In March 1982, Dr. Francis August Schaeffer [1912-1984], the influential American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and pastor who co-founded the L’Abri fellowship in Switzerland, put his finger on the central failure of modern Evangelicalism: too many Christians had embraced a false, unscriptural view of spirituality.1
They came to believe religion belongs in a small private compartment, while the rest of life - law, government, education, economics, media, art, and culture - is somehow ‘secular’, and therefore beyond the direct claims of Jesus Christ.
But Scripture knows nothing of such a divided life.
In the Biblical worldview, life is not divided into watertight compartments. All of life is to be lived under the Lordship of Christ. That was true in Ancient Israel as well, where Y-H-W-H’s authority extended over worship, family, justice, economics, land, rulers, and national conduct. It is no less true now.
Jesus Christ is not merely Lord of ‘church life’. He is Lord over the whole of life - soul and body, private morality and public duty, church and state, literature and law, art and government. Christians cannot abandon the public square without, de facto, denying the comprehensive Lordship of Christ.
Schaeffer went further. America’s unraveling was not chiefly the fault of secular humanists, the liberal press, or hostile elites, although each played a role. The deeper fault lay with the Church. A vacuum never remains unfilled. When the Church retreats, other gods and godlings rush in. When Christians refuse to speak, other voices define truth. When pastors fail to disciple their people in the whole counsel of God, the culture is handed over to those who hate God, despise order, and call evil good.
In short, the Church surrendered ground it had no right to surrender.
Christians bear responsibility for the society in which they live. Roles differ. Callings differ. Assignments differ. But the principle is fixed and non-negotiable: faithfulness to Christ requires engagement, not retreat; obedience, not silence; courage, not camouflage.
To underscore Schaeffer’s point, A.W. Pink’s The Life and Times of Joshua - written between 1945 and 1953 and later published posthumously by Moody Press as Gleanings From Joshua - is instructive. Pink understood that the people of God are not called to drift, hide, or side with opposition. They are called to trust God, obey Him, and take possession of what He has assigned them, even amid formidable obstacles and prolonged conflict.
Pink wrote: “It would indeed be strange if we apprehended how that on the one hand Canaan was a free gift unto Israel, which they entered by grace alone; and on the other, that they had to fight for every inch of it!”
Likewise, as Israel’s entrance into Canaan marked the beginning of conquest, so conversion marks the beginning of the “good fight of faith” required before entering Eternal Rest.
Pink makes an equally penetrating point about Christian witness in the daily rough-and-tumble of life. Nowhere in the Epistles, he argues, is there a standing command for saints, as such, to engage in public evangelism or become self-styled ‘soul winners’. Rather, Christians are to witness for Christ first and foremost by the tenor of their daily conduct - in business, in the home, and in the public square.
As Pink put it, they are to “show forth” God’s praises more than merely ‘tell’ them forth. They are to let their light shine. The testimony of a faithful life is often more powerful than polished religious talk. Actions still speak louder than words.
That, too, is part of reclaiming the culture: not only bold speech, but credible lives; not only public courage, but visible commitment. The Church’s message is strengthened when the truth it proclaims is embodied in the men and women who bear Christ’s name.
Which brings us to Jonathan Turley’s column in The Hill last week, titled, The Justice Department Takes Action On The Real Russian Collusion Conspiracy. Turley is a prominent constitutional law professor at George Washington University and a widely cited legal commentator known for his defense of civil liberties and free speech.
“This week, we learned that the probe into the Russian conspiracy theory in Florida is moving forward with the disclosure that former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed. What is different in this probe is that it is pursuing the real Russia conspiracy - the creation of a false narrative to kneecap the first Trump administration.”2
Turley’s argument is that the real Russia conspiracy was not Donald J. Trump colluding with Moscow, but a coordinated effort by Hillary Clinton’s campaign, senior Obama-era intelligence and law-enforcement figures, and a compliant media to manufacture the accusation and cripple Trump’s presidency.
The Steele dossier, as we now know, secretly funded by the Clinton campaign, was laundered through government and media channels, despite serious doubts about its credibility, then used to fuel years of false narrative, investigations, leaks, and public hysteria.
Turley’s larger point is that this was not mere error, but a political hit job of historic scale. What Evangelicals and Pro-Life Catholic Christians must refuse to accept is unevenly applied law, favoritism for the powerful, and corruption dressed up as righteousness.
That is the operating spirit of ‘secular totalitarianism’ masquerading as angels of light -Hillary Clinton, James Clapper, Barack Obama, John Brennan, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, and Andrew McCabe - puppet masters who often acted as though truth is malleable, accountability is optional, and authority belongs to those clever enough to manipulate both.
Christians must step into the void and embrace Dr. Bruce K. Waltke’s exposition of Genesis 3:15: “The serpent’s final defeat under Messiah’s heel is delayed to effect God’s program of redemption through the promised offspring. In the interim, God leaves Satan to test the fidelity of each succeeding generation of the covenant people [Judges 2:22] and to teach them to ‘fight’ against untruth [Judges 3:2].”
Thankfully, many pastors are leaving the palace for the battlefield. Gideons and Rahabs have begun to stand.
David Lane is the Founder of the American Renewal Project. The American Renewal Project is part of https://vineyardoutreachamerica.org/
1. x.com/biblicalbeauty/status/2036502232359706964?s=42
2. thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/5794233-the-justice-department-takes-action-on-the-real-russian-collusion-conspiracy/
They came to believe religion belongs in a small private compartment, while the rest of life - law, government, education, economics, media, art, and culture - is somehow ‘secular’, and therefore beyond the direct claims of Jesus Christ.
But Scripture knows nothing of such a divided life.
In the Biblical worldview, life is not divided into watertight compartments. All of life is to be lived under the Lordship of Christ. That was true in Ancient Israel as well, where Y-H-W-H’s authority extended over worship, family, justice, economics, land, rulers, and national conduct. It is no less true now.
Jesus Christ is not merely Lord of ‘church life’. He is Lord over the whole of life - soul and body, private morality and public duty, church and state, literature and law, art and government. Christians cannot abandon the public square without, de facto, denying the comprehensive Lordship of Christ.
Schaeffer went further. America’s unraveling was not chiefly the fault of secular humanists, the liberal press, or hostile elites, although each played a role. The deeper fault lay with the Church. A vacuum never remains unfilled. When the Church retreats, other gods and godlings rush in. When Christians refuse to speak, other voices define truth. When pastors fail to disciple their people in the whole counsel of God, the culture is handed over to those who hate God, despise order, and call evil good.
In short, the Church surrendered ground it had no right to surrender.
Christians bear responsibility for the society in which they live. Roles differ. Callings differ. Assignments differ. But the principle is fixed and non-negotiable: faithfulness to Christ requires engagement, not retreat; obedience, not silence; courage, not camouflage.
To underscore Schaeffer’s point, A.W. Pink’s The Life and Times of Joshua - written between 1945 and 1953 and later published posthumously by Moody Press as Gleanings From Joshua - is instructive. Pink understood that the people of God are not called to drift, hide, or side with opposition. They are called to trust God, obey Him, and take possession of what He has assigned them, even amid formidable obstacles and prolonged conflict.
Pink wrote: “It would indeed be strange if we apprehended how that on the one hand Canaan was a free gift unto Israel, which they entered by grace alone; and on the other, that they had to fight for every inch of it!”
Likewise, as Israel’s entrance into Canaan marked the beginning of conquest, so conversion marks the beginning of the “good fight of faith” required before entering Eternal Rest.
Pink makes an equally penetrating point about Christian witness in the daily rough-and-tumble of life. Nowhere in the Epistles, he argues, is there a standing command for saints, as such, to engage in public evangelism or become self-styled ‘soul winners’. Rather, Christians are to witness for Christ first and foremost by the tenor of their daily conduct - in business, in the home, and in the public square.
As Pink put it, they are to “show forth” God’s praises more than merely ‘tell’ them forth. They are to let their light shine. The testimony of a faithful life is often more powerful than polished religious talk. Actions still speak louder than words.
That, too, is part of reclaiming the culture: not only bold speech, but credible lives; not only public courage, but visible commitment. The Church’s message is strengthened when the truth it proclaims is embodied in the men and women who bear Christ’s name.
Which brings us to Jonathan Turley’s column in The Hill last week, titled, The Justice Department Takes Action On The Real Russian Collusion Conspiracy. Turley is a prominent constitutional law professor at George Washington University and a widely cited legal commentator known for his defense of civil liberties and free speech.
“This week, we learned that the probe into the Russian conspiracy theory in Florida is moving forward with the disclosure that former FBI Director James Comey has been subpoenaed. What is different in this probe is that it is pursuing the real Russia conspiracy - the creation of a false narrative to kneecap the first Trump administration.”2
Turley’s argument is that the real Russia conspiracy was not Donald J. Trump colluding with Moscow, but a coordinated effort by Hillary Clinton’s campaign, senior Obama-era intelligence and law-enforcement figures, and a compliant media to manufacture the accusation and cripple Trump’s presidency.
The Steele dossier, as we now know, secretly funded by the Clinton campaign, was laundered through government and media channels, despite serious doubts about its credibility, then used to fuel years of false narrative, investigations, leaks, and public hysteria.
Turley’s larger point is that this was not mere error, but a political hit job of historic scale. What Evangelicals and Pro-Life Catholic Christians must refuse to accept is unevenly applied law, favoritism for the powerful, and corruption dressed up as righteousness.
That is the operating spirit of ‘secular totalitarianism’ masquerading as angels of light -Hillary Clinton, James Clapper, Barack Obama, John Brennan, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Loretta Lynch, and Andrew McCabe - puppet masters who often acted as though truth is malleable, accountability is optional, and authority belongs to those clever enough to manipulate both.
Christians must step into the void and embrace Dr. Bruce K. Waltke’s exposition of Genesis 3:15: “The serpent’s final defeat under Messiah’s heel is delayed to effect God’s program of redemption through the promised offspring. In the interim, God leaves Satan to test the fidelity of each succeeding generation of the covenant people [Judges 2:22] and to teach them to ‘fight’ against untruth [Judges 3:2].”
Thankfully, many pastors are leaving the palace for the battlefield. Gideons and Rahabs have begun to stand.
David Lane is the Founder of the American Renewal Project. The American Renewal Project is part of https://vineyardoutreachamerica.org/
1. x.com/biblicalbeauty/status/2036502232359706964?s=42
2. thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/5794233-the-justice-department-takes-action-on-the-real-russian-collusion-conspiracy/
