Biblical Principles of Political Engagement
One of
the reasons which made me interested in the subject of religion and politics is
the growing prominence of Christians even religious figures in the field of
politics and government. These are two subjects which will always spark a
healthy discussion, sometimes even a heated argument: religion and politics.
I was
talking to my Pastor and I mentioned to him my observation that Baptist
Christians generally have this attitude of trying to keep the subjects of politics and Christian
faith, separate. Whenever there are
controversial ethical, moral or political issues in our country, the Baptists
seem to be quiet, neutral, or restrained in voicing out their stand on these
issues. But this is impossible for a
Christian because he believes God is sovereign over all, even in the political
realm. To remove God from politics is to leave this area of life to atheistic
and humanistic thinkers which will ultimately bring disorder or hopelessness to
any society.
Christians
need to know what relationship they sustain to the government they find
themselves under, for Christians are in every nation on this earth. We need to
know how deeply we should get involved in the political arena and what
limitations should be placed on our political actions.
Maybe we
can agree that the Bible does not specifically support any form of government. Scripture only gives principles how
Christians can live under any form of government.
There was
a time during the period of the Roman Empire when Christianity was blamed for
the decline and eventually the fall of the political empire of Rome. It was a
difficult time for the Christians. The Christian faith is a suffering faith,
and persecutions seem to follow the Christians, whether committed by governments,
nations, racial or ethnic groups, or other religions.
In his Magnum Opus,
The City of Man vs. the City of God, St. Augustine (426 AD) refuted the idea that Christianity made a
nation weak. It was the belief that the
fall of the great Roman Empire was caused by Rome’s assimilation of
Christianity. When the barbarian hordes of Huns, Goths, and Vandals plundered
Rome in 4th century, the Romans refused to accept the decline of
their empire as caused by their own
corruption and dissipation. They
blamed the Christians, for the weakness and decline of their once
glorious and powerful empire. The belief was
because the Roman empire allowed itself to embrace cultural Christianity
and abandoned the Roman gods and the worship of emperors they lost their political and military power.
St. Augustine in his
treatise reminded the Christians in
Rome who were at the receiving end of
this blame game, that there was a great
contrast between the earthly kingdom and the heavenly kingdom, which he
described as the City of Man and the City of God.
Augustine said that,
“Incomparably more glorious than Rome, is that heavenly city in which for
victory you have truth; for dignity, holiness; for peace, felicity; for life,
eternity.”
In understanding the
implication of this message Christians should view their lives in the framework
of polity as one which should work for
God’s kingdom building, and direct their earthly politics in the fulfillment of
Heaven’s agenda.
.
The church falls
victim to the false dichotomies wherein Christians put too much hope in the
earthly kingdom by efforts at reforming the political ground, while, others
isolate and detach themselves, or chose to be silent, placing no hope at all in
the politics of earthly realm.
The Gospel teach
otherwise. The Gospel should impact politics and culture not the other way
around.
.
So what does the
political engagement of Christians look like? What does real kingdom subversion
do in the world of corrupt, rival kingdom-building?
The apostle Peter
describes the new “politics” of the new humanity like this:
“Beloved, I urge you
as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage
war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that
when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and
glorify God on the day of visitation.
“Be subject for the
Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as
supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to
praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you
should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are
free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of
God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1
Pet. 2:11–17)
First, the Apostle Peter reminds the Christians that their citizenship is in
heaven (“sojourners and exiles”). This world is not our home, so we should not
live like permanent citizens of this earth, and aspire power and earthly
treasures here, which are anything but temporary. To abstain from the passion
of the flesh equally applies to political zealotry. Too many of us indulge the
passions of the flesh when relating to our politics, and social and political
beliefs, presuming these are our only hope.
All of this is passing away, and we ought to treat it like it is.
And yet St. Peter
is not necessarily advocating a withdrawal from the system. He is advocating good
and honorable citizenship, a participation that commends the gospel of the
kingdom. The level of political participation will vary from Christian to
Christian, culture to culture, as conscience and conviction demands. But
whether we are political activists or passive participants this means at the
very least, living upright, honorable, charitable, respectful lives as witness
to our real citizenship.
Second, Peter
encourages the Christians to be subject to the human governmental and civic
institutions “for the Lord’s sake.” (See also Paul’s words in Rom. 13:1–7.)
Submission
is to be given by the Christian to every human institution, and in this context
Peter is speaking about civil government. “Human institutions” may refer to the
state, the family, the household, social groups within society and the church,
even though the immediate context is about submission to government. Christians
are not only heavenly citizens, they are also earthly citizens, and they can be
and should be better citizens of the state than unbelievers. Actually they show
their fidelity to Christ by their loyalty to the state.
All
governmental rulers are in power and are ruling because God appoints all rulers
either by direction or permission. The authority behind all government on earth
is God. Good government as well as bad government derives its authority from
God. Whether democratic, fascist or communistic, all are ordained of God, under
His permissive Will. This does not mean, however, that God approves of
everything which goes on in these governments, for He hates sin wherever it is
found. Yet, there is one thing worse than being under a bad government, and
that is to be under no government where anarchy reigns.
Absolutely
no one gets into political office without God somehow being in control to bring
about His ends. God raised up Pharaoh to sit on the throne of Egypt. He placed cold-blooded Nebuchadnezzar on his
throne. Cruel Pilate operated within God’s sovereign control.
From
the Bible we understand that it is not elections or revolutions which put
governments into power; it is God. Elections and revolutions are only the
instruments by which God works His will. Every government which exists is held
in the palm of God’s hand; it can only go as far as He wills; it is under His
control because it has been ordained by Him.
The
reason a Christian is to submit to the government over him, whether good or
bad, is that government is from God. When the Christian is obeying government,
he is obeying God. By obeying the government, He is a testimony to the
governing officials that salvation in Christ makes one a better citizen of the
state.
Obedience
to government may be a hard pill to
swallow, especially when the rulers are wicked. But we should always remember:
“He (God) changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he
gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding” (Daniel
2:21, ESV)
We obey the laws that
do not violate God’s laws, and we do so with the commendation of Christ in mind.
So when we have to pay our taxes, we pay our taxes with Christ in mind who
during His earthly ministry paid His own tax to Caesar. And if we vote, we vote with Christ in mind.
We vote, but as John Piper says, we “vote as if not voting”. We submit, obey,
and respect those in governing authority. We serve and are loyal to our
country, “for the Lord’s sake.”
The Biblical model
for Christians in political engagement is the prophet Daniel. He was one of the Jewish captives
taken by the Babylonians. He served as one of the advisers to the King
Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel found his way, by God’s leading, to the highest echelon
of government in the Babylonian kingdom. Daniel served Nebuchadnezzar as a true and loyal subject, but did not
recognize the pagan gods of the kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar was impressed by the
wisdom of Daniel. But when Daniel and the three other Jewish captives were
placed in a situation where the King commanded the people to bow down and
worship the idol erected by the king, they would rather obey God than the
earthly king who issued a decree which forced them to worship an idol, at the
risk of execution. Their response was confident faith. When charged for
violating the decree they did not defend themselves, neither did they rebel
against the King, but instead told the king their God would save them, adding
that even if He didn’t, they still would not worship or serve Nebuchadnezzar’s
gods (Daniel 3:16-18).
If Christians are to
submit to the government over them, does this imply blind submission? Should
they take the attitude, “What will be will be”? No, there are times when a
Christian will have to oppose his government, not primarily for political
reasons but for religious reasons. Should there ever be a law which prohibits
something God Himself commands, or should there be one that commands something
God prohibits, then we must respectfully disobey our government and obey God as
did the Apostles.
“And when they had
brought them, they stood them before the Council. And the high priest questioned
them, saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name,
and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring
this man’s blood upon us.’ But Peter and
the apostles answered and said, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’” (Acts
5:27-29).
If the State should
say we Christians can no longer tell people about Christ, pray, read the Bible
or meet together collectively, then we must disobey in order to give allegiance
to our God. If the State should command us to commit murder, (Fifth
Commandment) support murder through abortion, force our children to be
instructed in paganism and humanism, or insist that we should bow down to the State
or man as god, then we would have to disobey, knowing full well the consequences,
but it is better to obey God than man. It would be better to be thrown into
prison or martyred than to break any of God’s moral laws.
Dr. Jack Arnold said,
“Does this mean that Christians are to have nothing to do with politics?
Absolutely not. We are citizens of the state and as citizens we must seek to
move our state to a moral posture which would be consistent with or tolerant to
our Christian faith but which would also tolerate the multitude of unbelievers
in our state. Submission to government does not mean that a Christian cannot
agitate legally for better government if the steps do not lead to violence.
Where the social law is hard and unreasonable, legitimate protest, not
disobedience, is the duty of the Christian.
Submission to government does not mean that a Christian cannot lawfully
protest against evil and corruption in his government.”
Christians, of all
people, should be interested in politics because God is interested in politics.
However, a Christian must be careful not to get the reputation of being a
political agitator or reactionary because this will hurt his testimony before
the unsaved world.”
In matters of faith
when the State ordains laws or decrees which defy God’s commands, the
Christians’ duty of obedience to the governing authorities ceases.
Christians should
deal with the world. There is no avoiding it. But as we deal with it, we don’t
give it our fullest attention. We are only passing through. We don’t ascribe to
the world the greatest status. There are unseen things that are vastly more
precious than the world. We use the world without offering it our whole soul.
We may work with all our might when dealing with the world, but the full
passions of our heart will be attached to something higher—God’s Kingdom. We
use the world, but not as an end in itself. It is a means. We deal with the
world in order to make much of Christ. Christ our Lord said, “My kingdom is not
of this world.” (John 18:36)
We deal with the
world system. We deal with the news. We deal with politics. We deal with the
candidates, government leaders, political parties, and ideologies. We deal with
the social and political issues. We deal
with elections. But we deal with it all as if not dealing with it. It is not the greatest thing in our lives.
Christ is. And Christ will be ruling over his people with perfect supremacy no
matter who is in power. This does not mean, however, that Christians should not be involved in shaping government
policy when the opportunity presents itself.
Jacques Ellul, once
said,
“The Christian who is
involved in the material history of this world is involved in it as
representing another order, another master (than the prince of this world),
another claim (than that of the natural heart of man). Thus he must plunge into
social and political problems in order to have an influence on the world, not
in the hope of making it a paradise, but simply in order to make it tolerable —
not in order to diminish the opposition between this world and the Kingdom of
God, but simply in order to modify the opposition between the disorder of this
world and the order of preservation that God wills for it — not in order to
“bring in” the Kingdom of God, but in order that the gospel may be proclaimed,
that all men may really hear the good news of salvation through the death and
resurrection of Christ.”
“Live as people who
are free,” St. Peter says. We will not be tied to any
particular political movement or legislative agenda and outcomes as if our ultimate hope or devastation is
tied to them.
We are commanded to
obey God first and foremost. “Live as servants of God,” Peter says, and here we
get another perspective on what it means to live as people who are free in a
politicized world. It means participating respectfully and respectably, but it
also means living as those whose ultimate allegiance is to God and not men.
In Acts 5:27–29, when
the apostles are brought before the authorities to be reminded of the law
restricting their freedom to preach the gospel, the answer the apostles provide
is not mute submission. They say, “We must obey God rather than men.” We are
beholden ultimately to God, not
politics, or ideology so when governments command us to violate or disobey God’s commands, we
cannot obey. Indeed, when we see systemic sins, ungodly policies and injustices
promoted and protected by the State, as servants of God we are required to
stand in the side of God, to be bold prophets, to resort to legitimate protest
but never to advocate rebellion. Firm in our conviction, yet, respectful of the civil authorities.
