"We are uneducated in dealing with non-moral issues...."
We i made that statement - some fellow Christians wanted to fire me as their pastor. One of the reasons that our voice as Christians is not really considered in the dialogue of cultural issues and world problems is that we have a “two-note song” that the rest of the human race is weary of hearing! Ask an evangelical to debate abortion and gay marriage and they foam at the mouth. Ask the same Christian to explain principles of free market society and how it aligns with Biblical principles of stewardship – they give you a blank stare. How about the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in the sub-sahara regions of the world? Where or what is “sub-sahara!” Anyone ever heard of Dafur? Again it causes the “deer in the head light look!”
We need to be able to intelligently discuss defense, economics, environment, education (tough to do when you are in the Christian school), social security, federal infrastructure, etc. Most Christians are so unversed in that kind of dialogue that anything they want to say about the moral issues are discounted or we are labeled zealous yet unintelligent. The fact is issues like poverty and education for the urban poor is a moral issue in the world. That is why we have lost our voice and standing in the conversation! In some respects they are right.
The shame of this is that evangelical Christians give to many organizations that are making an impact inn these types of compassion and mercy ministries! World Vision, Compassion Intl, Feed the Child – all are evangelical based and tremendous examples. The problem is Christians give there mony but don’t fully understand the issues or what their position is on the issues. We also have a hard time separating the sin question and the compassion question. Look the bible is clear homosexuality is a sin and there is NO way that a practicing homosexual can be a believer. But their struggle with this sin does not mean we do not engage with them or show unconditional love. Do you realize that most homosexuals who die from AIDS, usually die alone! How heart breaking but because we struggle to separate the theological truth with a practical position, we miss out on great opportunities.
Look I think a start would be for Christians to daily read the newspaper and watch a few news programs and then ask questions. We have to get pass our BIG TWO issues and grow in our understanding and ability to discuss these issues without becoming fighting fundies. Just for historical understanding….when evolution came on the scene; Christians raised their voices, got their vein protruding from their neck and emoted everywhere. The problem is they never read up on the scientific evidence and the evolutionist waxed us. It took some 20 years for us to catch up and now thanks to “Back to Genesis: and Ken Hamm, we have nodal evidence to speak intellectually on the issue.