Phil Johnson over at Pyromaniacs posted a good article entitled The Foolishness of Preaching. He points out the fact that the Gospel is the answer, not politics. Good, well written, truthful stuff. And I wouldn't even think of disagreeing. Still, it leaves me with a question. And since you readers are likely already aware that I'm a person who often has questions, you won't mind me sharing this with you. My dream is that someone with more wisdom or insight than I can drop in and say, "Oh, yeah, I know the answer to that. Let me help you" and I'll be the wiser for it.
It is an unavoidable fact that in a Christian worldview, politics is not the answer. We don't find redemption in politics. There is no "Christian" political party. Better laws don't make saved people. A nicer, more well-behaved group of people in the country won't make it a Christian country. Eliminating Roe v Wade will not eliminate the demand for abortions or the reason they are called for. Getting better court appointees will not stop the glut of sexual sin or pride or greed or ... you can supply your own list of prevalent sins. Passing a law banning homosexuals from getting married will not fix the current problems with real marriage or stop homosexuals from practicing their homosexual behavior. And, frankly, I can find no command in the Bible that says, "Go into your world and vote for the things that are right!" I can find a command to share the Gospel, but nothing about political action.
For those Christians who are heavily involved in politics, that should be a warning. We are not here to vote Christ into everyone's heart. We are not here to make our nation a kinder, gentler nation. We don't have a "right candidate." Christians have a different set of commands: 1) Love God, 2) love your neighbor, and 3) share the Gospel. Odd ... nothing in there about "vote Republican!"
That leaves me, however, with a difficult question. Given that my command is not "Be a politician and get laws passed that glorify God," what is the correct involvement for Christians? The immediate feeling I get when told, "Your job is to spread the Gospel, not make better laws" is "Okay, so I'll ignore politics entirely." I don't think that is the right response. What is? Everyone tells me "Christians should vote." Okay, fine ... why? I'm not even disagreeing; I'm asking. And what should we be looking for politically? There is a large group of Christians who are saying, "You must vote for McCain because if you don't, you're voting for Obama" or some such. But ... what if I don't think McCain is the right guy? Isn't this voting for pragmatism rather than principle? Or is that what we should be doing?
I don't have an answer. That shouldn't surprise anyone. I don't have a clear picture of the principles of Christian involvement in government and politics, primarily because there is no such thing in the Bible. Are we making them up? Are there actual principles involved? If so, what? How do I know the right level of involvement and responsibility for a Christian? Maybe some of my wise readers have suggestions?
12 comments:
I think Thomas More answered it correctly as they were preparing to chop his head off.
"The King's good servant, but God's first."
Of course he got his head chopped off for not towing the party line.....
Are we next? =)
(I'm having a tough time determining the Christian "party line".)
Stan,
I find that much of my time and resources is consumed in loving others. Ironically, the loss of outlets due to my deconversion has actually given me MORE free time than I had before.
Be that as it may, as a Christian, I was often placed in a position where I had to give up loving one person to love another due to physical inability. Do I help my neighbor move dirt, or help my wife plant flowers or spend play time with the kids? Not enough hours in the day.
Romans 13:1-7 says your God appointed whatever Governmental authority is there. Look at it this way: If your God has pre-ordained Obama to be President of the United States, does it matter how much time, money or effort you, Stan, put in for McCain? Or will Obama win?
For me, I figured I didn’t have enough time or resources to do what I thought my God ordered me to do for certain (love others). And my God had ordained who was in government anyway. So I voted for the best I could figure (usually the lesser of two evils), and left the rest to God.
Don’t know if that helps any.
I certainly am not the one described above as "smarter and wiser," but I think I may know someone who is. I listen to his radio show often and think very highly of him. His name is David Zanotti, and he's written a book called, God Won't Vote This Year, and you can read an excerpt from it at www.godwontvote.com. I am in no way affiliated with him, nor have I ever met or even talked to the man. I haven't even read the book (I have read the excerpt, though). I wouldn't be surprised if some of your answers were found within it's pages. I hope this helps.
Dagoods, I have already written my "sequel" to this post which includes the Rom. 13 reference and a similar question that you ask. I have to wonder if my best choice is always going to have to be "the lesser of two evils".
Ryan, thanks for the reference. I'll look into it. And I still check out your blog every day, hoping you write something more. Well?
Thanks for the encouragement...I needed that. I was wondering if anybody ever looked at it, so it was hard to get motivated to write. On top of all of that, sometimes I'll have so many things worth writing about, I don't end up writing anything at all.
Hopefully this was the kick in the pants I needed. I'll try to write again soon.
I must suggest Christians and Atheist to read this book "The End of Reason" by Dr. Ravi Zacharias. This book forces the reader's mind to do the critical thinking that is so lacking in Christianity today. It should also be considered required reading for the atheist who has never really looked at a logical argument for the existence of God, or the Christian who has never really critically analyzed his own faith. Check out more information on The End of Reason here
jaajoe, I really enjoy Zacharias. There are few thinkers like him. And I'll look into his book. But does that help answer my question about Christians and politics?
Ryan ... I'll be watching and waiting ...
Stan: I don't believe this article is the last word on Christians and politics but I've found it quite helpful in my own thinking.
http://www.natreformassn.org/statesman/98/jandpol.html#Top
Thanks, Ken. I'll read it. In the meantime, I'm hoping you'll write the article that is the last word on Christians and politics. (OK, kidding ...)
What about "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's", and "Submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake"? I think the principle is that since we live in a participatory democracy, we're called to participate. Beyond that, I don't think there is clear guidance, other than to vote your conscience.
I like the simplicity of "render to Caesar" and "obey the law", but it doesn't provide me any guidance on whether or not I should protest the California Supreme Court's ruling on calling homosexuals "married" or whether or not I should work toward more biblically-based laws or ... well, you get the idea. If I stick with "render to Caesar" I'll pay my taxes and "obey the law" I'll obey the law and I will vote, but should I be more involved and to what extent?
(I suspect you are most correct when you say, "No clear guidance." I suspect there are people who God has called to be heavily involved and those who God has called to only vote and lots of stuff in between.)
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