Religious liberty will always require political struggle. This has not always been so evident to me. As a pastor I spent many years avoiding political struggle. So many times I insisted that preaching the gospel is our only task and our only hope. While it is true that the gospel is our only hope it is not true that our task of preaching the gospel does not include striving for liberty. American civilization has provided over 230 years of religious liberty in the public square but it has not come without struggle. Even with the First Amendment right of “free religious expression” (1789) there were still concerns in 1801 when the Danbury Baptist Association petitioned Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson assured the Baptists that he adhered to the principle that the legislature, which belonged to the American people, “should make no law...prohibiting the free exercise of religion”. As Robert Sirico said, “A healthy civilization needs good soil to flourish so we must be tillers of that soil. This is a critical moment in our history. It is time for a renewal of the principles that formed this civilization itself.”
I’m not promoting a nationalistic American-flag-on-the-church-platform confusion of American patriotism over loyalty to Jesus. This world is not our home and my life only belongs to one King. But I am saying the freedom to preach the gospel goes along with contending for the full legal right to do so. This does not come by way of isolation. This means struggle. We must be resolved to act and do it no matter the cost.
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