Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. (Titus 3:1–2)

Ever since the Dobbs ruling, the Democratic party has doubled down on its support of abortion rights. The Republican party moderated its long-standing opposition to abortion rights in its platform, opting for a states-rights approach to the issue.

What should we do?

Our knee-jerk reaction might be to fight fire with fire. When one side outmaneuvers us politically, we fight back. We set out to elect the right people to the right offices at the right time to accomplish the right outcome.

The Apostle Paul suggests something different. When Paul wrote to Titus, the governing leadership was morally bankrupt and demonstrably opposed to spreading God’s word. The Believers were subjects without a voice, subservient to a powerful and abusive empire. The tool for change typically was rebellion.

Paul prescribes a different kind of activism characterized by submission, good works, respectable talk, and a peaceful demeanor evidenced by gentleness. How are we doing in that regard?

Numerous editorials have called Christians to the polls and encouraged them to get on school boards and community commissions to effect change and restore national morality.

I support these efforts, but not as the highest priority. To affect the moral conscience of our nation, let’s start with ourselves. While coordinated efforts to bring about social change are appealing, try something different. Where the world expects anger, display serenity. Where the world expects violence, demonstrate peace. Where the world expects trouble, do sacrificial good works.

In this life, we want it to reflect God’s ideals, but we pursue those objectives with a clear sight of our eternity. We do that because we are strangers here. Heaven is our home. That is why Titus, and all of us, subject ourselves to unruly rulers, obeying them because they rule and not because we like them. That is why we resist slandering, no matter how deserved the offense. That is why we are gentle to those who are rough with us. We see a bigger picture that includes eternity. When the world learns where our conscience lies, it influences the whole.