Watching news reports on television or observing the moral decline in popular culture can often make Christians feel ineffective and helpless.
Baptists in Alabama, however, say Christians can make a difference in the political, social and moral spectrum today, and they can do it in surprisingly easy ways.
According to Joe Bob Mizzell, director of the office of Christian ethics and chaplaincy ministries at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), it is a Christian’s “duty and responsibility to be involved in the political affairs of the city, county, state and federal government.”
As another voting season comes upon the state, he said it’s important for Baptists — and Christians in general — to realize the importance of their voice.
“I think the Christian sins if he or she does not at least vote. God has given us a great country with freedoms that few countries enjoy.”
And Christians can do even more than vote in order to voice their opinions about political and social issues.
Mizzell pointed to Matthew 22:21 — “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s” — to remind Christians that they are expected to have a political voice.
“Jesus expected His followers to contribute more than money or taxes to the government,” he said. “In the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus told us to be salt and light, I think that political involvement played a role, and especially when Jesus told us to care for the poor and imprisoned, the government comes into play.”
Mizzell’s office at the SBOM helps churches across the state understand issues of concern to Christians.
He is currently working on information about the upcoming state elections and encouraging pastors to ask church members to vote for the Alabama Marriage Amendment, which will appear on the June 6 ballot (see story, this page).
Mizzell explained that it’s important for Christians to voice their opinion on such issues and encourages individuals to decide on their own how involved in politics they should become. But he added that Christians must stand up for what is right.
“We must stand up. The world and the devil will always promote their style of living and even force it on us,” Mizzell said. “For example, the Christian should stand for the sanctity of human life. Everyone needs to stand for pro-life issues.
“We should also constantly speak out against gambling, the abuse of alcohol, the mistreatment of the poor, unfair taxation and corruption in government.”
If Christians feel strongly about such issues, then how might they voice their opinions?
Mizzell listed a few easy ways to do so — speak out in church and at work; write articles for newspapers and periodicals and letters to the editor; use bulletin boards at church to share information about issues; talk to candidates and let them know your position; and join political organizations.
Marsha Anderson, a member of Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, in Mobile Baptist Association, expresses her opinion by writing letters to the editor of her local newspaper and writing about Christian issues for various periodicals.
Anderson has won several Roaring Lamb Awards from The Amy Foundation, a national organization that promotes writing as a way to make political changes (www.amyfound.org).
“My awards came for writing letters to the editor at our local paper,” Anderson said. “One was about praying for our president … and another was about judicial nominees being blocked from office because of their Christian faith.”
She has also written about such issues as diversity in her neighborhood and raising children of faith in an increasingly hostile world. In all her writing, Anderson tries to make a statement not just about her faith but about the world she lives in.
And she encourages others to get involved in similar ways.
According to David Sloan, professor of journalism at the University of Alabama and member of First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, in Tuscaloosa Baptist Association, writing letters to the editor is an effective way for Christians to become politically involved.
He said that letter writing is an inexpensive way to carry the Christian message to the local community and letters to the editor are extremely popular.
“Surveys show that more people read letters than editorials or syndicated columns, so every letter a Christian writes might be read by several thousand people,” Sloan said.
“And they cost nothing. A church might buy a full-page advertisement for $1,000, and it would get fewer readers than a letter that costs the writer nothing.”
He advised would-be letter writers to choose a timely topic, keep the letter as short as possible, think of an interesting way to make your point (humor or personal experience, for example), avoid factual errors and be Christian in your language.
“To ignore events and issues is to surrender the world to ignorance and the enemies of Christ,” Sloan said. “Jesus does not want us to lock ourselves away from the world. We must be involved.”
Anderson added that though there is much satisfaction in standing up for your beliefs, it can also be a challenge.
“I once wrote a letter about abortion and received a prompt letter back asking if I was willing to adopt an unwanted baby,” she said.
Others often want to see if Christians will stand strong in a practical way.
“I encourage Christians to share their faith and beliefs … but only if they are walking the talk,” Anderson said.
“We live in a day when we think our voice will not make a difference but it does. God has entrusted us with the seeds, and if what we have to say causes others to discuss the topic at work or at home, a seed will have been planted. God will do the rest.”
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