A
Biblical Perspective on Politics
(in the
context of the Christian response to unjust economics)
Introduction
Christian
involvement in politics is a controversial area and is often
avoided because we do not wish to be seen taking sides for one
party or another or because we say that "politics is dirty
and is not for Christians". The following is a summary of
what I see Scripture saying about politics plus some observations
from my own involvement in political life in Australia.
Jesus The
Politician?
Jesus is the ultimate example of a servant
leader who sacrifices Himself for His people and becomes the King
of Kings ruling over the nations of the world.
Jesus got involved with the real
world: He stepped out of the safety and glory of heaven
to become involved with and to die for an imperfect and sinful
world. He came to an oppressed, politically corrupt nation on the
edges of the Roman Empire dominated by the world power of the day
and "bent"" local politicians. He did not
enter a perfect society or just stay where it was clean and tidy
and nice and comfortable and where He was honoured. He went where
it was sinful and where He would be criticised and crucified
because that was His calling and mission ..
Jesus was subject to temptation but He
did not sin: Although He was "tempted in every way
as we are" (Philippians 2:5-11, Hebrews 4:15) He did not
sin. Part of this temptation was political temptation - for
instance being offered "all the kingdoms of this world and
their glory" if He would bow down to Satan. (Matthew 4:8,9)
and again when people came by force to make Him King. (John
6:15). Thus it is not a sin to be subject to political temptation
-as long as you do not bow down to Satan or to the pressure of
mob rule.
Jesus commented vigorously on cultural
issues: While Jesus did not run for public office He did
take a prophetic stance against the social issues of the day to
the point where He was regarded as a major threat to be done away
with. He did not just "stick to religion and values"
but talked about fair wages, unjust trade, oppression of widows
and the economic injustices and corruption of his day even
overturning the tables of the moneylenders.(Matthew 12:40 etc)
Jesus did have a "political
agenda" but not one that this world understood: When Pilate asked if Jesus was a King it ended up with him
scratching his head and saying "what is Truth?".(John
18:36-39) The rulers of this world completely misread Jesus. (1
Corinthians 2:8) . The political agenda of Jesus is a very
interesting topic that would take far too long to discuss here.
His proclamation "repent for the Kingdom of God is at
hand" would have been interpreted by many people as
"cleanse yourself for a holy war which will restore the
Kingship to Israel." - as that was the current Messianic
interpretation. The last question the disciples asked was
"when will the Kingdom be restored to Israel" just
before He ascended into Heaven. Only after Pentecost did the
spiritual nature of the Kingdom become completely obvious.
Jesus will eventually govern the whole
world: Jesus saw Himself as a King whose Kingdom was not
of this world (John18:36,37). Revelation gives Him the title
"ruler of the kings of the earth" (Revelation 1:5) .
His Kingdom would eventually crush all the kingdoms that are of
this world (Daniel 2:44, Revelation 2:26,27) which are passing
away. ( 1 Corinthians 2:6-8, 7:31, 1 John 2:17). His Kingdom
however will last forever. (Daniel 2:44). We will be co-rulers
with Him in this Kingdom (Revelation 2:26,27, Romans 8;17)
and will have "cities" to govern. (Luke 19:17-19). So
ultimately some faithful Christians will be mayors and
politicians in the Kingdom of God! Well the point is that its not
wrong to rule. David ruled well as did Hezekiah and Josiah and of
course Daniel and Joseph. Government is Ok for some now and
eventually will be part of our ultimate destiny in Christ. The
precise nature of our governing is however not revealed.
Is God
Political?
While God is not political in the sense of
being corrupt or unrighteous, He does govern and He does carry
out political activities. He makes laws and covenants, has an
immense administration of angels, has heavenly courts and books
and dispenses justice. He is impartial and exalts some and
demotes others. God also acts to ensure that He stays in power
and that the kingdom of darkness will be defeated. He governs in
wise and subtle ways as Psalm 18 indicates. Psalms 18:25-30
NKJV) With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; {26} With
the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You
will show Yourself shrewd. {27} For You will save the humble
people, But will bring down haughty looks. {28} For You will
light my lamp; The LORD my God will enlighten my darkness. {29}
For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a
wall. {30} As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD
is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. Thus the
skills of discerning people and situations and responding to them
with justice and good government is one of God's main activities
and a very fit activity for human beings. Another way of looking
at this is that God's will is to be done on earth - as it is in
heaven. (Matthew 6:10) For this to happen his standards must be
enacted in laws and encoded deeply into the cultures of the
earth. This means involvement by Christians in law, politics and
culture. In fact John Calvin, the reformer saw government as the
highest calling of the Christian. Politics can even affect
evangelism. Generally countries that are "closed' with
governments hostile to the gospel see few people saved while
countries open to the gospel see many people saved. Thus the
eternal destiny of nations to a large degree depends on their
governments ( 1 Timothy 2:1-4) so Christians should pray for
their governments and even, where wise, participate in them.
The
Basics
(1 Timothy 2:1-4 NIV) I urge, then, first
of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving
be made for everyone-- {2} for kings and all those in authority,
that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and
holiness. {3} This is good, and pleases God our Savior, {4} who
wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the
truth.
(Micah 6:6-8 NIV) With what shall I
come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I
come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? {7}
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten
thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? {8}
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD
require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk
humbly with your God.
The basic involvement of every Christian is to pray for good government and to act justly. This is not negotiable.
Further
Involvement
How should you personally be involved/ And
to what depth? And in what manner? These are complex questions
and to greatly simplify matters I will say that it depends on two
factors:
B) The nature of the government and how open it is to involvement.
Also some governments have one response from God (e.g. judgment)
while others get another (support or blessing). We need to
discern how God is responding to that administration.
Your
Calling
Each of us is called to a life of good works
- in fact we are designed for them! (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV) For
we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk
in them.
· Has God called you to be a prophet and to speak out about social
conditions like Amos?
· Has God called you to be an administrator like Joseph or Daniel?
(Daniel 1 and 2)
· Has God called you to be a "king" - like David ?
· Has He called you to be a priest to the powerful - giving
guidance and ministering grace like Abiathar did for David? ( 1
Samuel 23:9)
· Has God called you to be a "witness before Caesar" like
Paul?
Each of us has different personalities and
gifts and belong to different "worlds". Some of you may
be naturally "prophetic" while others are much more
comfortable ministering grace. Each has its place.
Nature of
The Government
We find in Scripture a wide range of
responses to different kinds of government. God says different
things to different kinds of administration and calls His Church
to react in a wide variety of ways to the prevailing political
climate.:
· Is the government generally seeking righteousness like
that of Solomon so you can BLESS it like God did? (1 Kings
3:5-15)
· Has it committed a wrong act so that it needs to be
REBUKED like Nathan did to David? (2 Samuel 12:1-14)
· Is it idolatrous and wicked like that of Ahab and Jezebel
so you can OVERTHROW it like Elisha did? (2 Kings 9:1-37)
· Is it stubborn and cruel so that you must LIBERATE people
from it like Moses did? (Exodus chapters 1-15)
· Is it a "good pagan" government like that of
Nebuchadnezzar so that like Daniel you PARTICIPATE in the
government and DEMONSTRATE the power of God to the ruler so he is
converted (Daniel 4)?
· Is it an efficient but unrighteous pagan government like
Rome - with good law and order but hostile to God so you RESPECT
the government but SEPARATE yourself from its wicked ways?
(Romans 13:1-8)
· If a government is corrupt we must never ally ourselves
with it but rather EXPOSE it.. (Psalms 94:20, Ephesians
5:11)
· Is it crafty and dangerous like the government of Herod so
that you SAY NOTHING AT ALL and keep your distance like Jesus
did? (Luke 23:8-9)
To sum up this section: There is no
"one right way" to respond to all types of government.
We have to discern the nature of the government and then react
appropriately. The way to do this is to find a parallel
situation in Scripture and how God spoke to it.
Issue By
Issue VS Party Politics
There are two main approaches to politics by
Christians in open democratic countries:
The first is the "prophetic"
stance where the Christian stands outside of political life and
independent of party politics and comments on an issue by issue
basis say tackling abortion or economic injustices. The focus is
on what God says to that nation and its government about one
particular issue. The advantage is that it is "clean"
and rarely corrupt, that it is focussed, and that many Christians
will line up behind and issue that will not line up behind a
political party. The disadvantage is that the prophetic stance is
often easily dismissed by those in power - except perhaps during
a very close election or in a marginal seat.
Secondly there is the "princely"
stance of actually running and participating in party politics.
The Christian must chose a party where his or her Christian
beliefs are at least allowed some room for expression and which
is large enough and influential enough to have some impact on
government. It is my experience that small idealistic Christian
political parties are unsuccessful in influencing policy. When a
significant number of Christians form a bible study groups within
a major political party and work together then this method can
have a lot of impact on public policy. However its weakness is
that it is hard to be fully prophetic and outspoken on issues
when a member of a party. A certain amount of compromise is
needed.
My personal method combines both. Basically
my personality is outspoken and uncompromising thus I am much
more happy being a "prophet" on the outside and leading
marches and rallies however I have belonged to and run as a
candidate for political parties. The result is that now I am a
"prophet" who understands the world of politicians and
can relate to them and thus influence them better that I could
before.
Responding
Appropriately In Politics
1. The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
(James 1:20) Involvement in politics should be wise, intelligent
and from deep conviction not from anger or hostility.
Inappropriate political responses from Christians are a poor
witness.
2. Where possible find the appropriate person and procedure for
the matter. (Ecclesiastes 8:5,6)
3. Be discreet in all you say, even in private -especially
regarding powerful people. (Eccl 10:20, many verses in Proverbs).
4. Expect opposition but let God deal with it. See how David
responds to opposition in the Psalms - not by taking personal
revenge but by taking his case to God for action. Never take
revenge (Romans 12;19).
5. Build unity through demonstrating love for your enemies. Make
them friends. This was David's tactic - see 1 & 2 Samuel.
6. Do not give into fear and especially to conspiracy theories.
The Lord alone shall be your fear and your dread. (Isaiah
8:11-13)
7. "Kings" are supposed to be wise and to seek
counsel. Have many advisors and take their advice. (Proverbs
15:22)
8. Neither be surprised and upset at corruption (Eccl 5:8,9) or
so comfortable with it that you take bribes. (Ex 23:8).
9. Settle your priorities before you go into the battle. Know
what you truly stand for. "Set your face like flint.."
Ezekiel 3:9
10. Pursue peace with all people but always remember that
holiness is the top priority. (Hebrews 12:14)
Combating the
injustices of globalization and advocating for the poor and for
fair trade will mean Christian political involvement of one sort
or the other. Not every Christian will take the same approach or
be called to the same political stance or even the same political
conclusions. Some will write letters to politicians, while others
might teach business ethics at Harvard, others will chain
themselves to a tree in prophetic protest while yet others may
sit on the board of a multi-national and try to “be a
Daniel”. Others will march around the city in
spiritual warfare and intercession for the sins of the city while
yet others may run for mayor. However all are called to seek
justice and mercy and truth, all are called to be wise, and
discreet and professional in their approach so no disgrace is
brought to God’s name. All are called to carry a cross and
to suffer shame and persecution for the cause of Christ and of
His rule in the world. All are called to holiness and purity of
life and not to engage in dishonesty or overly pragmatic
practices even for a noble cause.