Richard J. Mouw has written an insightful article on an interaction he had with Carl F. Henry, the first editor of Christianity Today, in that magazines January, 2010 issue (unfortunately, it does not appear to be online).
As I work with our local church to find a voice on social justice issues, I find Henry's "five principles of engagement" which Mauw quotes from Henry's biography Confessions of a Theologian helpful:
1. The Bible is critically relevant to the whole of modern life and culture-the social-political arena included.
2. The institutional church has no mandate, jurisdiction, or competence to endorse political legislation or military tactics or economic specifics in the name of Christ.
3. The institutional church is divinely obliged to proclaim God's entire revelation, including the standards or commandments by which men and nations are to be finally judged, and by which they ought now to live and maintain social stability.
4. The political achievement of a better society is the task of all citizens, and individual Christians ought to be politically engaged to the limit of their competence and opportunity.
5. The Bible limits the proper activity of both government and church for divinely stipulated objectives--the former, for the preservation of justice and order, and the latter, for the moral-spiritual task of evangelizing the earth.
The article goes into much greater detail. I would highly recommend it as a starting place for dialogue.
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