs; if we give the government that power against religions that we disagree with, we invite the government to do the same thing against us when it rejects our beliefs (which is happening now).
As you heard me preach on Sunday (from Matthew 19:1-12), marriage, sexuality, and gender have become the most significant battlegrounds for religious liberty in this country. Our task as Christians in the midst of this frustrating and rapidly changing environment is fourfold:
1) Continue to speak the truth regarding marriage, sexuality, and gender, and practice what we preach. Don’t back down from the truth because it is politically incorrect, and let our lives and marriages honor Christ through faithfulness, integrity, and holiness. Speak to your leaders and legislators about this issue.
2) Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Although we speak the truth, we must do so in a humble and winsome way. We should never scream at people or argue with them so harshly that all we communicate is hatred and judgment. Choose your discussions wisely, especially on social media. Many such discussions may not be worth your time and investment.
3) Be willing to suffer for holding to the truth, if that is where this situation leads. That difficulty may not be so much physical as economic. Christian business owners may have to endure such difficulties if this trend continues.
4) Pray. Entrust yourself to the Lord, and ask Him to bring revival to our community and to our nation. We trust in the Lord and the power of the gospel, not in any politician.
I love you all, and I am thankful for the opportunity to walk with you and trust Christ together, living in light of eternity.
Pastor Matt
Tags: Religious Liberty, Marriage, ERLC, Gender, Sexuality, Homosexuality, Transgender
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