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FALWELL CONFIDENTIAL
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The Moral Majority Coalition and The Liberty AllianceStanding in the Pulpit 50 Years Ago
Friday, August 10, 2007
From: Jonathan Falwell
Fifty years is not a long time, in many regards. But in terms of our nation, it is more than 1/5 of our total history.
I would like to return for a moment to 1957, 50 years ago, to examine the culture of our nation at that time.
It was a pivotal time for many churches. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., had organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in order to win the rights of black Americans. In September, army paratroopers arrived at Central High School in Little Rock, to enable nine black students entry to the all-white school, bringing the media spotlight on civil rights.
Pastors in America came to a crossroads.
Many had been instructed through the years that black Americans were not the equal of white Americans. They had been contaminated by years of a misguided philosophy of “separate but equal,” that claimed to be biblical.
But it was not.
My father, a fledgling pastor who started Thomas Road Baptist Church in 1956, would eventually be forced to come face to face with this issue. He was one of the pastors who had been taught to keep black people separated from his church.
It was through his friendships with three black men in central Virginia through the years -- Lee Bacas, Lump Jones and David Brown -- and the historic influence of William Wilberforce and Harriet Beecher Stowe that Dad came to understand that he had been taught wrong. He came to realize that God sees all men equally.
Today, TRBC welcomes many black families each Sunday. Our members worship together in one accord and it is a wonderful thing!
New Challenges
Now, 50 years later, American pastors face similar crossroads that require us to consider the Word of God afresh.
I believe there are three key areas in which pastors must engage the culture and follow biblical guidelines for addressing these issues.
1. Sexual immorality continues to tear at the very fabric of our nation. Pastors must be at the forefront of encouraging their parishioners to stay true to their marriage vows, to avoid the many temptations that we daily face, and to teach their children that God’s plan is that they remain sexually pure until marriage. We must also compassionately reach out to those who have become blinded by their own sexuality.
2. The current “diversity culture” is often contrary to biblical truth, in that it assumes all “truth” to be equal. Pastors must commit to teaching that the Bible is God’s stated truth (“in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”). This means we teach that: the world was created by God in six literal days; that the entirety of the Bible is the inspired Word of God; that God loves all people equally (even when they are in the womb!); that man is fallen and in need of redemption; and that Jesus Christ supplied the avenue to heaven through his death, burial and glorious resurrection.
3. Our culture often resists the Judeo-Christian influence. Our courts frequently rule against biblical expressions in the public square. Young people in schools are often met with resistance when they attempt to articulate their faith in the classroom. And people in the workplace are increasingly faced with discriminatory policies designed to either silence their expressions of faith or to compel them to consent to workplace policies that counter their sincerely-held beliefs. Even though the culture often opposes us, pastors and Christians must continue to boldly, yet considerately, be witnesses for Jesus Christ. We are called to this endeavor (“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ …”).
My friends, the culture has dramatically changed in 50 years. We have witnessed a moral freefall that is often shocking. And so it behooves us to reflect on our calling to be ambassadors for Christ and beacons of Truth in a world that is seeking truth in all the wrong places. We must reach out to our fellow man with the hope of the Gospel.
I believe our generation can take I Peter 3:14, 15 as our theme verses: “But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
Remembering My Dad
My father, Dr. Jerry Falwell, would have been 74 on Saturday. He passed away suddenly on May 15 and we continue to honor his memory at Thomas Road Baptist Church and Liberty University. Dad had a remarkable half-century of ministry that allowed him to touch many lives personally and through his outreach to the culture. Our family misses him greatly, but we are bolstered by knowing that he is experiencing the boundless joys of standing in the presence of his Lord and Savior.
Special TRBC Broadcast
On Sunday, I encourage readers to watch a very special “Old Time Gospel Hour” broadcast in which we will be showing the 51st Anniversary Celebration of Thomas Road Baptist Church. This was a moving service in which we recalled the ministry of my father and the ongoing worldwide ministry of this historic church. The broadcast airs Sunday at 11:00 p.m. on the ION Network and Family Net, at 8:00 a.m. on Sky Angel and at 10:00 a.m. on Daystar TV (all times ET). It also airs on the INSP Network on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m., and on many local stations around the country at various times.
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