Nearly 250 years ago, Thomas Jefferson penned
the famous phrase, We hold these truths to be
self -evident, that all men are created equal.
But where did that idea come from? And how did
that idea launch a little -known group in America
to fight slavery when the world was absolutely
against them? That's today. Thanks for listening
to this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip
Ingram. We are an international teaching and
discipleship ministry that motivates Christians
to live like Christians. We're grateful you've
joined us today as our guest teacher, John Dickerson,
shares the second half of his talk, Jesus, You,
and the Fight for Human Rights. But before we
get going, if you want to go back and listen
to the first half of John's message or revisit
any other part of our Dealing with Doubt series,
check out the Chip Ingram app. So if you're ready,
John begins by describing how the equality and
freedoms we enjoy today are the result of the
Christians who fought for them throughout history.
Let's dive in. As ye would that men should do
to you, do ye also to them likewise. That was
the Quakers' mantra. We call it the golden rule
today, and in modern English it sounds more like
this, do unto others as you would have them do
to you. or at an elementary level, treat others
the way you want to be treated. That was their
whole thesis. And the Quaker Christians within
the United States started this spread of people
who could read the Bible for themselves, becoming
convinced that even if I don't have slaves, I
need to be an activist in ending slavery as a
whole. The Quaker Christians knew that the largest
slave empire at that time was the British Empire.
Because Britain at that time controlled Australia,
South Africa, colonies all around the world,
including parts of North America. And so the
Quakers started to create, at great expense to
themselves, these propaganda coins, anti -slavery
propaganda coins with scripture on them. On the
left, you see a slave kneeling and he says, am
I not a man and a brother? That is a Bible verse
from the book of Philemon, verse 16. On the right
side, you see their Quaker mantra. Whatever ye
would that men should do to you, do ye to them
also. In fact, the Quakers sent so much literature
and so many activists over to England and to
the British territories to petition against slavery
that we have a modern term that was coined by
their huge propaganda push to end slavery, and
it's the term campaign. When someone campaigns
for office or if you campaign for a cause, that
term was coined by the Quakers campaigning to
end slavery. Here's that verse Philemon 116.
This is all the way back about 30 years after
Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven
in the New Testament church. New Testament church
was this first ever in history where you had
men and women worshiping openly together. where
you had all the different races in an incredibly
racially divided world gathering together. Paul
the Apostle would write things like, here in
the church, there is not male or female, barbarian,
Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and
in all. This was revolutionary 2 ,000 years ago.
And within that context, Paul the Apostle wrote
to a man who had a slave, who had become a Christian.
And he says this, he is no longer. A slave to
you. He's now a beloved brother. Especially to
me. Now he will mean much more to you. In other
words, keep taking care of him physically, but
he's not your slave now. He's your brother. He's
a man made in the image of God and a brother
in the Lord. These are the kind of passages the
Quaker Christians would quote. Well, as the Quakers
campaigned and sent their literature to the British
Empire. A young man there named William Wilberforce,
who had been fairly wealthy and a lawmaker and
didn't really care about the cause to end slavery
because he had constituents who were making money
off of it. William Wilberforce became a born
again believer, a follower of Jesus. And it so
changed him that he looked at the nation around
him. He said, People, you can't call yourself
a Christian unless you're actually reading the
words of Jesus and doing what he said. And so
he wrote a book called Real Christianity. And
that book, over about 30 years, swayed the entire
population there in England to overthrow slavery,
to make it illegal, not only in England, but
in all of the British territories. William Wilberforce,
after he became a believer in Jesus, got exposed
to that Quaker propaganda, if you will, the campaigning
against slavery. Okay, so now slavery is outlawed
in a good part of the world where the British
Empire is. But here in the United States, it
still exists. We're into about the 1800s now.
And in the 1800s, we know exactly who the people
are who led the charge to end slavery. We know
it because their publications and books still
exist today. You can go to university libraries
and you can see original copies of these documents
that I'm showing you. For example, the Declaration
of the Anti -Slavery Convention. So a group of
thought leaders who gathered and said, we're
going to give our lives to end slavery. It's
about 30 years before the Civil War. Now, we
know everyone who signed this document because
within it, they wrote, we know we might get killed
for this. We know it might cost us our fortunes
and our homes, but we are so convinced that this
is God's will. And we fear God more than man
that if we die as martyrs, we die as martyrs.
We're going to end slavery in the land that we
call home. We know exactly who signed it because
their names are still on there. And if you were
to survey those names, you'd find more than half.
In fact, the majority say reverend. These were
pastors. These were clergy. who were riling up
their entire congregations to say, we must overthrow
slavery. Now, let me show you on this document,
just a little bit of the scripture. If you look
in the highlighting here, everything that's highlighted
there, there are eight different Bible verses.
So on the top half of the declaration to end
slavery in the US, their whole justification
is from scripture. In fact, even that picture
in the middle is a man kind of strangling evil.
And under it is this quote where Jesus said,
my followers, you're going to go do greater things.
You're going to tread the serpent underfoot.
In other words, you're going to extinguish evil.
The serpent's a picture of Satan. And these abolitionists,
they saw it as a spiritual high calling, as their
eternal destiny to do the work of God on earth
by extinguishing slavery. The signers are a beautiful
mix of European descended Caucasian Americans
and African American Americans who had been freed
from slavery or who had bought their freedom
or who had been born in the north. One of those
is the Reverend Theodore Wright. Theodore Wright
had been born in the north, never was a slave
himself, born into an orphanage run by Quaker
Christians. An orphanage that had a school. So
most African Americans didn't know how to read,
but because he'd been born into a Christian orphanage,
he was taught to read. He became highly educated.
A Presbyterian reverend. He's one of those many
signers of that anti -slavery convention. And
what I document in the book, Jesus Skeptic, and
what you just need to know is that if you go
one by one through those signers and you read
their own writing, And you say, were they motivated
by Islam or by Karl Marx or by atheism or by
Buddhism? You'll find things like this from Theodore
Wright. Blessed be God for the principles of
the gospel. The gospel is essentially Jesus'
life and teaching. Were it not for these, and
for the fact that a better day is dawning, I
would not wish to live. Blessed be God for the
anti -slavery movement. Blessed be God there
is a war. waging with slavery. He stood side
by side with people like Elijah Lovejoy. Elijah
Lovejoy was a pastor and a reverend. He was also
a newspaper printer and writer. And he would
often write things like this. 1 Timothy 1 verse
9 says in the Bible, we know that the law is
made for lawbreakers and rebels. What are some
categories of lawbreakers and rebels? Slave traders
and liars. And so those are contrary to the gospel.
And Elijah Lovejoy, as a pastor and writer, would
take passages like that, and he would write books
and pamphlets that would say, you can't call
yourself a God -fearing person and allow slavery.
Well, Elijah Lovejoy lived in St. Louis, and
so on one side of the river was slave territory,
and on his side was free territory. It was not
uncommon that the pro -slavery rebels from the
south would cross the river and burn down his
house, which was also his publishing headquarters.
They did this on three occasions. And on the
fourth, they brought a shotgun with them. And
a mob broke into his house of those who wanted
slavery. And they shot Elijah Lovejoy five times
with the shotgun. They killed him. These followers
of Jesus would go and paint towns with posters
like these. I don't know what weakness may overcome
me, but I don't believe I will ever deny my Lord
Master Jesus Christ, and I would deny him if
I denied my principles against slavery. They'd
put up posters like this. What is life or rest
to me so long as I should hold a commission direct
from God Almighty to act against slavery? The
will that it took. The will that it took and
the motivation. Now I'm going to go through very
quickly a number of these leading books from
the time that swayed the Northerners who were
kind of complacent and saying, well, I don't
have slaves. What does it have to do with me?
It was books like this, the Bible against slavery
or the testimony of God against slavery or an
anti -slavery manual, an examination in the light
of the Bible. and of facts into the moral and
social wrongs of American slavery with a remedy
for the evil. That's written by a pastor, John
Fee. John Rankin started as a pastor in Kentucky.
He got up in front of his church and he said,
slavery is evil. You all need to set your slaves
free. And they ran him out of town. They didn't
want to do what Jesus said. It was one of those,
quote, churches, quote, Christians who weren't
actually following Jesus. So the Reverend Rankin
sold everything he had in Kentucky. He moved
to the other side of the Ohio River. And in Ohio,
slavery was illegal. So John Rankin bought a
house. This is his house. You can go visit it
today in Ripley, Ohio. And you can look out his
window, and that's the Ohio River. And what John
Rankin would do is what's called the Underground
Railroad. These safe houses that escaping slaves
could stay in. His house was the first safe house
north of the Ohio River. And there are dozens
of true stories of him looking out that window
in the winter months when the river was iced
over and slaves with children barefoot are running
across the river. And he would grab that lantern
that you see there, and he would run down and
he would bring them to his home. And he would
clothe them and he would feed them because he
believed in a God who said, all people are made
equal. And whatever you've done for those who
are the most hurting, you've done unto me. Harriet
Tubman, who is well documented as a great hero
of the faith, who not only escaped slavery, but
then risked her life to keep going back in and
leading others out. Her very final words documented
in her official obituary are these, give my love
to all the churches. Because these churches,
the good churches, were so interwoven with this
cause. I go to prepare a place for you, she said.
At where I am, ye may also be. If you know your
Bible, she's quoting Jesus. This is a quote of
Jesus. And how beautiful to know that Harriet
Tubman and all of these heroes of the faith,
we're going to get to meet in the kingdom of
heaven for those of us who follow Jesus. Frederick
Douglass, another well -documented hero who also
escaped from slavery. bought his freedom, but
then went back to help others, traveled around
the northern states as a lecturer and an author,
turning the national will against slavery. There's
a passage in his book, his autobiography, where
he describes his conversion. At about age 11,
he was hearing the good news of Jesus preached,
and he decided to believe in Jesus for himself.
And after he became a Christian and in the South,
he saw these people who claimed to be Christians.
He wrote this between the Christianity of this
land, those people who would justify slavery
for their income, but don't actually read the
Bible and the Christianity of Christ. I recognize
the widest possible difference. And you'd think
that that would turn him away from being a Christian
at all, but quite the opposite. He said, no,
I'm a true Christian. I'm one who actually follows
Jesus. And in his autobiography, when he describes
his moment of conversion, he talks about this
old man who was there who prayed with him. And
the good old man had told me that the Lord had
great work for me to do. So when Frederick Douglass
would be showing up at a lecture hall and there
was word that, hey, there's pro -slavery rebels
coming. They're going to try to attack you. He
had this fire inside him because of his own free
will and personality and the great hero he is,
but also because he believed in a God who had
called him to an eternal work. He says of the
moment right after he was converted, I saw the
world in a new light. Light of the world. And
my great concern was to have everybody. converted.
Well, by God's grace, these righteous followers
of Jesus and thousands of others prevailed in
the US Civil War and extinguished at least the
open legalized slavery. The beginning of a journey
that continues of true equality in our land.
A journey that, by the way, will probably not
be fully completed until Christ returns. But
here's what I want you to zoom out. I know as
Americans, we get real caught up on America.
After the Civil War in 1890, the wealthiest nations
in the world, who's that? The US, Britain, France,
mostly Western Europe. They gathered in Brussels
to sign the 1890 Brussels Act. This was the first
time in all of human history, thousands of years.
This was the only time that the wealthiest nations
gathered together and they said, We declare slavery
illegal and evil, and we will not conduct trade.
We will not do business with any country that
allows open and legalized slavery. You're listening
to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll
get back to our guest teacher, John Dickerson,
in just a minute. But let me quickly ask, do
you know someone who's a skeptic? Maybe it's
that close friend or family member who genuinely
doubts the truth of the Bible or the existence
of Jesus. Well, stick around after the teaching
to hear about a resource bundle we've put together
that'll provide answers and direction for that
doubter in your life. But for now, here again
is John. It's as a result of that that many other
nations who were dragging their feet on slavery
We're more or less forced to come around. And
what you can do is you can look at those nations
in 1890 who signed that act, and you can look
at their populations, how Christian were they?
And they're all over 70 % Christian nations.
Russia at the time, this is before the Bolshevik
Revolution. I know I'm getting into history here.
Forgive me. Russia was an Orthodox Christian
nation at the time. The Western European nations,
they weren't perfect. They were messed up. But
they were trying to do what Jesus said, and they
overthrew slavery. That's why we've been born
into a world, this isn't even 200 years old,
where slavery is assumed to be an evil. And of
course, the fight for true human rights continues
in modern history with people like the Reverend
Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist pastor, a seminary
graduate, who you can go online and you can listen
to his speeches. And what you'll find as you
listen to him is that the majority of them are
sermons and that the majority of them were delivered
in churches on Sunday mornings. He said things
like this. I want it to be known throughout Montgomery
and throughout this nation that we are Christian
people. We believe the Christian religion of
the entire logic and philosophy of him giving
his life in uncomfortable ways, being willing
to die as a martyr if necessary. He said this,
if we are wrong, then Jesus of Nazareth was merely
a utopian dreamer that never came down to earth.
If we are wrong, justice is a lie and love has
no meaning. I hope what you don't hear from me
is some kind of assumption that everyone who's
claimed to be a Christian is perfect. They're
not. I'm not. We're not. But we got to zoom out
to realize only one time in all the thousands
of years of history, his slavery been completely
made illegal and overthrown and then spread globally.
That's happened one time. And we know the people
who led the charge and we can read their motivations
for ourselves. And it's not atheism or Karl Marx
or Buddhism or these other thought systems that
I'm not here to attack them, but you're just
not going to find that. In the logic of the people
who led this charge, Jesus followers, those who
truly have read his words and said, we'll do
what he says, no matter the cost. Don't worry.
I'm not going to unpack all this, but I always
want to talk about our world today. How are women's
rights in the world today? I'm not going to open
this wide open. We've got a long ways to go on
all these things because we're born into a world
that's corrupted by sin and evil human nature.
has been corrupted. Jesus is the only one who
can change people's very nature. So women's rights
in the world today aren't where they need to
be. But the World Economic Forum has ranked countries
by their women's rights. And I've got the list
for you here. So I didn't put this together.
This is from the World Economic Forum. And then
what I did is I looked at those countries and
I went to the Pew Research Center, which we've
talked about. A non -Christian group that tells
you here's how many people are Christians in
each of these countries. And I put those lists
together and I found that in the top 10 nations
for women's rights today, the average population
is 75 % Christian. Now I just want to show you
the other end of the list. Here are the 10 worst
nations for women's rights in the world today.
Yemen, Pakistan, Syria. These are societies that
exist today. Where if a woman goes outside without
her head covered, she gets beaten with a whip.
Where she's not allowed to drive a car. She's
not allowed to have an education. She's not allowed
to vote. Where women are still sold in marriages.
Where deals are still made. Where it says, oh,
you don't have enough money to pay? Then I'll
take your sister as payment. And these are nations,
societies, where Christianity is not allowed.
And that is present, but it's also, if you were
to trace back in these top 10 and lowest 10 nations,
you could trace back 500 years and you'll see
Christianity as a major influence in the top
10 and as a total lack of influence in the bottom
10. The point is this, Jesus' followers, though
imperfect, as they have followed him, have become
a light. In the world in a way that nothing else
in history ever has. And the bottom line is this.
If you really want to make the world a better
place. We all say we do. If you really want to
make the world a better place. Then why not join
the movement. That has an irrefutable track record.
Of these huge breakthroughs in society. Back
2 ,000 years ago. John the disciple wrote this
about Jesus. In him was life, and that life was
the light of all mankind. The light shines in
the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome.
The true light that gives light to everyone was
coming into the world. He was in the world, and
though the world was made through him, he's the
creator, the world did not recognize him. My
question for you today, have you recognized Jesus
as the light of the world? Have you recognized
him? Have you invited him to extinguish any darkness
or evil within you, within your family? And then
once you have, will you join us as a movement
that says we'll be sincere followers of Jesus
and we're going to live under a God who is just,
who has made all people equal. You're listening
to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. John
Dickerson has been our guest teacher for this
program, Jesus, You, and the Fight for Human
Rights, from our series, Dealing with Doubts.
He and Chip will be back in studio shortly to
share their application for this message. If
someone were to ask you, how do you know Jesus
actually lived? Or can we really trust the Bible?
What would you say? Join pastor and award -winning
journalist John Dickerson as he explores these
complex topics. Drawing on evidence from various
credible sources and the impact Christians have
had throughout history, John builds a credible
case for believing in Jesus. Our hope is that
as you listen, you'll be able to confidently
say, Jesus is real, the Bible is true, and I
can prove it. In fact, we have some valuable
tools to back you up. Anytime John or Chip mention
a book, podcast, or article in this series, you
can easily find it on our resources page at livingontheedge
.org. We want to equip you with practical Bible
-centered materials to use personally or share
with others. So check out the resources page
at livingontheedge .org today. Well, Chip's joining
me in studio now. And Chip, you know, I'm sure
we all know someone who's cynical of or even
hostile towards the claims of the Bible. So take
a minute, if you would, and explain how John's
testimony in his popular book, Jesus Skeptic,
will help us better defend our faith. Well, Dave.
John comes from a background, actually, where
it was a very religious background and pretty
rigid in some ways. And he actually went through
his own season of, I don't know if I can believe
all this. And he happens to be very smart, decided
to take up a life as a journalist, and actually
won the Brokaw Award, very prestigious of the
top investigative journalist in America. And
it was on that journey that John decided, I'm
not going to take other people's word for things.
And so firsthand research. He doesn't look at
the quotes in the back of books. He goes and
reads the very firsthand research, or he goes
to the actual places. And so I found this young
friend who was a millennial, who was very, very
smart, who'd done a lot of research. And what
I realized was, as I listened to the world that
I'm in, and I go to a church with a lot of very,
very young people, and I see their worldview,
I recognized John basically is speaking their
language and answering the questions that they
have. And some of our history is just completely
buried. Or part of what the Bible says has been
really... really, what can I say? It's been tilted
in ways and bent in ways to make it sound very
ugly and very unlike Jesus. And so my heart's
desire was that people would get to know someone
who is smart, who's academic, who's an absolutely
committed Christian, who did the firsthand research,
and I will guarantee this. This is the kind of
book that you need to sit down with the younger
people in your life, read together, and have
a discussion. And I think all parties concerned,
young and old, will have a number of aha moments
and realize the power of love and truth and justice
and compassion that we take for granted that
we're all birthed out of a Christian framework
and worldview. Well, because we believe so strongly
in sharing your faith with the next generation,
we've bundled two of our more popular resources
together to help. The first is this book, Jesus
Skeptic, and the other is Chip's work, Why I
Believe. We pray that together these tools will
prove that Jesus is real and the Bible is true
and showcase the profound ways Christianity has
shaped our world for the better. Learn more about
this bundle by calling 888 -333 -6003 or by visiting
livingontheedge .org. App listeners tap special
offers. Well, with that, here again are Chip
and John to share a few final thoughts. Thanks
so much, Dave. Well, John, I'm grateful to have
you back again with me in studio today. Today,
you wrapped up your talk on the inequality and
unfairness and injustice that we've seen in history
and how followers of Christ have responded to
it. Could you fast forward to today? What wisdom
would you give to us right now in terms of being
that kind of witness and dealing with issues
of injustice or inequity? In fact, where do you
see Christians making a positive impact today
the way they did in the past? Thanks, Chip. That's
such a great question. And the reality is I see
Christians today. fighting injustice all around
the world. If you were to travel to Cambodia
and Thailand, countries where human slavery and
sex trafficking is still sadly rampant and regular.
And if you were to visit the groups that are
there ending modern day slavery and sex trafficking,
you would find one after another. that they're
followers of Jesus. And this is true also of
hospitals and orphanages that are founded in
pioneering areas like... Africa and rural parts
of South America and medical boats that go up
and down the Amazon River. The reality is followers
of Jesus continue doing this today. Now, for
those of us in America who maybe aren't called
to go directly to Cambodia or Thailand or to
the Amazon River, how do we be part of that?
How we be part of that is we run God's play.
God's way. Jesus said, go and make disciples,
baptizing them and then teaching them to obey
all these things. When we share Jesus with others
and other people repent and believe, God then
transforms their heart. And as we disciple them
to know the truth that sets them free, God calls
them to go and set other captives free. And so
the best thing you can do as a follower of Jesus
is be part of a vibrant local church, a body
of believers where Jesus is the head, where his
word is taught, where his spirit is alive and
working, and be there and serve and give and
be part of a disciple -making movement. Because
as you do that, God will send out from you your
church, missionaries who will go to Cambodia
or Thailand or to the Amazon River, and who will
also set captives free spiritually and even literally
right here in the U .S. So how do we do it? We
run God's play God's way, trusting that when
we do that, he will bring about the results of
freedom. Great word, John. As we close, I want
to thank each of you who makes this program possible
through your generous giving. 100 % of your gifts
go directly to the ministry to help Christians
live like Christians. Now, if you found this
teaching helpful but aren't yet on the team,
consider doing that today. Sending a gift is
easy. Go to livingontheedge .org or call 888
-333 -6003. That's 888 -333 -6003. visit livingontheedge
.org. App listeners, tap donate. And let me thank
you in advance for doing whatever the Lord leads
you to do. For Chip, John, and the entire team,
this is Dave Drewy thanking you for listening
to this edition of Living on the Edge, and I
hope you'll join us again next time.