Restoring All Things

People all over the world have a story that they believe and tell to their children about why the world is the way it is. This is called their worldview.

Although Western Civilization has been shaped by the Bible and by Judeo-Christian thought, to a large degree the Christian story is no longer clearly understood, nor is it shaping our society and institutions as it once did.

The Christian story says that God created humankind to live in a state of peace, flourishing and harmony with himself and each other. But this state was corrupted by rebellion against God's authority. Jesus came to redeem the brokenness of the world through his life, death, and resurrection. And someday God will restore the Earth and humanity to the state of wholeness that he originally intended.

This is the Gospel—the “Good News.”

Although Christians have different views on exactly what this process of restoration will look like, we generally agree that it will never be fully realized until Jesus returns to reign in a complete and visible way.

In the meantime, believers have the opportunity—and the challenge—of applying the truths and principles of Jesus’ Kingdom in practical, albeit partial, ways in the contexts in which we find ourselves.

John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, has written about what it looks like to participate in God's work of restoration. In his book Restoring All Things, he and his colleague Warren Cole Smith list four questions that shed light on how to have a redemptive presence in the broken world around us:

• What is good in our culture that we can promote, protect, and celebrate?
• What is missing in our culture that we can creatively contribute?
• What is evil in our culture that we can stop?
• What is broken in our culture that we can restore?

I think the Convention of States effort is a great way to put all four of these ideas into practice.

What is good that we can promote, protect, and celebrate? One of the greatest blessings we have as Americans is our Constitution and the liberties it protects. The goal of the Convention of States effort is to protect the Constitution against further erosion and misinterpretation. And along the way, we celebrate it, reminding our fellow Americans of the brilliance of the document and our Founding Fathers.

What is missing that we can contribute? Our nation was founded with the understanding that self-governance was essential to “keeping the Republic.” But after several generations of derelict education, the understanding of most Americans of our founding principles is in short supply. Part of the process of bringing about an Article V convention involves re-educating our fellow citizens about what freedom is intended to look like and what self-governance requires.

What is evil that we can stop? There are powerful forces in our society that are working to undermine both our personal liberties and the economic freedoms that have served as the basis for America's amazing prosperity. By preserving limited government, COS is a way to thwart these destructive forces.

What is broken in our culture that we can restore? When our functioning legal document is a 3000-page behemoth called The Constitution of the United States of America Annotated, it is not an exaggeration to say that our Constitution is broken. In spite of the brilliance of the original document, it has been undermined by court decisions that have contorted the balance of powers and federal structure intended to maintain limited government. An Article V convention to restrict the power and jurisdiction of the federal government is essential in restoring our broken system.

We are putting together a coalition of believers who want to use COS to preserve our freedoms and restore our constitutional system. You are invited to join the COS Faith Coalition by signing up here.