One of the most popular slogans used to convince Christians to stay out of politics is that "you can't legislate morality".
The reason many believers fall for this clever line is that it contains a kernel of biblical truth - namely, that legislation has no power to change the human heart, and that people will only live morally upright lives once they've been transformed by the gospel.
That's true. But the problem is when this truth is co-opted to keep Christians from advocating for laws that restrain people's behaviour. It's not our place to "impose Christian morality" on others - or so the argument goes.
In a word, you can't legislate morality.
But you can legislate morality.
In fact, if you think about it, morality is just about the only thing you can legislate. It's difficult to think of a law that doesn't have a moral foundation or a moral dimension to it.
Murder. Theft. Extortion. Corruption. Vandalism. Child Abuse. Torture. All of these things are illegal - and all of them have to do with morality. In fact, all of them are a reflection of Christian morality because Western nations like Australia have been so profoundly shaped by Christianity.
So it's not a question of if morality is going to be legislated, but which morality is going to be legislated.
Morality is being legislated all the time - all that remains to be seen is whose morality will prevail.
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The more that nations like Australia have de-Christianised, the more we've seen very ungodly morality - immorality - etched into law.
In many states of Australia, it's now illegal for pastors to pray with people who are confused about their sexuality, and counsel them to obey God in that area of their life.
In most states, it's illegal for Christians to offer help to pregnant women entering abortion centres.
Increasingly in Australia, it's difficult for Christian schools to only employ teachers who actually believe what the Bible says about sex and gender.
So yes, morality is being legislated - but the further we drift from Christ, the worse that "morality" becomes.
God's morality is far superior to man's immorality. He said so himself in Psalm 19:7-8:
The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart; the commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
If some kind of morality is going to be legislated, why wouldn't we want that morality to reflect the Maker's blueprint? He knows what's best for us, after all.
Recognising that morality is always being legislated lays bare another common myth: the myth of a neutral public square.
Yes - the idea of a "secular state" or a religiously neutral public square is a myth. As soon as you drive Christianity out, you leave a vacuum that other metaphysical beliefs rush to fill.
We're witnessing this in real time. Consider just a sampling of beliefs that have materialised in just the last few years that are shaping Australia in significant ways:
Those are beliefs, and they are far from neutral.
See, in our attempt to become secular, the West has simply replaced one set of beliefs with another. And I have to say, I much prefer the beliefs that began with thus saith the Lord.
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We humans are inherently religious creatures. The great reformer John Calvin said it well: "The human heart is an idol factory."
Here's the lesson from secularism: There is simply no way for us to do culture, society or politics without reference to some set of religious or metaphysical beliefs. The State is not and never can be areligious.
The very best efforts to drive religion from the public square - to completely sever church and state - were undertaken by the Communists, and they left a pile of corpses 100 million high.
So let's dispense with the false notion that a neutral public square is either possible or desirable.
The idea that the public square should remain religiously neutral does not come from the pages of Scripture. It comes from the wisdom of man - wisdom that has been exposed as folly by the record of history.
Beliefs will always occupy the public square. Morality will always be legislated. So let's advocate confidently for Christian beliefs and Christian morality.