{"id":583,"date":"2020-07-28T05:30:10","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T10:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/denisonforum\/2020\/07\/john-lewis-and-the-courage-to-lead-the-truth-about-masks-public-worship-services-and-conspiracy-theories\/"},"modified":"2020-07-28T05:30:10","modified_gmt":"2020-07-28T10:30:10","slug":"john-lewis-and-the-courage-to-lead-the-truth-about-masks-public-worship-services-and-conspiracy-theories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/denisonforum\/2020\/07\/john-lewis-and-the-courage-to-lead-the-truth-about-masks-public-worship-services-and-conspiracy-theories\/","title":{"rendered":"John Lewis and the courage to lead: The truth about masks, public worship services, and conspiracy theories"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The body of Rep. John Lewis is lying in state today<\/a> at the US Capitol in Washington, DC as lawmakers and the public pay their respects. According to congressional historians, he is the first Black lawmaker to lie in state at the US Capitol Rotunda.<\/p>\n

As I noted following Rep. Lewis\u2019s death<\/a>, his original intention was to become a preacher. As a boy, he was responsible for taking care of the chickens on the family farm. He fed them and read to them from the Bible<\/a>, baptized them when they were born, and staged funerals for them when they died. As he noted in his memoir, \u201cI could imagine that they were my congregation. And me, I was the preacher.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rep. Lewis dedicated his life to civil rights as an expression of his faith and call to ministry. He was by no means alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said of himself<\/a>, \u201cIn the quiet recesses of my heart, I am fundamentally a clergyman, a Baptist preacher.\u201d It has been noted<\/a> that \u201cthe Black church served as the center for the civil rights movement in the South in both logistical and symbolic ways.\u201d Catholic activists were prominently involved<\/a> in the Selma demonstrations of March 1965 that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One writer describes<\/a> the civil rights movement\u2019s leaders this way: \u201cThey were pastors who rose up to confront a powerful segregationist establishment and face down violent mobs. Their steel will, backed by thousands of followers inspired by their faith [in] nonviolent resistance, broke the back of unjust segregation laws and set in motion the transformation of America into a more racially tolerant nation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Two ways evangelicals need to change\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Historians will look back on 2020 as another pivotal year in the struggle for racial equality. This time, however, we are also battling the worst pandemic in a century and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, all during a presidential election year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the midst of crisis, however, there is opportunity for the gospel. Viktor E. Frankl, a psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, noted: \u201cIn times of crisis, people reach for meaning. Meaning is strength. Our survival may depend on our seeking and finding it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In these days, I am convinced that God is calling his people to step into cultural leadership that speaks courageous truth in the character of Christ.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To answer this moment, however, many evangelicals need to revise our worldview in two ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n