The freedom to preach the Gospel can be lost while Christians insist politics has nothing to do with their faith.
Christian apologist Frank Turek is challenging that retreat, warning that the laws shaping a nation also shape the conditions in which its churches worship, its families raise children and its citizens speak the truth.
“Politics affects your ability to preach and live the gospel,” Turek said during an episode of “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.”
Drawing from “The War on Reality,” co-written with Phoenix Hayes, Turek laid out 10 reasons Christians should engage in public life. His case reaches beyond an election cycle to a larger question: What happens when Christians surrender their influence over laws that can protect their neighbors or expose them to harm?
1. Laws can protect the Gospel’s advance or restrict it
A pastor’s determination to preach does not prevent a government from closing the doors through which that message travels.
Turek pointed to restrictions in countries such as Iran and Saudi Arabia to challenge the assumption that evangelism operates independently of political power. The ability to establish churches, share Christian teaching and worship openly can depend on decisions made by governing authorities.
“So, if for no other reason we Christians have to be engaged politically is to protect our ability to preach and live the gospel,” he said.
He also rejected the suggestion that persecution’s potential to strengthen the church justifies standing aside while freedom erodes.
He warned against surrendering “our freedoms by negligence.”
“We always fight evil and leave the results to God,” Turek said.
2. Loving your neighbor includes protecting your neighbor
Abortion, education, crime, marriage and religious liberty all involve people whose lives are affected by public policy. Turek connected those consequences to Jesus’ commands to be salt and light and to love one’s neighbor.
“By putting laws in place that protect innocent people from evil, we’re loving our neighbors,” he said.
To challenge blanket opposition to Christian political involvement, he turned to the fight against slavery.
“Are you telling me that back in the 1800s, that Christians should not have gotten involved in politics to outlaw slavery?” Turek asked.
The question exposes the consequences of treating political withdrawal as a spiritual virtue. Abolition required people willing to confront an injustice embedded in law and work to overturn it.
“Welcome to politics, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “You can’t avoid it.”
3. Government can make or break a civilization
Political decisions can produce consequences that stretch across generations. Turek contrasted freedom and repression on the Korean Peninsula and compared Hiroshima’s economic recovery with hardship in Havana.
“Government can make or break a civilization,” he said.
He grounded government’s responsibility in Genesis 9 and Romans 13, emphasizing the protection of innocent people through the punishment of wrongdoing. When authorities abandon that responsibility, the damage falls on the people they should defend.
“Because when you don’t punish the guilty, you wind up punishing the innocent,” Turek said.
He also cited Jeremiah 29:7, God’s instruction to the exiles to seek the welfare of the city where they lived. A community’s condition matters to the people of God living within it.
“We ought to seek the welfare of the cities that we are in,” he said.
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4. Jesus confronted leaders who neglected justice
Turek pointed to Matthew 23 to challenge the portrayal of Jesus as detached from the conduct of those exercising public authority.
“Jesus is going after the politicians of his day, the Pharisees,” he said.
In particular, he highlighted Matthew 23:23, where Jesus rebuked religious leaders for their meticulous attention to tithing while neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness.
Turek applied that rebuke to political priorities. Leaders can occupy themselves with comparatively small matters while failing to protect people facing grave harm.
“Jesus is telling us the test for politics is to major in the majors, not the minors,” he said.
His emphasis was on the moral weight of governing decisions, especially those concerning human life and the protection of children.
5. The prophets and apostles held rulers accountable
Scripture repeatedly brings God’s truth into direct confrontation with earthly power. Moses stood before Pharaoh. Prophets rebuked kings. Paul spoke about righteousness and judgment before a Roman governor.
“They were involved in politics,” Turek said of the prophets and apostles.
He highlighted Acts 24:25, where Paul’s teaching about righteousness, self-control and coming judgment frightened Felix. Paul did not withhold an uncomfortable truth because the man listening held political authority.
“And he didn’t tiptoe around the truth to keep political leaders comfortable,” Turek said. “He told the truth because truth, not silence, is what saves.”
Turek connected that willingness to speak with the responsibility to address moral wrongdoing in public life. A ruler’s position does not place his conduct beyond the reach of God’s Word.
6. Jesus did not dilute truth to keep a crowd
The fear of driving people away from the Gospel is one of the objections Turek hears against addressing controversial subjects. He answered it with John 6.
After Jesus delivered a difficult teaching, many disciples stopped following Him. Jesus did not revise His message to win them back.
“He wasn’t compromising or watering down the message,” Turek said.
Turek warned that churches organized around avoiding offense can neglect the teaching necessary to develop mature disciples. A congregation can keep returning to elementary subjects while leaving its people unprepared to confront the moral pressures around them.
He described the responsibility plainly: “Our job is to preach the truth and leave the results to God.”
7. Laws teach people what to accept and reject
A law can do more than permit or prohibit an action. It can help shape a society’s understanding of what is respectable, shameful, just or oppressive.
“Laws affect the plausibility of the gospel,” Turek said.
He referenced Pastor Josh McPherson’s experience in Washington state, describing an environment where opposition to certain policies concerning sexuality and diversity can cause Christian convictions to be branded as bigotry.
In Turek’s argument, that public judgment can become an obstacle before a person ever enters a church. People may approach Christianity already convinced that its moral teachings are harmful.
“And so we just can’t give up on the law,” he said.
The stakes extend to the assumptions people carry when they first encounter the Gospel.
8. Shared moral convictions can open a door to faith
Turek challenged pastors who assume that speaking about abortion, protecting children or public safety will inevitably repel people who have yet to embrace Christianity.
“Conservative politics are an on-ramp to Christianity, not an off-ramp,” he said.
He defined conservative in this context as a desire to preserve what is right, good and true. Secular people who share those convictions may be willing to hear the biblical foundation beneath them.
Turek described that opening as a chance to follow a concern for justice back to its source.
“And once you realize what justice is all about, you want to trace the waters of justice back to its source,” he said. “Jesus is the source.”
His point was that addressing moral questions can create opportunities to explain Christian truth and develop disciples.
9. Christian withdrawal leaves others to wield power
The work of government continues when Christians disengage. Laws are still written. Officials still exercise authority. Other convictions still shape public policy.
“If the godly don’t get involved, the godless will,” Turek said.
He invoked authoritarian rulers to illustrate the devastation political power can cause when it serves evil. He also connected the defense of human rights to Christianity’s understanding of their source.
“Governments don’t give you rights,” Turek said.
He argued that rights exist independently of a government’s willingness to recognize them and that governing authorities are responsible for protecting them. That responsibility becomes urgent when people seek to take those rights away.
“Christians have to be engaged,” he said.
10. The differences between political choices have consequences
Turek closed his list by emphasizing the distance between the major parties on issues including abortion, religious liberty, education, immigration, judicial appointments and gender policies.
“Because the parties are far apart now, it matters much more who you support,” he said.
He described Republican positions as closer to biblical principles on the issues he discussed while acknowledging that the party falls short, including on protecting unborn children.
“They’re not as pro-life as I want them to be,” he said.
The absence of an ideal choice does not erase the consequences of the available choices. Turek urged Christians to examine policies and platforms rather than wait for political perfection.
“You’re not going to find perfect candidates. You’re not going to find perfect platforms,” he said. “But there are obviously better laws or better policies and more biblical policies than others.”
The three institutions God established
Underneath Turek’s 10 reasons is a distinction between three institutions with different responsibilities: the family, government and church.
“Those are the three institutions God created,” he said. “He created family, created government, and he created the church.”
He warned against caring about the health of the home and congregation while ignoring the authority that can either protect them or threaten their freedom.
The family: The first institution
“He created the family first,” Turek said.
The family comes first in the order Turek described, with government subsequently established to protect it from evil. His discussion connected the well-being of families with decisions about marriage, education, the protection of children and the safety of communities.
Those issues carry consequences inside the home. Parents raising children cannot escape the effects of laws governing schools, public safety and the treatment of minors.
“Then he created government to protect the family from evil,” Turek said.
That relationship helps explain why he rejected the idea that Christians can safeguard their families while remaining indifferent to government. The institutions have distinct responsibilities, but the failure of one can injure the others.
Government: Protecting the innocent and punishing wrongdoing
Government carries the responsibility to restrain evil and protect the people under its authority.
“The purpose of government is to protect innocent people by punishing wrongdoers,” Turek said.
He emphasized Romans 13 and its description of governing authority bearing the sword. He also distinguished the government’s duties from commands governing personal conduct. An individual’s obligation to forgive does not eliminate the state’s responsibility to enforce laws.
Turek warned that “if the government turned the other cheek every time” or overlooked crime, “that would be a disaster.”
He made a similar distinction concerning charity, arguing that biblical commands for Christians to care for the poor do not automatically prescribe a particular government welfare system. Citizens may choose a public safety net, he said, while still distinguishing that policy choice from a biblical command.
The church: Preaching truth and making disciples
The church’s responsibility centers on bringing people to Christ and teaching them to follow Him. Turek warned that avoiding difficult moral subjects can leave congregations poorly equipped for that calling.
“If you orient your church to not offend non-believers, guess what you’re going to get? A bunch of non-believers,” he said. “And the people who are believers aren’t going to grow at all.”
His concern was the failure to move people toward mature discipleship when churches continually sidestep demanding teachings. The Gospel must be preached, and Christians must be taught to apply biblical truth to the decisions before them.
The condition of all three institutions matters.
“And when either of those three, the family, the government, or the church don’t do their job, civilization has trouble,” Turek said.
The consequences reach the pulpit, the home and the neighbor whose protection depends on whether justice is upheld. Christians have responsibilities within each institution, and neglect carries a cost.
“We should be with every institution God created, all three, because they work together to bring forth a society where you’re allowed to preach and live the gospel and build the kingdom,” he said.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
