Citizen Christians act right, love what is right, and seek to walk rightly by following Christ without looking for the platitudes of man (Micah 6:8). God calls His people to engage the secular culture with scriptural truths. We are disobedient when we keep our faith to ourselves. Jesus said we are to be “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:16). We must let our faith season all we are and all we do, including our participation in the market place as well as in the dialogue of thoughts and ideas in the public square. In America, we have more than a right to let our faith shine forth; we have an obligation.
Quick FactsChristian Citizenship
People of faith have a biblical obligation to be involved
On This Issue
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What Does the Bible Say?
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
—Romans 13:1
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What Do Southern Baptists Believe?
- Resolution on Christian Citizenship—2004
- Resolution on Pastors, Culture, And Civic Duty—2007
- Resolution On Christian Citizenship—1984
- Baptist Faith & Message 2000
…RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention … encourage all Christians to fulfill their God-given responsibility to engage in the public life of the nation; …
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What Does Richard Land Say?
- “The danger of the state as a substitute for conscience”
- “LINCOLN AT 200: Spiritual blueprint for a presidency”
The Apostle Paul instructs us that as Christians we have the responsibility to be good citizens of the state “for conscience sake” because God has ordained government to punish and restrict evil-doers and to reward and protect moral behavior (Romans 13:1-7). Christians are to support the civil government unless the authorities require a believer to support or to do evil in the direct contradiction to their ultimate allegiance to their Heavenly Father. Yet the responsibilities of Citizen Christians include not just obedience to the state, but involvement in society. Our forbearers intended—and the Constitution of the United States provides for—a balance between morality and public virtue and a separation of the institution of the church and the institution of the state. The First Amendment’s guarantees of religious freedom and separation of church and state—an oft confused concept in our day—were not intended to restrict the civic participation of people of faith or to disqualify their religious convictions and beliefs from consideration in the public arena of ideas.
—Richard Land
