Christians & Politics

Many years ago, I wrote a political column for the University newspaper of the college I attended.
The college was located in the Coalfields of the Mountain State; which soon put my column in the 'must read' section of the campus because it was entitled, 'The Conservative Corner.'
The area was, and to a large degree still is, dominated by Democrat machine politics.

WV Tech, Old Main

It was a time in which I was afforded the luxury of developing my thoughts and write of my political convictions and beliefs. At the same time, those beliefs and convictions were tested and tried by those who opposed my viewpoint.
I learned to defend my position and quickly learned that in political talk, it is much easier to attack the messenger rather than defeat the message.

Given the nature of the current season, it has become appropriate to return to my roots as a mid-term election nears.
With the experiences that I have had over the past several years, health/spiritual/emotional, these have given me a different view and outlook as to what is taking place on the political stage; with the first and foremost question being, 'Where does the Christian fit in?'

Truthfully, many Christians have dropped out of the entire political scene; and that's sad.

Some see politics as 'dirty' and rightly so in many cases; the Christian is to be pure and undefiled, so, they will avoid it all together.
Other Christians see themselves as being 'otherworldly' and politics is a beast definitely of a fallen world. Therefore, in seeing the Christian as a citizen of another Kingdom, they have chosen to abandon this Kingdom altogether.

Yet, Jesus instructed us to give to Caesar what is Caesar and our Caesar is our government.
God has greatly blessed the American public by giving us a representative Republic; not to be involved in at least some way would be an act of disobedience to the Lord.
As such, our culture is decidedly and traditionally of a Christian nature; yet, Church and State is not to mix in governing - but Christians as a whole do wield the largest number of votes and the greatest power when we are held together.

To prove this point, one needs only to look toward the last Presidential election in America. 
Regardless of what party anyone supported, across our nation we witnessed a man and his wife, who are Mormons, trying to convince the American public that they were part of a "normal" evangelical faith - no different than a Baptist.
At the same time, over 1/3 over the American voting bloc believed the current President running for reelection was a Muslim.

While these two issues are still up for debate, one thing is true for America - Christian involvement in the political scene is a recent phenomenon. While Christians have always been involved, in recent years the involvement has escalated to near-machine politic levels.
And this is not a good thing, for Scripture teaches us that our victory comes, '...not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit...'

Until the late 1970's, for a political candidate to talk about their faith was very rare; though there were exceptions like John Kennedy's Catholicism.
But when Jimmy Carter entered the 1976 Presidential race claiming to be an evangelical, born-again Christian - a silent majority of believers swept him into the White House over President Ford, who had been mildly tarnished by Watergate.
Yet, Carter was too liberal for many of those who voted for him and they soon felt betrayed. The result was the election of 1980 as a former actor named Ronald Reagan became President of the United States.

The Supreme Court of the United States

The lesson in this for the Christian today is the fact that before a public Christian voting bloc entered national politics, most Americans had a favorable view of Christianity and the Church.
Today, decades later, most young people associate only negative ideals with the Church; anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-environment and so on.

As such, to many, Christians have sold their soul to political power instead of selling themselves out for the sake of the Gospel.

The question remains, 'Where do we fit in as Christians?' but there is no clear answer.
Scripture gives us various answers.

Unlike the American Republic, King Solomon combined Church & State, leading Israel to its most glorious time.
Elijah, however, railed against King Ahab and his wife Jezebel; at the same time the Prophet Obadiah sheltered God's true Prophets while administratively running the King's court.
The Prophets Amos (one of my favorites) and Hosea condemned the sinfulness of the Kings of Israel and compared the people to being as stupid as cows and religiously promiscuous as prostitutes.
Isaiah, on the other hand, he was King Hezekiah's court prophet.
Daniel was exiled as a young man, but served as a high administrator for two different pagan governments.

Which of these is right for us today?
Are we to combine our culture with our faith or are we to separate them as far apart as we can?
In society there are good arguments for both camps; who is right?

Well, the truth is that Christians will readily accept some parts of the culture while rejecting other parts; it is not an 'all or nothing' proposition.
There is nothing 'traditional' about American society; no other society in history has developed itself in a way by which it accepts all other cultures.

Americans have chosen from the beginning to keep our faith and government separate because the Colonists did not want 'home' or 'state' churches dictating their lives in the New World.
Seriously, if we face up to it, state churches and government ordained religions do not have a

good track record. Catholics and Protestants were still killing each other in Ireland well into the 1990's.
And while most of those battles were essentially terroristic strikes, other religions have been less tolerant - Communists and Islamists make conversion a capital crime.

In America, Christians are the majority; does that mean we are to rule and if so, to what extent?
What is the example of Christ?

The truth is that Jesus didn't react much different than we do at times; in fact, we should do what He did more.
Jesus accepted much of His culture, but at the same time He reached out to those deemed as heretics like the Samaritans, and the unclean, such as Lepers. 
He even broke Sabbath, dare I say Church, rules when it was necessary to teach us that our hearts are far more important than our actions.

The New Testament teaches us that Government is necessary, even ordained by God; but government certainly is no sponsor or friend of the faith.
And at times, God even raises up wicked rulers which persecute the faithful.
The Disciples became martyrs as did countless early Christians at the hands of the Roman Emperors.
In modern times, Americans do not see religious persecution very much unless they travel to the Third World; instead, we see a government turning away from the faith at every turn.

One interesting fact is that Islamic nations totally embrace the state-run religion model; but today, most 'Christian' nations do not.
Yet, both Christianity and Islam, the world's two largest religions, seek to influence the culture around them and even the world.
And both has done so in both positive and negative ways throughout the centuries.

Oddly enough, the evolution of this issue in both religions can be seen in our our societies and cultures treat public prayers.
in America, we will have people argue over prayers announced on the PA system at a Friday night football game.
In the Muslim world, society comes to a screeching halt five times a day and citizens are forced to pray.
Personally, I have found forced faith is no faith at all.
But I digress.

Sometimes the accusation is leveled that government uses religion to control or influence the people so that those in power can stay in power.
The accusation is historically accurate but governments hardly need religion to seduce their politicians toward an authoritarian rule over the people they are to serve.
And this is not just an issue for Christianity, other faiths rely on forced behavior for compliance.

For example, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), moral police patrol the streets and businesses looking for Muslim rule-breakers; the worst offenders are punished each week in a place called 'Chop-Chop Square.'

The Taliban banned the education of women; therefore, the Islamic strong-hand is not confined to the Middle East.
In China, where Communism is the government style as well as a form of religion, the Red Guards enforce laws such as the wearing of eye glasses or possessing money.

But Christians should not deny our own history of relying on coercion.
Ireland used to levy a fine on citizens who didn't attend Church; while in 1492, the nation who sent Columbus across the ocean, Spain, declared that all Jews must convert.

The lesson for those of us who are American citizens as we look at our faith's past: when religion gets close to government, an abuse of power will almost always ensue.
The fact is that when the Church and State are joined together, if it works at all, it will only work temporarily and will end in the Church getting the short end of the stick as the people backlash against such a way of life.

I realize that the goal of every Christian is to fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord and truly be a part of the reaching of 'all tribes, tongues and nations.'
It is an earnest desire within my own heart; as it is in the heart of millions upon millions of people.

Yet, the truth remains that the Christian can never reach people from the top, down. It doesn't work that way because you can't force people to believe or to convert.
People are won to the faith simply by one heart at a time, from the lowliest citizen to the highest monarch; Christians work from the bottom, up.

Want proof?
Simply look to the Gospels, God chose Israel, the lowest of all nations from which to give us His Son. God chosen a gang of outcast, wayward men as His chief messengers to the Roman Empire.

Emperor Constantine I

And within three centuries, the lowliest, humble people had infected the known world with their faith as Constantine became the first Christian Emperor.

That's quite a success story, a story which can be repeated in our lives.
But it is not had by trying to conquer the government, but by conquering hearts with the Gospel.

While many pray for revival, I can promise you that revival won't come from the government or the Halls of Congress.
Revival must start within the hall of our hearts before it reaches anywhere else.
And that's our real place in politics, the witness of the Lord and the conscience of society using the twin weapons of grace and forgiveness.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.