By Ben Quine
**This article is part of a series written by Ben Quine that takes us through the whole of Scripture to discover what God has to say about how we as believers in Jesus Christ should conduct ourselves both inside the church and outside in our public and private lives. You will discover that the Word of God has much to say about our conduct.

Written by Ben Quine

Before the Russian revolution, Marxist Communists preached a message of “Freedom, Brotherhood, Love, Prosperity, and Equality!” It is an attractive message. But from that time up to today Marxism has been responsible for the worldwide murder of over 85 million people, the oppression and torture of millions, and the proliferation of extreme poverty for all except those who join the evil ruling system. What is the loving thing for believers to do when confronted with a philosophy that endangers the lives of hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people?

In the previous article we saw that Biblical love means to actively provide for and protect the one we love. It means doing what God has revealed is best for someone else, even though they may not appreciate your actions, and you may incur their anger.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

Take a minute to think about Jesus’ commission to his followers. Because it is not loving to passively watch people continue on the path to Hell, we share the Gospel with them. We disciple them and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But this is not the end of the Great Commission. We must also apply the principles of God’s Word to our culture. “Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” requires teaching people how to live, teaching all of Scripture, teaching the whole council of God (Acts 20:26-27). We teach Biblical principles because it is not loving to passively watch injustice and ungodliness flourish, or to sit by and let a person or society self-destruct. Teaching the Biblical Worldview and acting on it to positively impact every area of society provides for and protects a culture. This is loving your neighbor. 

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9)

If a believer is actively teaching false gospels or heresy, the Apostle Paul says they should be opposed. He demonstrated this himself when the Apostle Peter was in the wrong (Galatians 2:11-14), and Paul “opposed him to his face.”

When Christians don’t speak the truth in love to a culture, who is left to influence it? 

Remember that the Bible calls the ungodly Fools, Wicked, and Evildoers. If Christians do not speak out and step up, the end result is a foolish, wicked, evil society that eventually will be openly anti-God. Injustice and oppression are inherent secular characteristics, leading to pain, destruction, and death, which greatly delights our adversary, Satan.

If Christian believers can be silenced or suppressed, the Gospel and the life it brings – in all areas – will be choked out. The resulting culture won’t even know what it is missing. It won’t even know there is an alternative to the self-destructive and culture-destructive worldviews of Secularism and false religion.

When should we speak out, and when should we be silent? This can be a difficult question. Will silence hurt another individual, a vulnerable member of society? Will silence hurt society as a whole? If so, then you must speak and act. It is not loving to let injustice rise; it is not loving to let false doctrine or false religion rise. It is not loving to let bad laws or unbiblical principles dominate society, since these bring pain, oppression, and death.

Whenever the Church has the answer to culture’s problems, we must boldly share God’s truth.

Never underestimate the power of where God has put you. Speak where you are! Speak to those God has placed around you! Every chance you have, speak to someone of God’s love, God’s plan of salvation, and God’s wisdom for everyday life. Tell them that the reason you live the way you do is because God’s Word can be applied to every area of life. Be faithful to the truth, and then leave the results to God. Trusting Him in this way brings peace (Matthew 6:34, Philippians 4:6-7). Results are not our problem; they are God’s. If people reject God and His Word, so be it. Shake the dust from your feet and move to the next place. The same rule applies for evangelism: share the news of Christ Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, and leave the results to God. 

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

The world is broken and suffering because sin brings destruction and death. This is why one of the most common words in the Bible is, “Listen!” God pleads with sinners to listen because He longs to rescue people and cultures before they are destroyed!

The Church has many resources that can bring help, hope, and life. Like Jesus, we should be moved with compassion. But compassion without action is not enough! Like Jesus, our compassion should move us to help hurting people by meeting their immediate physical and emotional needs. Like Jesus, we should be moved to teach them the truth about salvation, morality, and God’s principles for life. It is holy, honorable, and loving to apply God’s Word to every area of life — this provides for and protects our society. 

But great care is required. If not informed by Scripture, well-meaning individuals motivated by compassion will often embrace policies that hurt, instead of help.

For example, many caring people have been won over by the kind-sounding ideals of Karl Marx (known as Marxism, Socialism, Communism, Anti-capitalism, etc.). But Marxism directly opposes the Bible, teaching that private property must be abolished, that the government must care for the poor, that the State must control education, business, and banking, that all outcomes must be equal for all groups of people, that the government must replace justice with equity, and that freedom of religion and freedom of speech must be halted. When this false worldview begins to take over a culture, we should all feel compassion for the vulnerable children, widows, orphans, and weak of society who suffer the most as a result of this harmful evil philosophy. It should move us to righteous anger (Psalm 139:21-22, Proverbs 8:13). We should feel compassion for and defend those who will inevitably face hunger, poverty, miseducation, slavery, oppression, abuse, rape, and murder as a result of our culture adopting these false ideas. 

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan. (Proverbs 29:2)

This is why the loving, compassionate, and caring Christian action is to challenge false philosophies and non-violently remove from positions of authority all who would implement them, replacing them with godly leaders (Proverbs 29:2, Colossians 2:8, I John 3:18). To confront these challenges, believers must be devoted to prayer, the pursuit of wisdom, an in-depth study of God’s Word, and a thorough understanding of the Biblical Worldview {See the Answers for Difficult Days Bible study series}. 

Obeying God’s call to speak His loving, eternal truth to the world takes boldness, because there will be opposition. So do everything in love (seeking the best for those around you), and be faithful to the truth of God’s Word. Then your life will be a tremendous blessing. You will be protecting the culture, keeping it from getting sick. 

Someone once asked Billy Graham, “If Christianity is valid, why is there so much evil in the world?” To this he replied, “With so much soap, why are there so many dirty people in the world? Christianity, like soap, must be personally applied if it is to make a difference in our lives.” 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

Of course, individual believers can know God’s peace which passes understanding, in spite of appalling external circumstances. But a culture will not know peace until God’s principles are the dominant forces in society. So as an act of love to those around us, let us boldly apply the Biblical Worldview to our lives and to our culture!