Biblical Principles of Political Engagement

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.  

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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.

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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.