How can ministers safeguard the Gospel while addressing moral, political issues?

This transcript has been adapted from the attached audio. It may not be in its final form and may be updated.

What I try to do is to look at the issues that we face, as a nation and as Christians, and to look at what the biblical revelation has to say about them. That’s one of the reasons I did my doctorate in theology. That’s a little about my personal background: I grew up in a Southern Baptist church. I was enrolled in the "Cradle Role" of the Southern Baptist Church. I was a [Sunbeam](http://www.wmu.com/resources/library/history_sunbeams.asp) back before they had [Mission Friends](http://www.missionfriends.com/index.asp?ContentID=402). And I’ve been to every mosquito-infested youth encampment that Texas Baptists keep on the Gulf Coast. I was a [Royal Ambassador](http://www.royalambassadors.org/site/c.9oIDLOOyGrF/b.315401/k.76A2/Who_Are_Royal_Ambassadors.htm), and I dated [G.A.s](http://www.gapassport.com/index.asp?ContentID=144). I even dated a couple of “Queens with Scepters." ¹ I was led to the Lord, nurtured in the faith, called to preach, and trained to ministry in a Southern Baptist context. When I was 19, I had the opportunity to go to (what was then) the headquarters of [Campus Crusade](http://www.ccci.org) [for Christ] at Arrowhead Springs, California, and to go through a week-long [leadership training institute](http://www.ccci.org/training-and-growth.aspx) and then go through the advanced leadership training institute. And of course, they take Christian doctrine by a "subject approach" rather than a "scripture-text approach." So the first step in the [10 Basic Steps](http://www.10basicsteps.com/main.htm) is the [Uniqueness of Jesus](http://www.tenbasicsteps.org/english/uniquenessofjesus/introduction.htm). Then they talk about what the Bible says about God—what the Bible says about God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—and what the Bible says about sin, and what the Bible says about man, and what the Bible says about the devil, and what the Bible says about evil, and what the Bible says about the church, and what the Bible says about sanctification. And the last two steps are highlights of the Old Testament and highlights of the New Testament. Well, I learned more about the Bible and about what Christians believe and why we believe during those two weeks than I had in 19 years of going to Southern Baptist churches, and I had several perfect attendance pins. At that point, I became a theologian, and I was determined the rest of my ministry that I was going to seek to deal with what the Bible says subject by subject. Now, I preach through books of the Bible when I’m preaching, but I also preach doctrinal sermons. Here’s what the Bible says about God the Father. Here’s what the Bible says about God the Holy Spirit. Here’s what the Bible says about God the Son. Here’s what the Bible says about the church. Here’s what the Bible says about eternal security. And I do the same with moral issues—here’s what the Bible says about abortion. There’s a reason that the Jews are the only culture in the Mediterranean Basin that did not practice abortion and infanticide routinely. [It is] because their God had told them that he’s involved whenever conception takes place (Psalm 51) and that God knew Jeremiah before he was in his mother’s womb and while he was in his mother’s womb God sanctified him and made him a prophet to the nations. And Psalm 139 which says that God knows all of our parts, and he knits us and embroiders us together in our mother’s womb, and all of our parts are written in his book before any of them came to be. I’m certainly willing to acknowledge that God may not have a position on NAFTA or CAFTA or on arms control agreements, but He is pro-life. I don’t want to try to read into the Bible what’s not there, but I also want to preach the entire Word of God “asparagus and all” not just the desserts. So what I try to do, and what I encourage others to do, is you preach the Word of God. You take as your model, to be able to say in clear conscience, what Paul said to the Ephesian elders when he took his leave of them in the book of Acts. He said, “I am innocent of the blood of all men because I have not hesitated to preach unto you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:26-27). Well of course, that implies that if you don’t preach the whole counsel of God, you’re not innocent of the blood of all men. So I think we have an obligation to preach the whole of the Word of God and everything the Word of God says to our people as we best understand it. What we say to people is, “You need to be registered to vote.” It’s a Christian citizenship responsibility, based on Romans 13, to vote. And you need to be registered to vote, you need to be an informed voter—here’s where the candidates stand on the issues. And when you vote, you need to vote your values, your beliefs, and your convictions. You have to leave it to the people to connect the dots as to what their values and their beliefs and their convictions are. Make sure they understand what your beliefs and values and convictions are. And then they have to decide for themselves. I don’t think we should be endorsing candidates, but we should be looking for candidates who endorse us.