FOLLOW: “My Conduct and Aim in Life”

— Speaking God’s Truth to Our Culture

By Tom Claibourne

2 Timothy 3: 10 - 12 (ESV)

We have learned by this point in our conference that this is not a random list. These areas in

Paul’s life that we are called to follow are all connected.

His teaching was intended to engender faith in other people so they could become mature

disciples of Jesus. That was Paul’s aim in life. His love led him to do that. His faith spurred him

on:

— He believed what he taught

— His personal conduct reflected his teaching

His steadfastness was essential since the discipling process often took a long time and

sometimes met with opposition, and resulted in persecutions.

But Paul never wavered from his aim in life.

— Romans 1: 14 - 16

Paul’s conduct and teaching never wavered from that aim, regardless of who his audience was.

His approach varied from place to place, but not his primary message.

Case in point:

Acts 13 — Paul rattled off a summary of the history of Israel, because he was speaking in a

Jewish Synagogue in Pisidian Antioch.

Acts 17 — He used a vastly different approach because he was speaking in a secular

marketplace in a pagan city. He went all the way back to establish the fact that God created the

heavens and the earth. He didn’t have to say that to a Jewish audience in Acts 13 who knew

Jehovah God.

But, in both sermons he ultimately ended up in the very same place: Jesus Christ, crucified and

risen!

Paul boldly spoke truth to his culture.

— He made a difference in both settings.

— He made enemies in both settings.

— He made converts in both settings.

Because truth is still truth, and the Gospel is still the power of God for salvation!

I’ve been asked to speak on this one aspect of Paul’s conduct and aim in life since this is an

election year in America, and for now at least, we are still free to speak God’s truth to our

culture.

So, how do we speak God’s truth to an increasingly skeptical, even hostile, secular culture?

Let me tell you a story from Ukraine, 10 years before the current problems with Russia.

— 2004 elections; nation moving ever-so-slowly toward democracy.

— The entrenched party ran a filthy, dishonest election.

— The challenger was a reformer named Victor Yushchenko, who was quite popular

with many people.

— As Election Day neared, Yushchenko was poisoned by government supporters (body

weakened; face permanently disfigured).

— Yet he remained in the race.

— On Election Day exit polls showed him with a comfortable 10% lead.

But … the government reversed the results through outright fraud.

“That evening the state-run television station reported, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we announce

that the challenger Victor Yushchenko has been decisively defeated.’ However, government

authorities had not taken into account one feature of Ukrainian television, the translation it

provides for the hearing-impaired. On the small screen inset in the lower right-hand corner of

the television screen a brave woman raised by deaf-mute parents gave a different message in

sign language. ‘I am addressing all the deaf citizens of Ukraine. Don’t believe what they

[authorities] say. They are lying and I am ashamed to translate these lies. Yushchenko is our

President!’ No one in the studio understood her radical sign-language message.

“Deaf people, inspired by their translator Natalya Dmitruk, led the Orange Revolution. They

text-messaged their friends about the fraudulent elections, and soon other journalists took

courage from Dmitruk’s act of defiance and likewise refused to broadcast the party line. Over

the next few weeks as many as a million people wearing orange flooded the capital city of Kiev

to demand new elections. The government finally buckled under the pressure, consenting to

new elections, and this time Yushchenko emerged as the undisputed winner.”

[ Yancey, What God is God? ]

* All because one woman of courage spoke up, and confronted the powers that were, speaking

a lone voice of truth. So today I want to extend God’s call for us to follow Paul’s conduct and

aim in life by speaking God’s truth to our culture.

I. Jesus and Paul spoke truth to their culture

When Jesus was here, He was counter-culture. He was the voice in the small screen conveying

God’s truth. And when He left, He intended for His people to be the small screen, speaking

God’s truth to our culture.

The apostle Paul picked up the baton from Jesus and became that small screen in Iconium, and

he had to run for his life. (2 Timothy 3:11; Acts 14)

He was the small screen in Lystra and was stoned by the crowd (Acts 14).

In Derbe, where many became disciples (Acts 14).

In Philippi, and he was thrown in prison (Acts 16).

He was the small screen in Ephesus, and a riot broke out (Acts 19).

He was the small screen in Athens, where some sneered, but others believed (Acts 17).

Repeatedly Paul walked into major world cities of his day and confronted the culture.

II. God called His people all through Scripture to speak truth to their culture

(They were to be the small screen, giving the truth)

Matthew 5: 13 - 16

— Jesus was simply explaining a principle that had been God’s plan all through the Bible.

— That we would make a difference in society!

A. Old Testament

1. Genesis 6 - Noah stood virtually alone in his corrupt culture.

(2 Peter 2:5 - “a preacher of righteousness”)

2. Much later God raised up a man named Joseph who greatly impacted the pagan

culture in Egypt.

3. Still later, Moses argued to a powerful Pharaoh for religious freedom for his people.

4. When King David fell into sin, God sent a prophet named Nathan to confront and

correct him with truth.

5. Elijah spoke for God and his evil king referred to him as a “Troubler of Israel”.

6. A servant named Obadiah in I Kings 18 went against the Queen and King in power to

protect 100 prophets who were speaking truth that was not popular.

7. Mordecai challenged his cousin Esther to risk her life by speaking to the King on

behalf of God’s people.

8. Daniel spoke very directly and firmly to three successive kings!

Do you see a pattern here? They were the small screen speaking the truth to their culture!

Why? Because they believed that “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any

people.” (Proverbs 14:34)

9. Hosea condemned the idolatry and adultery of his culture.

10. Joel condemned the drunkenness of his culture.

11. Amos condemned the sexual sin, blasphemy, injustice, and empty religion of his

culture.

12. Micah condemned the idolatry and false prophets in his culture.

13. Nahum condemned the sexual sin and witchcraft in his culture.

14. Habakkuk condemned the robbery, oppression, violence and drunkenness …

15. Haggai condemned the selfishness, laziness, and misplaced priorities …

16. Malachi condemned the rampant divorce and impure worship …

Do you see a pattern here?

B. New Testament

1. John the Baptist

— Luke 3 — repentance; “brood of vipers”; spoke to tax collectors and soldiers

— Mark 6: 17 - 18 — lost his life for speaking the truth to those in power.

— Yet Jesus called him the greatest man born of a woman ( Matthew 11:11)

2. Jesus

— spoke about paying taxes, injustice, and financial improprieties in the Temple.

— In the Sermon on the Mount he spoke about persecution, divorce, adultery,

owing debts, court cases, and false teachers.

3. Early Christian Leaders then followed those examples.

— Peter — led a Roman military official to Jesus.

— Phillip — shared the voice of truth with a high government official from Ethiopia.

4. The early Christians spoke truth in the pagan Roman Empire about the horrible

practice of “exposure”.

— leaving unwanted children in designated places where they could be taken by

slave traders, pimps, or wild animals.

The Christians spoke up, loudly and unequivocally, and then began rescuing these helpless

children. You see, what pagan Rome discarded, Christians in Rome valued and adopted, and

eventually it shamed Rome into outlawing this wicked abuse.

Christians spoke truth to their culture, and they rocked the Roman Empire!

Then, hundreds of years later, that Biblical pattern was followed in the early days of America.

III. God raised up preachers in early America to speak truth to their culture.

(They were the “small screen” conveying truth)

Suppose I were to ask you to name some of the key early Americans who were responsible for

what our nation became. You would likely mention people like George Washington, Thomas

Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, Ben Franklin, or John Hancock. If you know your history

a little better you would include Noah Webster and my hero, Benjamin Rush.

But John Adams himself was once asked specifically who was responsible for America’s form of

government. Do you know who he mentioned?

Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper, Rev. Jonathon Mayhew, and Rev. George Whitefield.

Preachers of the Gospel!! And a closer look would put the spotlight on other preachers who

impacted the Revolution: Timothy Dwight, Jonas Clark, John Witherspoon, James Caldwell, John

Peter Gabriel Muhlenburg and his brother Frederic, and John Wise, whose writing and teaching

had an enormous impact on some of the most famous sentences in the Declaration of

Independence.

Preachers of the Gospel who impacted their society.

1. We could talk about “election sermons” at the state capitals.

— as early as the 1600s

— ballot boxes were taken to state capitals where preachers would speak to the

candidates.

— multiple sermons would be preached reminding the candidates:

“Now, some of you are about to be in the legislature. And when you go in, you need

to know what God’s Word says is the proper role of the legislature. Here are

subjects you can deal with; here are subjects you cannot deal with.”

2. We could also talk about the “election sermons” preachers routinely preached in

their pulpits to address the prevailing social issues of their day (“Here’s what the

Bible says about _____________”).

This was especially the case in the 1760s and 1770s, leading up to the Declaration

and the Revolution.

3. Ask me another time about the “execution sermons” preachers would be invited

to preach in courtrooms when a convicted criminal was sentenced to death.

4. The result is that historians up until the early 1920s routinely credited ministers

for their role in America becoming a nation.

Listen to some examples:

“As a body of men, the clergy were pre-eminent in their attachment to liberty.

The pulpits of the land rang with the notes of freedom.” The American Quarterly

Register 1833

“If Christian ministers had not preached and prayed, there might have been no

revolution as yet - or had it broken out, it might have been crushed.” Bibliotheca

Sacra (British Periodical) 1856

“The ministers of the Revolution were, like their Puritan predecessors, bold and

fearless in the cause of their country. No class of men contributed more to carry

forward the Revolution and to achieve our independence than did the ministers.

[By] their prayers, patriotic sermons, and services [they] rendered the highest

assistance to the civil government, the army, and the country.” B. F. Morris,

Historian, 1864

“The Constitutional Convention and the written Constitution were the children of

the pulpit.” Alice Baldwin, Historian, 1918

Stop and think what that’s saying. American preachers gave birth to the U.S.

Constitution!

5. And folks, the British were well aware of that fact, so they had a nickname for

American preachers: “The Black Regiment”, for the black robes they wore.

[Evolved into “The Black Robed Regiment” or “The Black Robe Brigade”]

The British hated Colonial preachers. They hated that they stirred the nation; that

they preached the God-given civil rights of individual citizens; that they led the

opposition to the infamous 1765 Stamp Act.

6. When Paul Revere set off on his famous ride, it was to the home of a preacher,

Jonas Clark, in Lexington, MA. Lodging with Clark that evening were John Hancock

and Samuel Adams (as they often did). When Revere warned them of the

approaching British forces, Hancock and Adams turned to preacher Clark and

asked him whether the people were ready to fight. Without hesitating, that

courageous preacher replied, “I have trained them for this very hour!” The next

morning, April 19, 1775, the “shot heard ‘round the world” was fired, and once

the battle had subsided, 18 Americans lay on the Lexington Green, 7 of them

dead; all 18 were from Clark’s church, as were most of the 150 patriots who

gathered.

7. Preachers were the primary military recruiters for the Revolutionary Army (John

Peter Gabriel Muhlenburg).

8. The British hated these preachers for speaking to their culture and stirring the

revolution. So the British went after them:

— destroyed 10 of the 19 church buildings in New York City.

— destroyed most of the church buildings in Virginia.

— abused, tortured, imprisoned, and killed numerous preachers.

Here’s the bottom line:

Had it not been for the preaching, writings, social and military involvement of

Colonial preachers, the Declaration of Independence likely would not have been

written, and the United States of America likely would not exist!

These faithful preachers were simply following the example of Paul and the Bible

prophets. Historian Charles Galloway described the colonial preachers this way:

“Mighty men they were, of iron nerve and strong hand and unblanched cheek and

heart of flame. God needed not reeds shaken by the wind, not men clothed in soft

raiment, but heroes of hardihood and lofty courage … and such were the sons of

the mighty who responded to the Divine call.”

9. My friends, I do not bring all that up to make myself and other preachers look

good. Actually, quite the opposite! The Black Robed Regiment reminds us that

preachers today are largely failing in this important responsibility. We have not

answered God’s call to speak boldly to our culture!

10. My fellow preachers, when we speak God’s clear truth we’re going to offend

some people, and anger some people, but that should never stop us from

speaking.

IV. God Still Calls His people to speak truth to their culture.

Salt and light! (Matthew 5:13-16)

We’re to be the “small screen” speaking truth, contrary to the lies in our culture.

1. William Wilberforce did that in 1700s Britain, calling for an end to slavery. It was

a grueling 20-year battle in Parliament. One reason he hung in there so long was

the ongoing encouragement of a preacher, John Wesley … A “small screen”

speaking unpopular truth.

2. Unfortunately, sometimes God’s people have not always stood as boldly for truth

and justice.

a. Consider 1930s Germany

In the 1933 German elections, most Christians voted for Adolf Hitler, even though

they disagreed with his view toward the Jews, because they liked all his other

promises. So they helped to bring to power one of the most evil regimes in

history.

But some were faithful; men of integrity and courage like Dietrich Bohhoeffer and

Martin Niemuller. Many of you recall Neimuller’s famous quote about the Nazis

coming after various people groups, but you may not have heard about his first

jail experience. He would eventually spend seven years in the Dachau

Concentration camp, but during his first confinement in a local jail for speaking

truth against the Nazis, a chaplain friend was making rounds to visit the prisoners.

He was shocked to see Neimuller there.

Chaplain: “Martin, what are you doing in here?”

Niemuller: “Given what’s happening in our country, why aren’t you in

here??”

b. Consider 1960s and 1970s America

In the early 1960s, prayer and Bible reading were removed from American public

schools, and history was increasingly censored and revised to justify those rulings.

Sadly, for the most part, American churches and preachers quietly looked the

other way.

In 1973, it became legal in America to slaughter an innocent baby inside its

mother’s womb. For the most part, American congregations and preachers

quietly looked the other way.

Far too many wimpy preachers missed their calling because they had convinced

themselves that it was not their place to talk about social issues in the church.

Shamefully, I began my own ministry in 1979 with that same erroneous belief,

but thank God, I eventually began to see how far I had drifted from the Biblical

pattern of speaking truth to culture.

3. It is time, my friends, to restore the Biblical pattern of speaking from that “small screen”

to our secular, decaying culture. We must be God’s voice of truth! Ambassadors to our

culture (2 Corinthians 5:20)!

I’m glad that Martin Luther King, Jr. did not timidly say, “It’s not my place as a preacher

to address social issues.” I’m glad he chose instead to speak boldly of a dream that could

radically change his culture.

4. A few months before the 2012 presidential election, First Lady Michelle Obama

encouraged churches to be bold in taking a political stand. Speaking to the African

Methodist Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN, she challenged the congregation, “To

anyone who says that church is no place to talk about the issues, you tell them there is

no place better - no place better.” She then explained, “Because ultimately, these are

not just political issues - they are moral issues. They’re issues that have to do with

human dignity and human potential, and the future we want for our kids and our

grandkids.”

Mrs. Obama was so right! And so are those who drafted the Manhattan Declaration that

calls people of faith to stand up and speak up to defend Biblical marriage, the rights of

the unborn, and religious liberties.

5. So why aren’t churches and preachers speaking up? Why aren’t we following the Biblical

pattern of speaking God’s truth from the “small screen” to our secular culture?

I believe Bob Russell answered that question with absolute clarity in a July, 2012 blog:

“It seems to me most evangelical churches in America try too hard to ingratiate

themselves with the world

“If the world sees us as being too political we avoid taking a stand on anything that

sounds even remotely political, though the country is falling apart around us.

“If the world sees the church as imposing its values on people, we bend over backwards

never to sound judgmental

“If the world is offended by the symbol of a cross we’ll take it down and if they’re

turned off by the term ‘church,’ we’ll not call it church.

“If the world has a negative impression of Christians, we’ll just be so kind to them

without even mentioning Jesus’ name that they will like us again

“We’re so threatened by the world that we wind up letting the culture set our agenda.

However, we’re not promised victory by impressing the world that we’re congenial or

cool. We’re promised victory by exalting Jesus Christ and Him crucified—which is always

a stumbling block and an offense to the world.”

It’s time for the church to speak up! To preach the certainties and absoluteness of God’s

truth. To condemn any sin, in our lives, and in society (even when it is offensive).

We must be God’s voice of truth, speaking clearly from the “small screen”, and when

given the opportunity, from the large screen as well.

6. Long ago, John Wesley said, “Making an open stand against all the ungodliness and

unrighteousness which overspreads our land as a flood, is one of the noblest ways of

confessing Christ in the face of his enemies.”

Wesley no doubt had in mind the solemn words of Martin Luther

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of

God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment

attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where

the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the

battlefield besides is merely flight and disgrace, if he flinches at that point.”

Last year, recognizing that great truth, Albert Mohler warned our generation of

believers:

“To fail to say something in the time of trouble is sin. And yet, the temptation to sin is

ever so present amongst us—and increasingly so because it costs more to speak the

truth.”

It’s time, my friends, for the people of God to truly be the people of God. It’s time for us

to be seen and heard. It’s time to stand strong and faithful. It’s time to be salt and light

Our culture needs to see our acts of grace, love, and service, but they also must hear our

voice clearly speaking God’s truth; God’s truth that calls them out of darkness and

hopelessness

“God has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat, He is sifting out the

hearts of men before the judgment seat. O be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be

jubilant, my feet! Our God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

His truth is marching on!”

It’s time to follow.

— to know the truth.

— to live the truth

— to speak the truth.

That should be our aim in life.

Biographical Sketch

of

Tom Claibourne

Preaching Minister with Bethlehem Church of Christ in rural Adams

County, Ohio since 1979.

Born (1957) and raised in Hillsboro, Highland County, Ohio

Grew up actively involved in the Hillsboro Church of Christ, the church which

ordained him to the full time ministry in 1980.

Received Bachelor of Arts (1979) and Master of Arts (1988) from Cincinnati

Bible College & Seminary. (now called Cincinnati Christian University)

Married Linnea Twaddell, March 27, 1987.

Children: Leah - a worship leader in Colorado

Anya - a children’s minister

Micah - a college student

Writes a monthly column for preachers in the RESTORATION HERALD entitled

“Let Me Illustrate” (since 1997), has worked on assignment for THE LOOKOUT

and CHRISTIAN STANDARD, and has published more than 100 articles apart

from his regular column.

Has spoken for many workshops and conferences related to ministry in smaller

congregations. .

Serves as a trustee for Christian Restoration Association.

Has served on various boards such as Butler Springs Christian Camp, Christian

Benevolent Association, Envoy Christian Mission (Argentina), Adams County for

the Ten Commandments (ACTC), and the Executive Committee for the North

American Christian Convention.. .

His involvement with a prominent Ten Commandments lawsuit (1999-2005) led

to numerous interviews, as well as considerable research concerning America’s

heritage and the issue of religion in the public square. .

Traveled in 50 states and 29 countries.

Enjoys his family, writing, reading, traveling, and most sports.