As a Christian, I’ve never been very politically active, apart from signing the occasional petition and usually voting, although I’m ashamed to admit to doing only the most cursory investigation of the candidates before any election.
That changed recently with the Covid tyranny here in Canada, as in much of the “developed” world. Horrified by vaccine mandates and genuinely frightened of where this path might lead, I jumped into political involvement such as protests, calls and emails to political representatives at all levels of government, meetings with freedom groups, etc.
But what is a Christian’s role when it comes to political activism? Should we be involved in politics, and if so, to what extent?
As with any issue, there are polarized views, ranging from the idea that Christians shouldn’t be involved politically at all, to advocating for a form of theocracy in which Christians take over government and rule according to biblical principles.
My personal opinion is that there is a balance to be struck. I’m by no means an expert, nor have studied this issue extensively, but here’s where I’ve landed personally based on what I think the Bible has to say about this issue.
Yes, Christians should be politically involved where possible
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Jesus, Matthew 5:13-16)
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:10)
I suppose my thinking on this is very simple: Jesus calls us to do good, whenever we are able. Political action is simply one form of attempting to do good to our fellow citizens and oppose evil that harms them. So as Christians, if we have the opportunity to influence the political process in a way that aligns with God’s will for creation, we should do so.
Obviously this is not possible in all places. In the West, we still live in ostensibly democratic countries. Although there are alarming trends toward authoritarianism and totalitarianism, we still have the ability to influence political processes and outcomes, and should use them as we’re able.
This will likely look different for different people. Some may not have the time or ability to do more than vote and engage in basic political action, whereas others may feel called to run for office. Some focus on particular issues, such as abortion, children’s education, or prison reform. Martin Luther King Jr. and his fellow civil rights activists successfully fought for an issue that affected most of them personally.
A Christian’s ultimate hope must not be in politics
As much as I feel we are called as part of our general mandate to do good, to use the political process as we can, at the same time, our ultimate hope must not be in politics or anything in this temporary and fallen world. As Christians we are citizens of Christ’s kingdom first and foremost, and our primary call is to advance that kingdom by preaching the gospel and healing the sick, as Jesus did.
Jesus’ Jewish disciples were initially confused by this, thinking that he had come as a political, religious and military leader to overthrow the Romans, deliver them from oppression, and restore their earthly kingdom. They constantly misunderstood the nature of his spiritual mission, and he frequently had to correct them.
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (John 18:36)
We know from the entirety of Scripture and Jesus’ teachings that a politically Christian kingdom here on earth is not possible, nor is it part of God’s plan.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:10-13)
We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19)
Jesus warned his disciples that they would face persecution and even death at the hands of wicked rulers up until the time of his return. He never leads us to expect to be able to defeat evil and establish a righteous kingdom here on earth - that’s his job. Rather, we’re to continue doing good, spreading the gospel, and awaiting his return as we live in faithful obedience to him.
Living in balance
This balance keeps us from being overly optimistic or overly despairing about political outcomes. In terms of covid tyranny, we continually see both encouraging and discouraging developments, advances and setbacks. If we base our hope on receiving only good news, we will live in instability and despair. If we are realistic about the fact that evil will never be completely defeated here on earth, but that our hope resides in an all-powerful God who loves us and has promised us his presence with us always in this world and eternal life in the next, we can live in confidence and peace no matter what is going on around us. We can attempt to do good as far as we are able through the political process, without making it our ultimate hope. We can trust that God will ultimately bring judgement to every evildoer and establish a world where perfect righteousness reigns.
These are questions I am struggling with also . Where do I find a community that is not a slave to the rulers we have now. I left me current church. I cannot get past the fact all the churches—filled with good people and many my friends around me caved and still follow and encourage bodily oppression along with giving up our God given and constitutionally protected right to worship freely as we must. The constitution does not protect people FROM religion but protects ME from religious oppression by the government. I have been reading “The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate”. It details what we are called as Christians to do when our governments become tyrannical and rule us against Gods law. This doctrine has been in place since way before the Magna Carta. And is in the Bible. It’s really interesting and puts Gods laws in perspective with governments propensity now to take more power than they are entitled to and oppress the People. I got very active when the Iraq war began up until trump when in despair I turned everything off. In reflection now I gave away too much of my mind heart and soul to politics which took me away from God. I have known for awhile that the forces against us are powerful and I’m cynical enough now to see neither party has our interests as their main job. They are owned or deceived. Satan at the heart of everything so crazy and harmful now. God opened my eyes completely last summer. I went to my knees and He picked me up. I have had to repent. We need Lesser Magistrates. Or become them. God bless. You write very well. I’ve found many here on substack which gives me hope.
https://news.gab.com/2022/04/11/christians-must-be-crazy/
From an Orrhodox Priest. This echos your earlier post on courage. I highly recommend. It is an opinion piece but very very good.
He uses one analogy I want to summarize here in case anyone does not have the time to read the whole thing: its like we are all looking for someone to go pull the “snake out of the hole” but we won’t do it ourselves. His call to the church is: even if you don’t have the courage to stick your hand in the hole and pull the snake out, at least warn the people “hey there is a snake there”. The Church isn’t even doing that. We are “focusing on the positive”.
The following are my own words: we are praising God (good), loving one another (good), doing a wee bit for our fellow man (ouch but we’re not totally degenerate there.... more can be written on that), but totally ignoring the elephant pooping and stampeding. I’m all about praising God. But we all need to stop the rampaging elephant and all need to speak out.