Christians and Politics

This will show up sometime in The Oconee Leader. I'm channeling two semesters as a political science major, involvement in two presidential campaigns on a local level, pastoring in the Bible Belt and thoughts from Charlie Drew's book, A Public Faith.

Christians are lousy at politics.

Thirty years of organized evangelicalism as a political entity has failed to bring about the kingdom of God or better days for all or much else besides the centaurian cross-breeding of conservative social policy and the Republican party. Evangelicals have become a constituency to be pandered to and for the most part we have taken the bit. Walk into almost any church in Oconee County this Sunday (including mine) and political conversation will sound like talking points from Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly or any number of conservative pundits.

I believe that followers of Jesus Christ can and absolutely must walk down a new political road and become the kind of people who provide the resources for hope and change and unity that politicians of all stripes promise but simply cannot deliver. There are deep divisions in our country and in this county – to ignore them or to attempt to wish them away is both naïve and the height of tomfoolery. This is not a call to ignore our differences, only to put down the guns, knives, ninja stars and other rhetorical weaponry that so often accompanies political dialogue.

All of this begins with the conviction that the followers of Jesus have absolutely no reason to panic – ever – over the outcome of an election. Playing to the politics of fear is an effective ploy by both major parties and must be rejected by Christians. Even if Barack Obama is a socialist and Sarah Palin is the most dangerous woman on the planet, they’re not running the show. The Scriptures consistently drive home the point, often in conditions far worse than our deepest fears about this election, that there is a God who’s running the show. And while we might question or vehemently protest such a thought, would this world not be a better place if there actually is a God who loves the world and is powerfully working to right all wrongs and to make everything sad untrue?

Because God cares deeply about his world, we should follow suit and work for the prosperity, happiness and peace of our nation and community. However, our love for country is not a license to turn a blind eye to the mistakes, blunders and injustices that we have committed, past and present. We must expect and demand that Christians speak truthfully about the wrongs committed by our nation and our political parties. We love the United States but we can and must have lover’s quarrels with it because our ultimate allegiance is to Jesus and his kingdom.

And at the risk of separatism or theocracy, our dual citizenship does not have to work to the detriment of those who aren’t Christian – or even our particular flavor of Christian. Make no mistake, Christians are called to be people who ruthlessly hate evil and seek what’s good. But don’t confuse this with tribalism – the good we seek crosses religious and political lines and the evil we wage war against begins in our own hearts and minds and lives. For too long, Christians have fussed about the disintegration of morality within our culture while secretly joining in and doing little to add beauty, value and truth other than to create artistically retarded rip-offs of cultural artifacts. We have jumped into the fray, blaming politicians and greedy CEOs for our current economic climate without owning up to our own greed that led us to gleefully accept the offer of an affordable mortgage. We’ve become so obsessed with private concerns – church, family, work, hobbies, shuttling kids around – that we fail to keep up with local, national and international events. We should expect Christians to live a life that is often personal but never private. God has put us here to work for the good of his world and to make a difference wherever he gives an opportunity to do so.

Christians believe that all of history is part of God’s story – his personal involvement in the rescue and restoration of humanity and creation from the hell we’ve created for ourselves. The reason we woke up this morning is to take our place in what God is doing around us, to work together for the highest good of everyone. So much of the political divide is created by deeply held convictions about what that looks like. So let’s not miss the forest for the trees – don’t let individual issues become bigger than the whole. And while we work towards a common vision of what would be best for our nation and our community, we should expect Christians to carry themselves with respect, cooperation, diversity, integrity and simplicity. I know, I know – that sounds crazy, but what if it actually happened?

Comments

[andy]

you just articulated my thoughts on the election so well. I tried to express this thought at our staff meeting and it didn't sound anything like this. great post

[Sara Wade]

Hey Matt- Love this post... think I'll put it on facebook later. Thanks for articulating this!

-Sara

[mike]

you talk real smart about the bible and stuff.