What Are We Saved For? (Part 2)

We don't because we will fight because it's evil. Christ has defeated by rising.

This is a family policy matters, a weekly radio show and podcast from NC family designed to veterans or listeners about the critical issues of the day and encourage you to be voices of persuasion for family values in your communities.

Today we bring you part two of a speech delivered by John Stonestreet to our North Carolina family. Major speakers dinner in Greenville, John Stonestreet as president of the Colson Center for Christian worldview and the voice of breakpoint.

The nationally syndicated commentary and podcast on faith and culture. He's a sought after author and speaker on faith, culture, worldview, education, and apologetics. So for not safe for escape and were not safe for accommodation. What we say for want to take you to a pastor's Scripture. Second Corinthians chapter 5 second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17.

You probably know it. If anyone is in Christ, to use a that's what salvation is salvation. This exchange we get to give up our old self. We get Christ an extended return.

Amen. It's great but here's the thing about that. Corinthians 517 is that it's immediately followed by second Corinthians 518 to 19 that it was the right directed out to 17 tells us what salvation is 18 and 19.

Tell us what salvation is for the guy was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and is given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

That's verse 18 verse 19 is that is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting men's sins against them, and he is committed to us the ministry of reconciliation is the same thing in verse 19. In case you missed in the verse 18.

So what are we say for. Here's what were saying for those who have been reconciled to God in Christ have been saved for the ministry of reconciliation. Another way to put it his reconciled ones are safe to be reconciled.

Learners now see, here's one of the things that's happened to the church and culture.

Not only have we forgotten that were not safe for escape and were not safe to just be nice and to accommodate everyone were actually saved for that hard work of joining in God's mission in the world of reconciling sinners to himself, but were actually four.

The other problem is is that we've professionalized it. In other words, what we did is weak when it came to culture. We thought well that's that's James Dobson's job that shut Colson's job work in a Christian them to go engage the culture for us, but there's a big mistake there because it's assuming that culture only exist in DC in Hollywood, but cultures not just in DC in Hollywood cultures right outside of her own back door and one of the things that Chuck Colson believed when he said, where was the church is at the greatest need in the world is for the church to be the church wherever the church is we can't just count on those going to DC in Hollywood to do the work of cultural engagement ports. This is why I show up when family policy Council state-by-state.

Ask especially one that's doing such a great job like the North Carolina family policy Council is because cultures, not just out there cultures right here. I thank God for North Carolina. I think God for the courage during that whole HB two thing you know how many leaders we saw a cave to to basically redefining reality. We didn't see it here. Praise God and I am grateful that there are a group of Christian leaders that understand that cultures not just in DC in Hollywood. It's in our own backyard and we are called wherever God has placed us to engage culture. If you are in Christ, you are called to engage God's world with the ministry of reconciliation was that look like for questions that we can use to engage culture wherever God is placed us. Here's the first question I'll do this fast number one what's good that we can celebrate, protect and promote she Christians believe that when God created the world. He looked at all that he had made and he said, behold, it is. We believe there's a lot of good stuff in the world and Christians have always excelled when they hold up those good thing. One of those good things that the world the church is always held up with very rare exceptions is the good that is the dignity of every human life. The earliest church document. We have other than the Bible itself is called the dedicate it's called the teaching of the apostles forget to do the heathens basically teaching the early Christians how to live in a pagan culture.

Many people dated to literally the first century and in the middle of that document it says thou shalt not procure abortion. Thou shalt not commit infanticide and that dates back to the 100s and the reason it said that is because abortion was common in the Roman Empire.

But notice, it didn't just single out abortion. It singled out infanticide because that was common in the Roman Empire to. It was a process called exposure to families. Roman families had too many children they would throw them in the backyard and let the elements take care of them. A lot of times the victims were little girls as you wanted to have as many boys as you could have present your retirement plan.

They were going to work and support you, but with girls you just wanted somebody that can be a dowry and then basically didn't want to have more girls. A lot of times a second or third or fourth girl would be thrown into the backyard to be killed by exposure were the earliest Christians thought that was absolutely unacceptable because every single person is made in the image and likeness of God. So you know what they did is they went out and collected these little girls and they brought them into their homes.

This was the work of the church. At the very beginning of the church in that beautiful, there's a rest of the story affect Rodney Stark is a sociologist at Baylor. He wanted to know what explain the explosive growth of the church in the second century. There's all kinds of theories about this, but one of the things Rodney Stark says explains the explosive growth of the church was the practice of going and collecting these little girls out of the woods. Why, because if you kill a whole bunch of baby girls for 30 years what you have 30 years later you have a problem. Boys grow up, they tend to want to find girls to be their wives and what you have in Roman society. 30 years later is a bunch of Roman men that couldn't find wives, but who had the girls do Christians serve.

Rodney Stark says that one of the things that explains the explosive growth in the church in the second century is that is when all these numbers, came to bear when Roman men wanted to find wives they had to go to church.

He said John what are you saying I'm saying. The early church practice missionary dating or if you homeschool missionary courting whatever but it's the amazing thing you hear is that these Roman men would actually marry and it had here's what I love about this is what I love about this is if you would've stopped any of those women are couples that were going to collect these little children out of the woods and said, you realize that what you're doing right now is literally gonna change the world. Do you realize that that is gonna change the world they would say you know what I don't know about that. I'm just trying to help this kid. That's what's beautiful about the pro-life movement right now is for all of us that get involved in that movement, whether it's at a pregnancy care center whether it's getting behind the efforts the pro-life efforts legislatively of John and his team at the state capital in the north, family policy Council's efforts to defend the unborn life were just trying to help that life and that life and that life when Christians promote what's good it can change the world. Here's a second question what's missing that we can contribute. We believe that every human is made in the image and likeness of God. God looked at nothing and made the world were made in his image. That means were creative right you know what's missing in a lot of communities dad's give us some people who will fight for dad's right you know what's missing in a lot of communities right now. A courageous Christian voice it's missing because a lot of churches have chosen safety and a lot of churches have chosen accommodation. A lot of churches have believed when were told that Christianity does not belong in the public square percent. If Christianity doesn't find a place in the public square. Then we will have a group of citizens who think the government owns their highest loyalties read history that is a dangerous place to be. So what's good that we can protect, promote and preserve what's missing that we can contribute. Here's number three. What's evil that we can stop.

Sometimes the most important thing Christians do is standard for history and yell stop. I know what some of your thinking some of you been to a lot of these events were we talk about how Christians either take a stand in the culture and you look there and you're like, man. But it seems like the culture is getting worse and worse. It seems like things are just going downhill. There's no hope here's the point though we don't fight evil because we will win.

We fight evil because it's evil, and Christ has defeated evil by rising from the dead will say this to each other in a couple Sunday mornings right when it's Easter Sunday. This is what Christians throughout history have always said to each other.

Christ is risen he is risen indeed now see what what most Christians say it mean when they say that as I believe he's risen, that's not what the church historically is met, doesn't mean you believe he's risen. It's a barbaric yelp of certainty. Christ is risen from the dead, he's not risen. If you believe that he's risen.

Whether you believe it or not it's the defining event in all of human history. So we fight evil, not because working to when we fight evil because Jesus Christ has defeated death, and that's why we have whole so it's good that we can protect, promote and preserve what's evil as I what's missing that we can contribute what evil that we can stop and here's the fourth one. What's broken that we can restore, see, that's the story of the world as many theologians say creation fall redemption restoration God created the world. The world has fallen because of human sin. He comes in Christ to to to redeem the world and the ultimate end of the story is that all things will be made. What new again and submit.

That's the story that were part of. I think God loves it when lives are restored when relationships are reconciled.

Whenever I think about this, what it means to to live out the gospel in this moment, what that looks like a think of the story I heard the story and I said Marie we're gonna tell that on breakpoint. It was the story of a Catholic priest on the East Coast and he heard about a couple in his church who had gone near the end of their second trimester for an amniocentesis that the test… Test for.down syndrome in the womb and the test came back positive and so this young couple made the decision that 90% of couples make in their situation in the Western world and that is to abort.

Somehow, this priest heard about this and he called up the company said please please bring that you don't abort bring this child alike of the Charlotte this were just not ready to raise a child with down syndrome, which is not able to do that is what we can find an adoptive couple would you give it life and they said yes but in that state abortion was illegal in the third trimester.

The test is performed near the end of the second trimester, at least in their case. They were scheduled for abortion the following Wednesday and then they were going to move into the third trimester.

So essentially the priest had the weekend to solve this problem. Course he was facing his duties at his church and leading his congregation, but he went on a social media campaign sent out basically a digital APB anyone willing to adopt this child. By the end of the week and get this 800 couples stepped up to adopt this child is that beautiful I said I'm a tell that story on breakpoint.

I started to dig, the more I dug into the story. I realize there was a whole another think is one of things I was trying to get at was why this priest dropped everything to save this job and there's a whole lot of people including pastors and priests who say that there pro-life but being pro-life and living out your pro-life convictions are two different things and think it's what made him actually engage and I found out that about 2 1/2 years before this priest went on a campaign to save this little unborn child that this priest brother was in the backyard of his parents house just playing that he was in his 20s but he still lived at home because his brother had down syndrome and as he was playing in the backyard of the house he did know he was standing over the septic tank or that the septic tank had a metal roof or that the house was sold at the metal roof had rusted, but as this young man was standing over the septic tank.

The roof caved in and he fell into the septic tank into sewage over his head and he began to drown his dad saw what it happened and jumped into the septic tank after his son and lifted his son up out of the sewage and in the process. His dad sunk below the sewage and drowned and suddenly it made sense to say in the South. Why did this priest drop everything to save this child with down syndrome and the answer is he got it on us from his dad and that's what restoration does when we jump out and become agents of reconciliation. You don't know how the math is going to work out was T.S. Eliot said for us. There's only the trying the rest is in our business. The rest belongs to who God sending to family policy matters, a weekly radio show and podcasts from NC family. This was part to a speech delivered by John Stonestreet at our NC family, nature speakers dinner in Greenville to listen to the full speech and for more resources that will help you be a voice of persuasion in your community. Go to our website@ncfamily.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter