CHRISTIANS & PUBLIC POLICY

SALT & LIGHT IN PUBLIC LIFE 

SD: Bill, what connection do you believe there is between Christianity and how people conduct themselves in government and public policy?

BB: Well, I think Steve, every Christian should be involved in politics, government, media, education, from the precinct to the White House because we're salt and light. We should be a part of every fabric of this society, our culture, and this is something sadly we're not now doing as a nation as Christians.

BB: Jesus said we who are His followers are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, but unfortunately sometimes we fall into the category of the church at Ephesus written about in Revelation and the Laodecian Church. The church at Ephesus, which had been mightily used of God had turned away and left their first love probably 30 years so after Paul was martyred. And of course the Laodecian Church, "Thou are neither hot nor cold. I would that you were either hot or cold. I will spew you out of my mouth." So, the church today has lots a lot of its salt and light. We should be involved in every segment of society. We should be primary leaders in education, in media, government. Every facet of society should have the stamp of Christ upon it, and during the time of our founding fathers that was true. As a matter of fact, George Washington, the father of our country began and ended every day on his knees, reading the Bible and praying for an hour or so. I was taken by the guide the first time I visited Mount Vernon and she said, here is where President Washington knelt, and prayed and read his Bible every morning and night. Well, I doubt if the guide would tell you that today because there has been such a secularization of our country. We have turned away from the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and yet God continues to bless us, and yet to me it's very, very sobering to think that we are in the tragic decadent state that we're in. We export more pornography than any other or all the other countries of the world put together because we have more money. We buy more drugs than any other country in the world. We are through the media, through our films and other literature printed and electronic impacting the world for evil like no other country, yet we're a God blessed country, and when you read what God said to ancient Israel, Deuteronomy chapters 8 and 28, "If you turn from me and worship other Gods, I will destroy you." That's what He did for Israel, and unless we repent as a nation --and I believe we will -- God will destroy us.

SD: Bill, I have a tough question here. How can believers in the church and even in movements like CC properly influence government for righteousness without in some way compromising their involvement in the Great Commission?

BB: Well, first of all, Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemies and do unto others as you would have others do unto you." If we do that, we are helping to change America. I remember President Ronald Regan saying when he was president of the United States, he often said, "If we Americans would obey the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, every problem we had would be solved," and the first time I heard him say that I cringed because it sounded so simplistic and I knew his critics would go after him. But the fact is you analyze that and all the racial problems, all the sexual problems, all the educational problems would be resolved if we were to do what God told us to do. So, Christians need to do what God said do and our problems would be solved because there are 120 million of us in church every Sunday and unfortunately over half are not sure of their salvation according to surveys. Probably less than two percent are regularly sharing their faith. Probably no more than five percent understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So, the church at large is not fulfilling the salt and light commandment.

SHARING CHRIST WITH PUBLIC FIGURES (5:30)

SD: I venture to guess, Bill, that you have had about as much experience as anybody sharing Christ with governmental officials. Now, I know you don’t want to drop names, that’s not good, but could you tell us a little of your experience in sharing with people who would probably be very intimidating for the average person to share with?

BB: Well, I have seen God do some amazing things. I remember Vonette and I used to spend one week a month in Washington, D.C., working with congressmen, senators, leaders of the Pentagon and the White House and I remember on one occasion one of our staff had led the wives of several congressmen to the Lord so they worked out a plan where I would come in and speak to their husbands who were congressmen and key leaders in Washington. So, I remember speaking to a group of maybe 20 couples and I spoke to them about who is Jesus, why He came, how they could know Him personally. Then I said, if you'd like to know more I'd be glad to meet with you tomorrow. I'll drop by your office. Well, several of the men invited me to come to their office and I remember going into one of the congressmen's office who later became a national figure and ran for president and so forth. I said, do you understand what I said last night? Yes. Does it make sense? Yes. Would you like to receive the Lord? He didn't answer me. He just turned around and got on his knees in front of a big black couch and began to pray. Well, I went down the hallway to talk to another congressman. He received the Lord, and another, and then a man who was one of the leading lobbyist in Washington, a man of great wealth and esteem, received the Lord. Well, we found that people like that are hungry for God. When we started our Christian Embassy, we purchased a home to which we would invite small groups of 15 or 20 to come to the Christian embassy building and we would present Christ to them and we saw amazing things happen. I remember a general came and he said, I have made a mess of my life and I want to receive Christ. A senator and his wife came to one of the meetings. They got home and got on their knees and they said, Lord we want to surrender everything to you and on, and on, and on. I remember I was at the inauguration of Ronald Reagan, seated between the senator who had received Christ, his wife had received Christ, Senator Bill Armstrong and his wife Ellen, and we were out in the audience, special section for senators, and we were observing the inauguration ceremony. The senator in charge for the day received Christ through a group of students whom I had led to the Lord on his campus when he was dean of students. He became governor and now a senator and he was the chairman of the day. So, he introduced one of the first young men I led to the Lord at UCLA who gave the invocation and the benediction and was the pastor of the president for 25 years. So, here I sat remembering win the campus for Christ today, win the world to Christ tomorrow. Here are leaders who are recognizing that Jesus Christ is the most important person in their lives, and through the years we've had meetings where from 30 to 60 congressmen, senators meet regularly to study the Bible together. I've spoken in the Pentagon to hundreds of personnel, but on many occasions I've spoken to the flag officers. I remember on one occasion there were about 60 admirals and generals who came to a breakfast meeting where I spoke and I've never received a warmer response in my life as they stood and applauded, and applauded and applauded, because you reach -- when a man becomes an admiral or a general he's gone through a refining process and usually you will find them more -- people of that category are more open to the gospel than almost anyone else. So, I look back on the influence of this movement in politics and we try to be non-partisan. One of the leading democrats in Washington I met for dinner one evening with a colleague of his who was a conservative and he was very, very liberal, but he and his wife received the Lord that evening and he's had an incredible ministry for the Lord through the years. Actually he goes out over the world. So, Campus Crusade for Christ as a movement has a growing influence in capitols of the world, the United Nations here in the United States. Canada has a marvelous ministry to political leaders.

REAGAN & YEAR OF THE BIBLE

BB: I had been asked to be the chairman of a Year of the Bible, a conference where scholars like Dr. James Boyce and Chuck Colson and other scholars came together to talk about the authority of scripture, and I was privileged to be the chairman of that. While I was sitting there one day the Holy Spirit impressed me that I needed to go to President Regan and ask him to declare a year of the Bible. Now, remember prayer and Bible reading had been outlawed by the Supreme Court. So, I had met the president when he was governor and had occasion to meet him elsewhere, but knew his mother. When I was in business, she was a saintly woman and she told me how Ronald Regan was a godly young man and how he was an evangelist when he was in his teens. So, he hadn't lost that zeal. Anyway, after God gave me the idea I didn’t tell anyone else except Vonette.

BB: I arrived at the White House by appointment and here was the President, his usual charming self and his three lieutenants meeting me in the Oval Room. You’d think I was a visiting king, and they treated me with great respect and I shared this idea with the President that I wanted him to declare a Year of the Bible, and he said he'd be glad to do that but first I would have to get a bill through Congress, house and senate, declaring a year of the Bible which he would sign into law. Then I asked him if he would be the honorary chairman. So, he agreed to that and so we had a wonderful meeting and I was excited beyond words, and while I was still in the White House I called Senator Bill Armstrong and I said, will you head up the committee to get the Senate to approve the legislation? Yes, I'll do that. Called Congressman Moorhead, a congressman from California, will you head up the bill in the congress? He agreed. Wasn't long until the bill was passed in both houses and not opposition and the ACLU hadn't heard about it. It was done very quietly.

But by the time it reached the president's desk, the ACLU had invaded the White House and said to the legal counsel, if you sign this bill we will sue you and you'll be in litigation as long as you're President. So, nobody knew what the President was going to do. He didn't tell anyone, and I was waiting because I was confident he was going to do it. I waited and then on one of those National Days of Prayer --the National Day of Prayer used to be the Presidential Prayer Breakfast-- he gave his final word of greetings to about three thousand people, 150 countries represented or so and he said, "Ladies and gentlemen I'm taking on a new responsibility today. It won't take much of my time, but I'm becoming honorary chairman of the Year of the Bible," and he said, "I'm going to sign it into law." Well, he walked over. I had been warned, be ready in case he does. This is a good time for him to do it. Nobody knew what he was going to do. Senator Armstrong and Congressman Moorhead and I quickly were assembled behind him for the photograph as he signed it, and I have one of the pens with which he signed the bill. Well, he was violently attacked by the ACLU and he was sued, and I guess the suit was pending until he left the White House, because they do everything they can do discredit Christ and the Bible. But it was a marvelous year. The Year of the Bible was the year that Nancy DeMoss launched the Power for Living Campaign in which I'm confident millions of people received Christ all across the nation. All kinds things were done in the name of Year of the Bible, 1983. Glenn Jones, a Colonel in the Air Force had become my chief of staff and he was helpful in helping me to implement it, but I had a vice chairman representing the Jewish community, Dr. Gershel Cohen (??), who was head of the rabbinical seminary in New York City; marvelous person, godly, wonderful person. I had Tom Zimmerman representing the Protestants and a cardinal from Philadelphia representing the Catholics. So, it was a mighty movement of God that had a real impact, I believe, on the lives of many millions of people.
 

BACK TO INTERVIEW PAGE