Christians and Politics

This post first appeared September 4, 2020. With the upcoming special election (Aug 8) and the high stakes ballot initiative in the November election, we thought this topic would be worth revisiting. Because of a radical prochoice ballot initiative slated for November, the elders are recommending a “yes” vote for Issue 1.

We define a “disciple” as “a Christ-follower who is constantly about the task of bringing every aspect of life into obedience to Christ.”

One aspect of life that thrusts itself upon us is how well we steward our opportunities as citizens.

There’s no quicker way to start a fight than to wade into the debate about the proper relationship between faith and politics. And the spectrum of opinions on this matter runs all the way from those who would insist that a faith perspective is entirely irrelevant to the political process (“leave your faith outside the voting booth”) to those who would argue that the role of the Church is to bring every human institution under the law of God (“theonomy” is the technical term for that view).

Most of us have no interest in either of those radical perspectives.

But there’s plenty to occupy (and divide) us in between those extremes, especially since our two-party system so often forces us to choose between two bad options. Because the systems of politics are operated by fallen men and women like us, it’s no surprise that politics can be messy and chaotic at best, and it’s no surprise how easily political strategies can bend toward manipulation, corruption, and oppression.

So what does it mean for a Christ-follower to bring the realm of his or her political involvement into obedience to Christ?

I think there are two over-lapping principles that apply:

1. The scope and method of our political involvement is a matter of personal conviction, not biblical mandate.

The question of how Christ-followers should use their political clout is not a matter of a direct biblical command; we simply don’t have chapter-and-verse guidance on how we ought to make choices in the voting booth.

Part of the problem is that Scripture was written not in the context of a participatory democracy but in the age of monarchies and empires. In the ancient Near East there was no political apparatus for the people to have their say in the appointing of leaders or the creation of laws, so we don’t find much biblical guidance about how we can steward our opportunities as citizens of a modern republic.

But it’s not just the silence of the Scriptures that comes into play here.

We also have the New Testament witness of Christ and apostles. Whatever we say about faith and politics must take into account how remarkably apolitical Christ and the apostles were.

Much of the opposition to Jesus in His day came from Jews who wanted a Messiah to turn the political world upside down, and He refused to do that. He was not opposed to paying the Temple tax, and He meekly submitted Himself to the atrocities of Roman justice, even though He could have called down angelic powers to deliver Him.

Jesus had little interest in overturning the oppressive Roman government. And His apostles followed suit, concentrating their efforts on church-planting and evangelism, even though they lived under the same brutal regime that had crucified their Master.

In fact, the apostles urged their people to comply as much as possible with civil authority (Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 2:13-17). The only time we see them resorting to civil disobedience was when they were specifically forbidden to do what Christ had commanded them to do, preach the Word (Acts 4:19-20; 5:29).

So absent a clear biblical mandate about how to participate in politics, we can see that questions about the scope and manner of our political involvement are largely a matter for the individual conscience of the believer.

This means that some Christ-followers will be called to throw themselves into the process professionally as political office-holders, others will take their quest for justice to the street in lawful protest, and most of us will do our duty by educating ourselves on the issues and voting according to our conscience. There is no one right way that we must all participate, and we must give one another room and grace to participate in the process as we see fit.

But this lack of biblical guidance doesn’t mean that participating in the political process is only an option for us because…

2. Political involvement is mandatory for Christ-followers.
 
Because we live in a nation where the people have a say in who governs us, Christ-followers have an obligation to participate in the process by which those leaders are chosen.

Here is where we do have clear guidance from God’s Word. Our Lord told us that the command to love our neighbor is second only to the command to love God. Of all people, Christ-followers ought to be the ones most consistently occupied with caring for the welfare of their neighbors. Unlike our brothers and sisters in the ancient Roman world, we actually can contribute politically to creating and maintaining the common good. And we have an obligation to use that power to help our neighbors.

Yes, politics can be ugly, and it is tempting to throw up our hands in despair and walk away from the turmoil. But staying out of politics isn’t an option if I love my neighbor and want what’s best for him and for my community. Out of love for my neighbor, I have the obligation to use the power of my vote to help make my community a better place for everyone.

And “everyone” includes everyone: people of color as well as the unborn as well as the immigrant who lives among us. I know, the two major parties have differing agendas here, but the Christian’s love for his neighbor compels him or her to wisely utilize the power of the vote.

Christians participating in politics out of neighbor-love are out of step with politics as we know it today.

Let’s face it, most political appeals are built on some clever combination of fear, outrage, and self-interest. If we culled out all the political ads designed to appeal to our fear or anger or naked self-interest, there wouldn’t be much political advertising left.

And those political appeals are precisely targeted. They know what we’re afraid of and what makes us angry, and they know how to appeal to our self-interest. I think we would be embarrassed if we knew how often and how successfully well-financed political campaigns influence the way we perceive the candidates and the issues.  

Christians must participate in the political process, but not out of fear or outrage or mere self-interest. We have an obligation to wade into the messy business of politics out of love for our neighbors. It is not just in our best interests but also in the interests of the common good that we appoint wise leaders and advocate for just policies and laws.

This clarity about motives does nothing to simplify things, of course.
 
Even with the purest of motives, we are still often left with no really good options. Sometimes the best we can hope for is to hold our nose and choose the less objectionable of two bad choices.

But as ugly and distressing as politics can be, we simply don’t have the option of dropping out. We owe it to our neighbors to do what we can to see that good people are in power and good policies are in place.

If we are followers of Jesus, nothing about our lives falls outside the scope of His Lordship, including our political lives.

That is why each of us must examine our own hearts, examine the issues and the candidates, and engage in the political process as an act of love for our neighbors.
 
Persevere,
Paul Pyle
Pastor of Discipleship