Once known as the White House "hatchet man" during the Nixon administration, in 1973 Charles Colson experienced a life-changing transformation when he gave his life to Jesus Christ. While serving in prison on Watergate-related charges, God gave him a new vision and purpose for the rest of his life. In 1976, Chuck Colson founded the Prison Fellowship Ministry, which has become the world’s largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, crime victims and their families. Today Chuck has an extended ministry as an evangelical thinker and statesman. He is a radio commentator for "Break Point," a nationally syndicated broadcast. He is the author of 24 books; his most recent book is The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters (Zondervan). Preaching editor Michael Duduit recently sat down to visit with Chuck.

Preaching: Chuck, thanks for taking time to visit with the pastors who read Preaching.

Colson: Well, I’m excited to because I have a real heart for pastors. I realize the tremendous job they have. I watch my pastor week after week preach faithfully and realize that they’re really shepherds of the flock for whom Christ gave Himself. And so you have to realize—the way Paul described it—that that is a very high, noble calling.

Preaching: We were excited to have you serve as the keynote speaker at our recent National Conference on Preaching, where we dealt with issues of faith and culture. Do you think there is a place for Christian preachers to engage the culture in the areas of politics, entertainment, the arts?

Colson: I love what Abraham Kuyper—a great Dutch theologian who went on to become Prime Minister—said when he dedicated Free University in Amsterdam at the end of the 19th century. He said, "There’s not one square inch in the whole domain of human existence as to which Christ who is sovereign over all does not cry out, ‘Mine!’"

And my opinion is, if Christ calls out, "Mine!" over every square inch of human existence, the church has to call out, "His!"

We have to be concerned particularly with the transcendent moral issues of our day. There’s no way you can ignore it. I know there are some churches that like to not get involved. I was recently in a stimulating debate with a fellow who said we should just tend to building the Kingdom and let politics take care of itself. Well, you could do that if you didn’t take the view of the lordship of Christ that I do. I believe that God is sovereign over all.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God." The "Word" in Greek is logos, which means all truth that ever could be known or was known to the Greeks. That’s how the Greeks used it. John was a Greek, so he understood it fully. Jews often translated it as "the mind of God Himself." So if that’s true—if Jesus is not only the Redeemer who came to earth to die on the cross in our place but is also the Logos, if that’s the explanation of who Jesus is—then He is also Creator. Therefore we have to be concerned with how the gospel interfaces with everything.