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A couple of weeks ago, when we opened the floor for questions during a Sunday morning service, someone asked a great question. I apologize if I don't have this worded precisely, but the question was basically this, "If Jesus if king unlike any other and our citizenship is in his kingdom and not primarily the nations of our world, is there a place or a way for Christians to engage politically?" I gave a brief response at the time, but this is a very significant question I'd like to devote some more time to.

Christians, throughout the last two millenia, have differed in their approaches to political engagement. For the first 300 or so years Christianity stood outside the kingdoms of the world. It didn't seek control or power through political influence or force. Constantine changed all of that when he made Christianity the official religion of Rome. From that time until today the idea of Christianity has been a political force rather than a theological one. It has been about power to be wielded rather than a grace to be offered. It has been about men (historically this gender specific term is correct!) using religion to force compliance rather than a man (Jesus) inviting people into a relationship. Greg Boyd, in his book The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church, invites us to consider the following questions:

“Did Jesus ever suggest by word or example that we should aspire to acquire, let alone take over, the power of Caesar? Did Jesus spend any time and energy trying to improve, let alone dominate, the reigning government of his day? Did he ever work to pass laws against the sinners he hung out with and ministered to? Did he worry at all about ensuring that his rights and the religious rights of his followers were protected? Does any author in the New Testament remotely hint that engaging in this sort of activity has anything to do with the kingdom of God? The answer to all these questions is, of course, no.” 

Christians working en masse to try to create a "Christian Nation" though political and legal means stands in stark contrast to the way of Jesus and the way of the first three centuries of the church. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36) This doesn't mean that Jesus' kingdom doesn't impact the place we live now. Pastor Rich Villodas right points out, "When Jesus says, 'my kingdom is not of this world' he's locating the other-worldly source of it, not the other-worldly space of it. His kingdom is always for this world. And for the world to come."

For 1600 years Christians controlling the political arena was the norm. It was expected. For the last 100 years or so Christianity in the west has been losing it's grip on the places of power. Overall the response has been to fight back and try to reclaim the power positions. But the loss of power has led to many asking new questions in this "post-Christendom" age. And these are important questions.

  • If seeking control through politics and power are not the way of Jesus, but Jesus kingdom does have concern for this world, what might be a right way forward for Christians? Should we be vying for power within the political and legal arena?
  • How do followers of Jesus deal with the world and it's systems in ways that embody Jesus' "kingdom come" which we pray for?
I'm going to continue engaging these questions in next week's Covenant Weekly. But I'm not going to give specific "answers". Rather I'll provide some principles and guideposts that I hope might be of some assistance - or at least will spark some more thought and conversation on this topic!
Peace,
Jon
P.S. If you have some thoughts on some good principles to guide Christians in this regard, please don't hesitate to send them through to me. If I use something you send me, I'll let people know who it came from. If I don't, I'll still appreciate hearing from you!