Prayers and politicians converge on Minneapolis
By Parker T. Williamson, The Layman Online, March 10, 2003
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Prayers and politicians claimed the same pew on a snowy March 6 night at Wooddale, a metropolitan Minneapolis mega-church.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former White House official Chuck Colson, former Virginia Attorney General Mark Earley, White House Director for Faith-Based Initiatives James Towey and former Minnesota Gov. Al Quie appeared before a crowd of 1,600 evangelicals to declare their faith in Jesus Christ, King of Kings, Lord of lords, whose government shall have no end.
Their message was unequivocal: Good government depends on the power that comes from above. Without God’s intervention into the human condition, the problems of poverty, inequity, environment and order defy all attempted solutions. Without God, humankind is ungovernable.
Minnesota governor speaks
Pawlenty, an evangelical Christian and member of Wooddale Church, said he has come to realize that there is a limit to what politics can accomplish.
“Most Minnesotans live less than one hour’s drive from a gambling casino,” he said, indicating that this burgeoning industry has contributed more harm than help to his people. “We lead the nation in out-of-wedlock births among women of color. Our shelters and jails are bulging. If you are going to change destructive behavior, you have to change the human heart. That is something that government cannot do.”
Pawlenty expressed his gratitude for the fact that Minnesota is blessed with thriving Christian communities. He said that, in addition to numerous smaller congregations scattered throughout the neighborhoods, there are 10 mega-churches in the Twin Cities area. People throughout the nation have known for years that “if they want to write to Billy Graham, the only address they need is ‘Minneapolis, Minnesota.'” Pawlenty said that, as governor, he is utterly dependent on the prayers of God’s people.
Former Virginia attorney general speaks
“Being in the cookie jar doesn’t make you a cookie,” quipped Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley as he described his conversion from mere church membership to personal faith. Earley said that, during a Sunday School class, the leader asked him to read John 3:16 aloud. He did so. “Now,” said the teacher, “read it again and put your name in place of ‘the world.'” Earley said he did so, and the good news took on an entirely new dimension. He committed his life to Jesus Christ, and became involved in the ministry of “The Navigators” through his college and law school years.
After college, Earley went into politics, eventually becoming Virginia’s attorney general. Sensing a great political opportunity, he entered the race for governor, but lost the election.
“I prayed, ‘Lord, since you shut that door, I know you must have something else for me.’ It was then that Chuck Colson called and asked me to join him in the ministry of Prison Fellowship. I know now that my losing that governor’s race was a part of God’s sovereign plan for my life.”
Echoing Pawlenty’s reflections on the limits of secular government, Earley described the impact of Prison Fellowship’s “touching and teaching ministry” among prisoners. He spoke of the fact that Minnesota is one of four states that has welcomed this specifically Christian program into its prisons. Prisoners have a choice. They can stay in the government-administered section of the prison, or they can enter the Prison Fellowship discipline of Bible study, prayer, faith sharing and preparation for a responsible life in the outside world.”
The results speak for themselves: Of the prisoners who have gone through Prison Fellowship’s program, 8 percent have returned to prison as repeat offenders. That compares to a 60 percent recidivism rate for the general prison population.
White House official speaks
Towey told the audience that he recognizes both the limits of government programs and the largely untapped potential of faith-based ministries. Quoting Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s condemnation of the West for having “forgotten God,” he said he believes the loss of God consciousness has led to the demise of human dignity and engendered human deprivation. But, Towey said, one can argue for the validity of faith-based social services without regard for questions of theology. Simply consider the results, he said.
What explains that difference between government programs and faith-based programs? Towey asked. Answering his own question, he said, “The difference is love.” Towey said that President George W. Bush understands this “love factor” that is characteristic of faith-based programs.
Chuck Colson speaks
Former White House official and Prison Fellowship founder Chuck Colson brought a message that was replete with tough talk for evangelicals. Noting several current crises in the social order and the sickness of secular culture, Colson observed a tendency among evangelicals to withdraw from the world into spiritually pristine enclaves.
“Evangelicals are tempted to go into church and forget the world that is going to hell,” he said. Then, in an explosive reaction, he shouted: “NEVER! That’s a terrible thing for a Christian to say. There is not one square inch of this world over which the Christ who is sovereign does not cry out ‘MINE.’ Despair among Christians is a sin. It denies the sovereignty of God. This is a time – more than ever before – when Christians must be bold and contend for Christian truth in every place, every walk of life. It is the world’s one hope.”
Colson said evangelicals harbor a tendency toward “a shameful view of the church.” Pointing to the “incarnational” presence of God in Christ, Colson declared that everything about the gospel points to an immersion in culture, not an escape from it. Quoting Augustine, he said, “You cannot have God for your father without the church for your mother.” The church is not of the world, but it is definitely in the world, he said.
We must understand that God’s plan for the world is not just that we come to him and are saved, Colson said. Salvation involves becoming a part of Christ’s body in the world, being part of the incarnational ministry that he established. “That means that the pastor is not merely to entertain from the pulpit. He is to equip the saints for the work of service in the world.”
Colson said “contending for the faith” requires tough leaders who are well-trained for the task. He recalled his U.S. Marine Corps training at Quantico. Colson said that, when it dawned on him that he would be responsible for leading his men into battle and that their lives and his depended on excellence in leadership, he submitted himself to vigorous training exercises.
“Church leadership today is no less critical,” he said. “We must train like the Marines in Quantico. The heart and soul of our culture depends on how we perform in combat.”
Colson said that nowhere is this principle more graphically apparent than in prison. When an inmate publicly gives his life to Jesus Christ, he steps across the line from one culture to another. It is a dangerous thing to do, for the public confession of faith in that environment can be met with unimaginable brutality. Prison Fellowship understands that its people are “called out for the purpose of serving the world.” And, in prison, but no less in secular culture on the outside, that world can be an ugly place. But we can do no less, Colson insisted. “It is for the sake of that world that Jesus Christ gave His life.”