Blog

by Katie Erickson

The question this week is whether or not we should live out our faith in the public square. Why is this important? Well, each one of us is living our lives every day in a variety of different places - work, school, home, church, the grocery store, the gas station, the soccer or softball field, etc. The public square is anywhere that’s public, wherever that may be. This doesn’t just apply to government officials or politicians, but to every person who goes out into public.

So, the easy answer to this week’s question is yes, we should live out our faith in the public square. But that doesn’t make for much of a blog post, so I’ll elaborate a bit as to why.

Romans 1:16-17 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” If we are not living out our faith in the public square (wherever that may be for your life), then you’re demonstrating that you are ashamed of it. This is the power of the almighty God! It brings salvation to everyone - that means every person you encounter in your life, from the bag boy at the grocery store to the president of the company you work for. We should be proclaiming this to everyone we meet!

But how do we do that well? We don’t want to be the crazy person holding up a sign and yelling about hellfire and brimstone from the street corner; that often won’t bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus. There are many other practical things we can do to show others our faith and bring up opportunities to tell them about Jesus. For example…

• Be concerned about social issues and support those that support a Biblical worldview
• Volunteer at your local City Mission (that’s the one where I live) or food bank
• Tutor kids with their homework, or even just spend time with some tweens or teenagers, to be a good example in their life
• Sponsor a child (I personally recommend ChildFund and Mission Possible)
• Share how God is working in your life on a daily basis, but not in a preachy way
• Have good character and take responsibility for your mistakes when you mess up
• Give God glory for what He is doing in your life, rather than taking the credit for yourself
• Check out the Beatitudes for some more ideas of how to live your life

Is it really important to witness to others? Check out this blog post for a bit more on that.

Why else should we live out our faith in the public square? Well, Jesus’ disciples did it. Also, Revelation 12:11 says, “They triumphed over [the Accuser] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”

If we keep our faith private, then we’re not doing what we’re commanded to do. Jesus didn’t say to keep His message to ourselves; He said to go and make disciples of all nations! We can’t do that if our faith stays hidden.

What are some of the ways that you live out your faith in the public square? We’d love to hear from you as you go live it out!

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