For Christians to stay away from speaking out on the political issues of today because Christians are “not supposed to express their opinion of what is good and evil in our culture” is both ridiculous and unbiblical! Through time, God is calling and has called many Christians who are willing to be obedient to God’s call and put their lives on the line to change the impact of evil in our culture and the world. It is important to understand that God uses people like us who are willing to go wherever God desires to take us, even when it exceeds our area of comfort or understanding. He often uses the most unlikely people to change the tide of history and show His strength, glory, and compassion through them to a broken, dying world.
Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers at the age of seventeen. Thirteen years later, he became what we might call the “prime minister” of Egypt, the world’s greatest superpower.
When he was in prison, God gave him the ability to interpret the Pharaoh’s dreams, thus predicting seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine (Genesis 41). As a result, “Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?'” (v. 38).
Pharaoh then appointed Joseph to political office: “You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you” (v. 40). This description means Joseph was appointed “grand vizier” or prime minister of Egypt. In this role, he was instrumental in saving the Egyptian people and his own family from starvation, preserving the Jewish nation through whom the Messiah would come one day.
Moses told God he was not qualified to do what God asked of him. “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” God said, “Now go, I will help you speak and teach you what to say.” Moses wanted God to send someone else, but God told Him that with God, he could do what God commanded.
God raised Moses to oppose Pharaoh and free his people from slavery. God then used Pharaoh’s “hardened heart” to bring about the Exodus. As a result, “Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and his servant Moses” (Exodus 14).
God also uses evil people to fulfill His will in the hope that they will come to know God.
The Lord used King Herod’s attempt to murder the baby Jesus to fulfill biblical prophecy regarding his Son’s flight to Egypt (Matthew 2).
He likewise used opposition from Jewish authorities in Jerusalem to bring his Son to the cross as our Savior.
William Wilberforce was a culture-changer of grand proportions! He became a born-again Christian on Easter 1786, which led him to discover his life’s purpose. Later in his diary, he wrote, “My walk is a public one. My business is in the world, and I must mix in the assemblies of men or quit the post Providence seems to have assigned.”
He soon came to see the horrors of the English slave trade and became so convicted that he wrote, “Let the consequences be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its absolution.”He was abused by pro-slavery forces and blocked repeatedly in Parliament. However, the persistent and sacrificial efforts of Wilberforce and his associates finally led to the abolishment of the slave trade and slavery in the British Empire.
God has accomplished great things, as witnessed by the previous examples of men who were willing to sacrifice everything, including their own lives, to carry out God’s will. We should be inspired by their faith and obedience to do the hard things, even when our friends or others might disagree, put us down or de-friend us. As Christians, our ethics and truth come from one source: the Bible. When called, we have no choice but to defend the truth of the Triune God, His creation that He created with no help from evolution, the value of all humans who are all created in the image of God, and Jesus, who suffered, died and rose again, to pay the penalty of all humankind’s sin. Our hope comes from no other than our Lord and Savior.
“Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what is good in His sight” (2 Samuel 10:12).
This is why it is so important for all Christians to know the truth of the Bible and to be diligent in praying for those who are standing for truth every day in their homes, schools, work, and within political frameworks.
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1–4).