Colorado’s new law criminalizing traditional gender pronouns reveals how Christians surrendered their prophetic voice, allowing radical gender ideology to be enshrined into law through a calculated retreat from public engagement.
Key Takeaways
- Colorado’s HB1312 criminalizes “deadnaming” and “misgendering,” effectively punishing those who speak biological truth about gender
- The evangelical community’s two-decade shift from public engagement to private piety has created a power vacuum filled by progressive ideology
- Despite Supreme Court victories on issues like abortion and religious liberty, Christians face declining influence in shaping cultural values
- The “gospel-centered” movement has been criticized for promoting passive Christianity and equating biblical humility with abandoning the public square
- Christians are called to reclaim their prophetic authority in public discourse rather than retreating into isolated faith communities
Colorado’s War on Truth and Religious Freedom
Colorado has made another aggressive move against religious freedom with the passage of HB1312, legislation that effectively criminalizes the use of biological pronouns when they contradict an individual’s chosen gender identity. This law represents more than just another progressive policy victory—it signals a fundamental shift in state power being wielded against biblical truth. The enforcement of this law is already affecting Christian organizations, with recent reports showing Christian summer camps being denied religious exemptions from these new gender identity requirements.
The legislation has been denounced by conservative and religious freedom advocates as state-supported child abuse and a direct assault on First Amendment protections. By enshrining radical gender ideology into law, Colorado lawmakers have effectively declared war on the Christian understanding of human nature and God’s created order. This represents the culmination of a coordinated progressive strategy that has advanced rapidly while many Christians remained disengaged from meaningful public discourse.
The Retreat from Public Engagement
The Christian community’s diminishing influence in public policy isn’t happening by accident. For nearly two decades, a significant portion of evangelical Christians have embraced what critics call a “gospel-centered” approach that narrowly defines faith as a private, individualized experience. This movement, while well-intentioned in its focus on personal piety, has inadvertently led to widespread Christian abandonment of cultural engagement, policy formation, and political participation.
“The heart of the gospel is the cross, and the cross is all about giving up power,” said Tim Keller, whose influential teaching has shaped much of modern evangelical thinking on cultural engagement.
This perspective has been critiqued for misinterpreting biblical humility as self-diminishment rather than confident truth-telling. By conflating Christ-like service with political disengagement, many Christians have surrendered their prophetic authority precisely when it was most needed. The consequence has been a power vacuum that progressive activists have eagerly filled, advancing policies directly opposed to biblical values.
The Paradox of Christian Influence
Despite this retreat, the Christian Right has achieved significant legal victories through the Supreme Court, including the overturning of Roe v. Wade and strengthened protections for religious expression. This presents a paradoxical situation where Christians are winning battles in the courts while losing the broader cultural war. According to religious demographics experts, these victories may represent a temporary surge rather than sustainable influence.
“This is the most disproportionate power that the Christian Right has had in my lifetime,” said Robert Jones from the Public Religion Research Institute.
The tension between legal victories and diminishing cultural influence has created significant backlash, with progressives accusing conservatives of attempting to establish a theocracy. This narrative gained further traction when Representative Lauren Boebert publicly challenged the constitutional separation of church and state, stating: “The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. That is not how our founding fathers intended it. And I am tired of this separation of church and state junk. It’s not in the Constitution.”
Reclaiming Prophetic Authority
The path forward for Christians requires reclaiming the prophetic authority to speak truth into culture without apology. This doesn’t mean establishing a theocracy, but rather engaging confidently in the marketplace of ideas with biblically-grounded perspectives. President Trump’s appointment of Supreme Court justices who respect religious liberty demonstrates how strategic engagement can produce meaningful protections for people of faith.
Christians must reject the false notion that humility requires silence on moral issues. The biblical mandate to be “salt and light” necessitates active participation in cultural formation. This means training Christian leaders not just for ministry within church walls but for influential positions in education, media, business, and government. It means speaking biblical truth about gender, sexuality, and human dignity with both conviction and compassion.
The Colorado legislation criminalizing traditional gender pronouns should serve as a wake-up call. Christians cannot afford to retreat any further from public engagement. The cost of continued disengagement will be the further erosion of religious liberty and the advancement of ideologies fundamentally opposed to biblical truth. The time has come for believers to reclaim their prophetic voice and provide the moral clarity our culture desperately needs.
