The 21st century church in the public square

Few books have impacted me more than Os Guinness' book The Global Public Square: Religious Freedom and the Making of a World Safe for Diversity Despite the first amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing religious liberty, we are seeing an unprecedented assault on that liberty. As more and more special interests have rights given to them through laws and court decisions, it is the rights of Christians that are often cast aside. As Guinness writes, "Whenever there is a clash of rights today, it is routinely said that freedom of religion and belief should be the right that must give way, and that no conscience exemptions are to be granted."

Elsewhere in the book he writes, "In what is becoming an open affront to all human rights, civil liberty is increasingly preferred to freedom of religion and belief, and when the two clash, freedom of religion and belief has even been dismissed as an obstruction - as if it were not a right at all."

We see this played out in many places in our society today. Universities are removing Christian organizations, such as InterVarsity, from their campuses because their bylaws require that their officers are Christians. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission ordered a Christian baker to provide a cake for a same-sex wedding which he claimed violated his Christian beliefs. After years in court, the Supreme Court finally ruled in his favor, but he is now being sued for a third time for a similar reason. A Marine was court-martialed for removing a Bible verse in her work area. She was reduced in rank and given a bad conduct discharge which prevents her from receiving any veteran's benefits. Her supervisor said he didn't like the tone of the verse which is why he ordered it removed. Communities are banning home Bible studies, in some cases threatening fines of $500 per day if people violate the ban. An Atlanta fire chief was fired for self-publishing a book he wrote for his church's men's Bible study group. The mayor found it offensive. It is interesting that a city councilman supported the decision to fire the chief stating that it sent a strong message to employees about how much we value diversity. They certainly did not value diversity in the fire chief's beliefs.

Seemingly, every day we read stories similar to these, and we can expect that this will not improve. As we continue to grant rights to more and more groups it is inevitable at some point these rights will conflict with the ones granted to others. As Guinness points out, those rights historically and Constitutionally recognized are the ones that will be ignored when that happens.

We have made a shift in this country from religious freedom to religious tolerance. The problem with religious tolerance is that it can become religious intolerance with the stroke of a pen. That's why our Founding Fathers were careful to note that our rights as Americans were not granted by the state but were given to us by our Creator.

What can we do? The first thing is to pray. We need to pray for a revival to once again sweep through this nation. God said He would heal the land when His people humbled themselves, confessed their sins and sought Him in prayer. Our nation needs the church today to pray that God might pour out His blessing on us.

Secondly, we need to support those persons who will work to ensure that the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not cast aside. For many years, Christians avoided the political arena, and that has proven to be costly.  Christians must be engaged in the political process electing those men and women who most share our values and beliefs. More Christians need to run for office to uphold the values that are taught in the Scriptures.

Thirdly, we need to educate people about the need for a more civil public square. That education must begin in the church because we are not exempt from incivility ourselves. Christians can say some harmful, hurtful things to other people that does not reflect well on the God we serve. We need to help people understand that when we treat all people with respect and dignity we all gain. Yes, we have different beliefs about issues, and we can discuss those, but we can do so while honoring and respecting those with whom we differ.

The first amendment in the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of religion. It is the first amendment because our Founding Fathers recognized it as the foundation for all the other rights that would follow. They understood if that right was violated, all the other rights were in jeopardy as well. It is worth protecting for the good of all people.