Christians are called upon to influence our culture for Christ. As Francis Schaeffer commented: "...we must realize that regardless of whether we think the Moral Majority has always said the right things or whether we do not, or whether we think they have made some mistakes or whether we do not, they have certainly done one thing right: they have used the freedom we still have in the political arena to stand against the other total entity. They have carried the fact that law is king, law is above the lawmakers, and God is above the law into this area of life where it always should have been. And this is a part of true spirituality. The Moral Majority has drawn a line between one total view of reality and the results this brings forth in government and law. And if you personally do not like some of the details of what they have done, do it better. But you must understand that all Christians have got to do the same kind of thing or you are simply not showing the Lordship of Christ in the totality of life." Thus, to show the Lordship of Christ in our lives and then in the totality of life, we must work for a moral society through the preaching of the gospel and the propagation of the Christian worldview.

Note those two dynamics well: the preaching of the gospel and the propagation of the Christian worldview. Those endeavors are a must. The question lies, as Schaeffer implies, in how we go about such. Even if we disagree with Schaeffer himself in terms of how, we must agree with the Moral Majority and Schaeffer in terms of what: gospel preaching and Christian worldview propagation. For me, the issue is public acknowledgment of God without coercion. We must fight for a voice at the table of public debate and opinion. We must propagate a biblical worldview through all available, legal, and biblical means. We must fight for the acknowledgment of God in the public square without forcing others by law to embrace our view, that is, without oppressing others in the process.

Now, no one has a right not to hear God-talk in the public square or a right not to see religious emblems on display in public. Our First Amendment gives us the right to freedom of religion and the right to free speech. Those of the ACLU variety who argue for the removal of God from the public square do not understand the First Amendment nor do they understand the principles of freedom. But, all have a right to choose what they believe.

I fear some Christians are confused on the issues when we fight for our rights to have God-talk in the public square. For example, a woman called into a Christian radio talk show recently. Her neighbor had a small statue of Buddha in her yard. The caller wanted to know what could be done to prohibit her neighbor from maintaining such a display. She wanted the statue removed. The wonderful thing is that nothing can be done. We have freedom of religion and freedom of speech in this country. We certainly agree that those who worship Buddha are lost and need Christ. But, if we want the right to display the Ten Commandments, we must grant others the right to display their religious artifacts. Moreover, this statue was on private property. The right to display religious artifacts on private property is not in question. The issue is whether nor not such can be displayed in the public square. We would argue for such a right there as well.