A guy from my former church, who is one of the higher ups in the church, and occasionally preaches, posted this stupidity on Facebook:
What I keep coming back to is the life of Jesus. Where is the biblical case for Christians being involved in political activism? When do we ever see Jesus involving himself in the politics of his day? Jesus and his disciples lived in tumultuous times too… the Romans completely razed large sections of Israel and killed hundreds of thousands just a few years after Jesus’ resurrection and during the early formation of the Church. But what was Jesus’ response to Pilate when asked if he was a king? “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.'” That seems pretty cut and dry to me. As followers of Christ our hope is in the resurrection and the kingdom to come.
It’s as if he never read a page in the New Testament. I will correct these common arguments, and answer his questions that young Christians ought to be able to answer, much less those who have had formal Bible training.
“Where is the biblical case for Christians being involved in political activism?”
Has this guy ever heard of the Great Commission? We are to make disciples of the nations, and teach them (the nations) to obey everything Christ commanded. That is done partially, by proclaiming the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to individuals. But, it’s not just individuals who are to obey all of Christ’s commands, but all of the nations.
One of Christ’s commands is, “You shall not steal.” This precludes socialism and our current fiat currency/Federal Reserve system and 95% of all government activities. Governments don’t get to steal anymore than individuals.
Another command is, “You shall not murder.” Do you think this might have implications for abortion laws and defense policy? You bet your sweet bippy.
I don’t think every single Christian has to be involved in political activism if you define it as campaigning for a candidate or cause. But, we should all work towards expanding the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God doesn’t spread by voting or campaigning, necessarily, but working to expand the Kingdom of God is political activism.
What is God’s Kingdom? It is every area of life that has been brought under the healing power of the gospel. The purpose of the gospel is to bring that healing by putting everything under the lordship of Christ.
Furthermore we are all to aspire to maturity, which means knowing God’s Word and knowing how to judge righteously (1 Corinthians 2:15). The Bible talks often of politics so where it speaks on politics, we should know what it says, and be ready to apply it in the real world.
To sum it up, Bojidar Marinov says this, “Behind every case of injustice, there is a case of idolatry. And where there is systemic injustice in a system, this is only because there is systemic idolatry embedded in that system. And if the church is not speaking against injustice, then the church is not speaking against idolatry, and therefore the church is not preaching the Gospel.”
So yes, the Bible teaches us to be politically active.
The next question is:
“When do we ever see Jesus involving himself in the politics of his day?”
The Bible reaffirms the Old Testament teaching on proper government in Romans 13. It says the only purpose of government is to be God’s servant to carry out God’s wrath on the evildoer (verses 3-4). God’s Word applies to all areas of life and magistrates are explicitly supposed to be servants of God and seeking His will in their work. The government of the Old Testament was strictly judicial, and so is the proper government described in Romans 13.
Jesus spoke on the proper punishment for rebellious sons (Mark 7:1-13). He reaffirmed Old Testament jurisprudence when He disqualified the witnesses against the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53-8:11). He called Herod a fox (Luke 13:32). And there are many other examples.
If Joe Biden were to be truly born again and seek to serve Christ through his daily work, would that affect his policies? I think we would all agree that there are differences between how Christians ought to behave in office and how an unbeliever typically behaves. That is because Scripture has a standard to hold leaders to, it defines who a leader is and what is required of someone who thinks of themselves as a leader.
Here is Justin’s next argument referencing John 18:33-40):
“Jesus and his disciples lived in tumultuous times too… the Romans completely razed large sections of Israel and killed hundreds of thousands just a few years after Jesus’ resurrection and during the early formation of the Church. But what was Jesus’ response to Pilate when asked if he was a king? “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.'” That seems pretty cut and dry to me.”
What did Jesus mean when He said His kingdom is not of this world? He was explaining to Pilate how He could be a king while being in a serious legal predicament, apparently not having an army to defend Him. What Pilate didn’t understand is that Jesus wasn’t a believer in the power religion (the worship of power) like Pilate. Jesus taught the opposite of power religion: that the greatest leaders are humble servants, and victory doesn’t come through power, but through service and the power of God; the last will be first and the first will be last. Jesus was saying that the source of His authority didn’t come from earthly armies, not that the Kingdom of God isn’t on earth.
At this point, we go back to the Great Commission to see that all authority in heaven and on earth have been given to Christ. The disciples, and Christians to this day are to continue to make disciples of the nations and teach them to obey all the commands of Christ.
Christianity provides a complete worldview. The Bible is profitable for correction on every topic. Of course, we should be involved in politics. Unfortunately, I believe that we will suffer consequences for selling out for Donald Trump. And our strategy shouldn’t be so hyper focused on presidential politics anyway. But stupidity like this person who is supposed to know the Bible is going to cause huge problems as well.
