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December 2011 Issue

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Calling Southern Baptists to be "Salt" and "Light"

by ERLC Staff

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) is the smallest entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, but its assignment is immense. It exists to "assist the churches by helping them understand the moral demands of the Gospel, apply Christian principles to moral and social problems and questions of public policy, and to promote religious liberty."

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission tackles a wide range of ethical matters through a variety of media—in print, through radio broadcasts, through television interviews, on the Web, and in person, whether in local church settings, personal conversations with lawmakers, or one-on-one interaction with individual Southern Baptists.

In 2011, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission staff members were featured in 192 press interviews, resulting in 3,417 news stories. Using industry standards to estimate the number of readers and viewers reached, a potential of two billion people were exposed to a biblical perspective on societal issues because of this press coverage.

With offices in Nashville, Tennessee, and Washington, DC, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission looks to Scripture to guide its responses to the moral issues that are impacting families and impeding citizens' freedom of religious expression.

At its core, the work of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is about educating and encouraging the people of God to live out the Gospel. Jesus taught the truth of the Gospel. He knew that unless His followers lived radically different lives, eschewing the world's way for God's way, they would blend right into the culture and make no Kingdom difference in the world that surrounds them.

Salt of the Earth; Light of the World
In His words recorded in Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus used two images common to that day to portray those who earnestly follow Him. The first of these is common salt. Jesus said, You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It's no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled on by men.

Those who heard Him knew the value of salt as a preservative. Living without any type of refrigeration, they understood salt's antibacterial properties. It retards the spoilage of food by slowing the growth of bacteria and inhibiting the growth of mold.

Salt was a valuable commodity. Christ knew His followers would appreciate His teaching that they must stand as barriers to the spread of evil. Their presence as people sold out to God's desires is vital to repelling the stench of an ever-rotting culture marked by those who are willfully disobedient before the Lord.

"We have to disinfect and preserve moral standards the way salt does food. We also have to know firmly and clearly what our standards are and why we believe in them: salt must remain pure or it loses its effectiveness," explained Richard Land, President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission since 1988.

Those who listened to our Lord also knew the value of salt as a seasoning. It enhances the flavor of foods. When men and women authentically live out a Christ-honoring life, they dramatically alter the environment of their homes, their marketplaces, and their communities.

Jesus also said, You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house.

We know that in Jesus' day it was completely dark at nightfall. Those to whom He spoke understood the distinction between utter darkness and the blazing light of multiple lamps on a lampstand. They had a very practical knowledge of light overcoming the darkness. It would have been easy for them to relate to the spiritual struggle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.

Being "light," only those who have placed their faith in Christ can dispel the darkness in which so many live, illuminating the path of righteousness that others may see and be saved. Yet, that light has to be seen before it makes a difference. Given the state of contemporary culture, it appears the basket business has been brisk while lamps and lampstands have remained on the shelves!

Jesus expects His followers to apply biblical principles to those things in our culture that destroy lives and tear families apart, things such as poverty and hunger, perversion of God's design for human sexuality, devaluation of human life at all stages, all manner of greed, and the lack of justice for all.

Christians must be salt—by working for laws that promote nobility and righteousness and mitigate again immoral behavior. Christians must be light—by contending for that which honors God, sharing the truth and love of Jesus in order that hearts might be changed.

"The salt of the law can change actions, but it's only the light of the Gospel that can change attitudes. The salt of the law can change behaviors, but only the light of the Gospel can change beliefs. The salt of the law can change habits, but only the light of the Gospel can change hearts," according to Land.

Sanctity of Human Life
One of the more visible ministries of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is its promotion of a "culture of life." The ERLC advocates for policies that protect innocent human life, arguing for a position that squares with Scripture. In its publications, the Commission seeks to impart a deeper understanding of the preciousness of human life to Southern Baptists and other evangelicals.

In support of this position, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's Psalm 139 Project (www.psalm139project.org) spotlights the reality that a woman in a crisis pregnancy who is considering abortion is likely to change her mind and allow her baby to live if she sees her child's image on an ultrasound screen. As the funds are available, the Psalm 139 Project assists Gospel-focused pregnancy care centers in securing ultrasound equipment. The ERLC works in conjunction with state Baptist conventions to place the units, including recent placements of mobile machines in Florida and Arizona.

The Commission advocates a holistic approach to the sanctity of human life, which includes ministering to women in crisis pregnancies, supporting families who adopt and foster children, and encouraging lawmakers to establish policies that protect life instead of endangering the life of those who are the most vulnerable.

Religious Liberty
One of the bedrock ideals that Baptists champion is that church and state should be separate. Government's highest duty is to provide a level playing field for people of faith by accommodating citizens' rights to express their religious beliefs in public locales.

Religious liberty is best achieved when civil and ecclesiastical authorities are separated. While the phrase "separation of church and state" is often attributed to President Thomas Jefferson, it was in fact Roger Williams who first used the imagery of a wall between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world. A wall, Williams insisted, was necessary to protect the garden from the incursion of the wilderness, to protect the church from the state, not the other way around.

While the concept of separation of church and state is often discussed, it is frequently misconstrued—often purposely. Jefferson's affirmation that there should be a wall of separation between the state and the church was never intended to mean that religious values should be banned from the sphere of public life.

Every individual has the right to decide what he or she will or won't believe, free of any external interference.

Richard Land wrote in his book, The Divided States of America: "Part of being human is a divinely protected, private sphere of the heart, mind, and soul where the freedom of conscience resides. This sacred space within each human being is inviolate. It is the innate foundation of human dignity, and it must be respected and nurtured, not crushed. Any attempt by governments to interfere with it, seek to repress it, or claim to have the right to control it is soul rape—the opposite of soul freedom" (p. 216).

As God is the giver of the fundamental human right to religious liberty, no human power may rightly take it away. Governments and despots alike may seek by drastic measure to suppress its expression, but it cannot and will not be extinguished.

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission annually spotlights the life and work of an individual fighting on the front lines for the cause of religious liberty or working to preserve it in those few nations where it is already guaranteed. Some recent honorees include Clement Shahbaz Bhatti, a Pakistani Christian and Pakistan's federal minister of minorities, who was assassinated earlier this year; and Fan Yafeng, a leading advocate for constitutional democracy and religious liberty in China, who is himself a target of harassment by the Chinese government for his advocacy of human rights in the Communist nation.

The issue of religious liberty took an odd twist recently with the Obama administration's decision to scrap the US military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has joined others in expressing concern about conscience protections for military chaplains now that the government has said same-sex "marriages" can be held on military bases.

The ERLC continues to be vocal in its opposition to federal legislation that devalues human life and threatens freedom of speech or religious liberty.

Resources to Educate and Encourage
With an office in Washington, DC, Southern Baptists can be confident their beliefs are being well represented in their nation's capital. Commission staff advocate for policies that honor Christ, value human life, and secure God's design for marriage. Because of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's respect for the legislative process, even those who oppose their perspectives often grant them access to communicate Southern Baptists' stance on matters.

The ERLC's Washington, DC, office has filed numerous amicus briefs with the US Supreme Court and with various circuit courts of appeals in cases where Americans' freedom of expression was in peril, including a filing in Good News Club v. Milford Central School. In the case, the Supreme Court found for the plaintiffs, saying the free speech rights of a couple seeking to hold a Christian after-school club at a local school had been abridged.

In addition to advocating for religious liberty, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's DC office also focuses on education. Believing that an informed citizenry is a prepared citizenry, the ERLC is faithful to communicate news about issues that might impact the nation's well-being.

Using the Internet to present a biblical apologetic for moral and ethical issues of the day, the ERLC's website, www.erlc.com, provides running commentary and news on these matters. The site features many related Web pages, including numerous issues posted on Issues at a Glance. Each issue featured on the "Issue at a Glance" Web page features a downloadable information sheet (bulletin insert) called Impact that is suitable for distribution within the church.

Resources designed to assist individuals and churches in addressing some of the more pervasive issues influencing modern culture are located at ERLC's website. One example can be found at www.erlc.com/pornography. Some of the resources include an overview of the issue, a Scripture index, links to relevant SBC resolutions, perspectives written by well-known evangelicals, and a host of resources designed to educate, equip, and encourage Southern Baptists to act in biblically-affirming and Christ-honoring ways to combat this scourge on society.

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission also provides resources addressing the moral imperative to care for the poor and needy at www.worldhungerfund.com.

During election season, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's www.iVoteValues.com website is a valuable guide to Southern Baptists, particularly through its listing of permitted and prohibited politicking activities for churches. During presidential election years, the ERLC develops a political party platform comparison guide. The popular resource, which contains no partisan analysis or comment, contains side-by-side excerpts from the platforms of the two major parties on a wide range of issues of concern to American families. Given the guide's design, it can legally be distributed within churches.

Every week, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission releases via e-mail a digital digest of news, analysis, and commentary to subscribers called Faith and Family Values. It contains links to articles and other features on the websites and provides timely news and commentary on policy developments in Washington, DC, and the culture at large.

Changing anything about society and its promotion of a selfish, hedonistic mindset appears overwhelming. God-fearing families are pressed in on nearly every side by a culture that rejects God's design for life and the family. Yet we are not without hope; we must be faithful to testify in word and deed to God's unsurpassed love and His unequaled power. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission exists to come alongside the churches to assist them in their efforts to be salt and light in a sin-darkened world.

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