The Church’s Calling in an Ideological Age

By Samuel Farag

The Church’s Call to Define Biblical Beliefs

Beloved, in an ideological age where a majority of people tend to build their worldviews on politics and social propaganda, the church has a vital responsibility and calling from God to define biblical beliefs, warn and rebuke dangerous ideology, and to make a practice of those biblical beliefs as a model to the world. Of these three callings, let us take a look first at the church’s call to define biblical beliefs.

Liberalism, conservatism, socialism, and nationalism are some of the most prominent worldviews of our day. However, the biblical worldview stands in sharp contrast to these worldviews in varying degrees. Instead of building a worldview on social justice or patriotism, first and foremost we need to build our worldview on the Bible. The Bible is the only inerrant and infallible source we can turn to. It is the very words of God. Perfect in every way.

Just like some aspects of social reform or love for one’s nation can be good, other aspects can be quite problematic. If each person were to define for themselves what is right, then it would lead to chaos. As Judges 21:25 says, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” When reading Judges, we see that when each person just follows their own ideas, it leads to chaos and ultimately shows a widespread rejection of God’s authority. Clearly, we are not to abandon divine guidance from God in favor of personal desires or subjective truth. The only way to truly know what truth is and what aligns with God’s command is to turn to Scripture. As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

As Jean-Henri Merle d’Aubigné, a Swiss Protestant minister and historian of the Reformation, once said, “The Word of God is the only power that can subdue the rebellion of our heart. There is a power in our fallen nature which revolts against divine truth, and which nothing human can overcome. No teaching of man will do it, not even that of your father or mother. The teaching of the church and of the most beloved pastors will not do it, nor time-worn tradition, which is the teaching of the ages. All this is as powerless as the slenderest thread to lift the weight which presses us down. To make the Kingdom of God enter our hearts we need a battering-ram that can overthrow the strongest walls, and that ram is the Word of God.”

The Church’s Call to Warn and Rebuke Dangerous Ideology

Now that we laid out how the Scriptures are to be our source for building a true and God-honoring worldview, we need to look at the church’s call to warn and rebuke dangerous ideologies. Beloved, the church was never to be silent or on the sidelines when the world practiced sin. We are responsible for being mirrors that reflect God’s light. And that means we have to be able to boldly stand up and rebuke unbiblical practices even if we are to suffer consequences for speaking God’s truth.

Take a look at John the Baptist. Not only was he the forerunner for Christ, but he called out sin and paid a cost for that boldness with his life. John, with the boldness of a lion, rebuked the political ruler of his day for his unlawful marriage, as it is recorded in Luke 3:18-20: “So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison.” Not only was John the Baptist arrested, but he was later beheaded, as Matthew 14:9-10 says. “And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.”

We see these all throughout Scripture. Men and women of God refusing to stay silent when the world around them engages in blatant sin and puts pressure on them to also participate in those sins. When all the people around them worshiped King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden statue, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused and were willing to be thrown into a blazing fiery furnace for their faith (Daniel 3). When the law of the land forbade prayer to anyone except the king, Daniel did not change his prayer life and boldly continued to pray to the one true God. The cost was being thrown into the lions’ den (Daniel 6). Elijah rebukes King Ahab in 1 Kings 18 for abandoning God’s commandments and worshiping Baal, a Canaanite pagan god. And this list goes on.

In our day, liberalism and socialism say that abortions are a part of women’s health and should be a woman’s choice. We can see that this is a great and wicked distortion of the truth. As Psalm 139:13–14 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Life in the womb is to be protected just like life outside the womb. We cannot go along with the world that says that the murder of a child is health care.

Likewise, conservatism and nationalism have at times made ideals out of politics and political parties. Certain political figures are treated like they are saviors for our nation. Take a look at President Trump. Regardless of whether someone voted for him or not. Regardless of whether someone is a registered Republican or not. President Trump, based on all evidence we have, is not a follower of the Lord. No follower of the Lord would ever say, “Why do I have to repent or ask for forgiveness, if I am not making mistakes?” He also surrounds himself with and promotes some of the worst Word of Faith heretics of our age, like Kenneth Copeland and Paula White-Cain (Trump’s spiritual advisor). So, although it is good and proper to vote for leaders of our nation that are the lesser of two evils or who have the better policies to help Christians and the advancement of the Gospel, that does not mean we are to blindly believe these individuals are our brothers or sisters in Christ.

The Church’s Call to Practice Biblical Beliefs

Finally, the church is called to practice our biblical beliefs. We, as the church, have a biblical mission to stand firm amid competing cultural ideologies. We are to stand firm for truth while keeping the church centered on the proclamation of the gospel. We are to stand firm while making disciples for Christ. We are to stand firm while being faithful in our worship.

So, we can’t just be against the sacrifice of the unborn. We also need to be the hands and feet of Christ. Some will be called to lovingly preach God’s truth in front of an abortion clinic. Others will be called to share the truth about the unbiblical nature of abortion by passing out Gospel tracts or sharing articles on social media. Some, like pastors, will need to call out the wickedness of abortion from the pulpit. And some will be called to work at Christian pregnancy centers that actually provide care and ministry to women in need. The church is not only supposed to teach right doctrine but is to live out those biblical beliefs. As James 1:22-25 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

The church is made up of many parts, and within the church we have individuals with different callings. So, Beloved, we should use those gifts to combat the secular worldviews we are inundated with in our age today. As 1 Corinthians 12:27-31 says, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.”

Although some worldviews are worse than others, any system that is not wholly built on the Scriptures will have its problems. So, Beloved, stand on the solid foundation of the Word of God and define God’s truth boldly, warn and rebuke what is against God’s commands, and make a practice of living out your faith.

To God be all the glory!