Public Grace: The Role of the Church in a Fractured Society

In 1997, my wife Jeannie and I were leading a church plant in Puerto Rico when a hurricane hit our part of the island. Power and water were unavailable for months. This would be a challenge for any community, but it was made worse because many of our neighbors had not been speaking to one another in years. Under the strain of etching out a living in an area of high crime and extreme poverty, old grudges and hurts had festered and turned into bitterness and broken relationships.

We decided that as a church, our role would be to help connect the people in the city to the things they needed. We knocked on doors and asked people what they lacked and what they could share with others. One woman had a well in her back yard, and allowed us to spread the word that everyone could come to the well to draw water for drinking, cooking and bathing. It became our only source of clean water. And so neighbors who had previously avoided one another due to conflict found themselves standing in line with their neighbors every day for water.

Because the church had served as a bridge to connect our neighbors with things they needed in the aftermath of the storm, we had also reconnected them to one another. People had the opportunity to lay down their differences, mend their relationships, and come together around a common goal. And God used it powerfully for our church plant. After the storm, many people came to church who had previously been uninterested. By leading in a moment of crisis, the church had gained the community’s trust.

I remember that experience when I consider how I hope Redeemer can serve in the city of San Antonio. We live in a time when every issue is politically charged, and controversy, conflict and division fuel our public discourse. Whether we realize it or not, this divisive cultural environment is formative, shaping our view of our neighbors, and it can lead us to see one another as enemies. It is easy to conclude that the safest thing to do is to stay in our own bubble with people who think like we do. But as a church in the city and for the city, it is enormously important that we learn to navigate the tensions inherent in public life — not so that we can fix politics or gain power for ourselves — but so that we can serve our neighbors, bringing them the life and hope of the Gospel, and extending the kingdom of God.

This is why I am so excited about our 2022 Christianity & Contemporary Culture Conference – Public Grace: The Role of the Church in a Fractured Society. During our time together, we will consider some of the pressing questions posed to Christians by our cultural moment and, as we always do at Redeemer, take them to the Scriptures. What does the Bible have to say about how followers of Christ engage matters of public policy? Should the church have a voice in the public square? And how does the Gospel equip us to be agents of peace, reconciliation and change in a culture of conflict? 

I am thrilled that we are able to bring in David French and Justin Giboney to lead us in this conversation. Both David and Justin are committed, Bible-believing Christians whose professional careers have given them insight into these questions, and whose wisdom I believe will benefit us greatly. (You can read more about them HERE.)

These are especially important questions for us at Redeemer. Over nearly 19 years of ministry in San Antonio as a center city church, God has blessed our efforts to connect with leaders and organizations doing the hard work of seeking the good of our city. I believe that in our next decade of ministry, we are poised to move more and more into the places where our city experiences the most pain and most needs the light of Christ. But in order to do that, we will need a better vocabulary and framework for engagement than the one offered by our culture. This is not about winning arguments. It is about our public witness and work as ambassadors of the kingdom of Christ.

Please mark your calendars and make time for this important conversation in the life of our church. We invite you to join us with open ears and humble hearts as we consider the role of the church in our fractured society.

Victor Martinez is RPC Associate Pastor of Mission & Cultural Engagement.

Visit the Public Grace Conference page to learn more and register for the 2022 Christianity & Contemporary Culture Conference.