Political Action

or Christianity and Politics

Many of the things that Christians debate are things that don't make a huge impact on society. However, the question of whether or not to get involved in politics as Christians can make a huge impact. There are Christians who say that religion and politics should never mix, and there are Christians who take political action so far that their faith gets lost in the political struggle. Somewhere in the middle are such famous figures as William Wilberforce and Martin Luther King, whose faith drove them to take political action that massively changed society. Of course, in today's world there are a host of political causes on which some Christians want to take action. As Christians we need to decide whether and when political action is appropriate.

Should we ever take political action?

There is a school of thought that Christians should stay out of politics altogether. These Christians, correctly, point out that the primary purpose of the Church is to serve as a community that worships God and brings people to know Him. They will probably acknowledge the Bible's teaching about helping the poor, but will see political action to help the poor as a dangerous diversion from the task of building the Church. They will also point out that the New Testament stays well away from political issues. Jesus refused to comment on the major political issue of the time and place in which He lived - the Roman occupation of Judea. The New Testament's teaching about government is to respect and obey the leaders God has put in place to rule the nation(s) in which you live. This school of thought dismisses political statements in the Old Testament on the grounds that the people of Israel was a nation, and that the politics of a nation devoted to God do not mean that Christians should seek to promote Christian values in the political sphere. Any political change in the nations in which we live would be a side-effect of people being saved and added to the Church rather than the result of deliberate action on the part of the Church or of individual Christians.

Of course, many Christians dismiss this view. The Bible has a lot to say about some political issues. The Old Testament prophets condemned the secular rulers of other nations as well as the rulers of the Israelites. Jesus may have steered clear of many political issues, but he still upset the political apple cart of his era. Many argue that, in our modern democracies, it is sinful to not take a stand against "institutional sin" or "structural sin" - wrong things that are embedded in our laws or the way our society works. There is also the argument from compassion. If we truly love those poor people who we care for, then how can we not take political action to eliminate some of the things that cause their poverty?

When should we take political action?

For those of us who accept that political action is a valid part of expressing our faith, there is a very big question over precisely what political action we should be taking. If we take action on every single issue, then we will not have the time or energy to build the Church. There are, of course, many many issues on which Christians want to take action. There are pro-life activists, anti-poverty campaigners, Christian environmentalists, anti-war activists, and even anti-homosexual activists. Methods of action range from petitions, through sending letters to elected representatives, to political demonstrations, and even "direct action". So it is a crucial question as to just when and how should Christians take political action?

As a result of Social Action?

All Christians would agree that ministry to the poor is part of what the Church is called to do, even if their actions don't always back up this opinion, and sometimes this kind of ministry naturally leads to political action. For example, if your Church runs a ministry to help drug addicts, and you discover as part of that ministry that a particular government policy is either helping to drive people towards drugs or making it more difficult to get them off drugs, what should you do about it? If we truly love the poor, disadvantaged, and needy people that we minister to, then taking political action on such issues is a no-brainer. If we are able to help them further by entering the political arena, then our love for those we serve should compel us to do so. And, of course, speaking as people who are working with those who are suffering from whatever it is we are trying to change means that we will speak with a certain amount of authority.

To correct grave injustices?

When William Wilberforce took up the cause of abolishing the Slave Trade (and, later, abolishing slavery itsself), he did so not as a result of a pre-existing ministry to slaves, but because he saw the slave trade as an abomination to God. Sometimes there is a political issue so large, where the moral case is so obviously black and white, that Christians should take political action to correct it. Many Christians believe that the issues of "Third World Debt" and the way that the global trade system is rigged against poor countries are the modern world's equivalent of the slavery of the 18th and 19th centuries.

To encourage society to be moral?

This is the one motivation where the case for political action is not so clear-cut. There are many Christians both past and present who want to see the law enforcing Christian morality. Of course, if the current law penalises moral behaviour (e.g. tax laws that unfairly penalise married couples), then the case for political action is fairly obvious - though it is probably not as much of a moral imperative as in the previous two cases. However, laws that attempt to enforce Christian moral standards on a non-Christian or Semi-Christian society are much less justifiable in theological terms.

The Bible is very clear that morality is as much about what happens in the heart as what we actually do, Matthew 5 is a prime example of this. Laws to enforce morality on an immoral nation are no substitute for spreading the gospel - though many have attempted them. Ultimately, the only thing that will change the society is the gospel. Abolition in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s did not stop drinking, but merely drove it underground.

In addition to this, the Bible does not portray the Church as being a political organisation. Although the message of the gospel itself is subversive, there is not even a hint that Jesus or the Apostles taught that Christians should attempt to convince secular rulers to pass laws to enforce morality. Engaging in such action could also prove to be a distraction from our main task of building the Church.

Of course, the situtation would be different if you lived in a country where the vast majority of the population were genuinely Christians. Laws to enforce morality and "family values" would not be controversial, although they be unlikely to be necessary.

In short, I am not convinced that this is a useful avenue to go down unless a particular law is directly hindering genuine Christian ministry or directly penalising those who choose to live in a moral way.

The dangers of politics

It has been said that "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Although the Bible does not talk about the dangers of political action, church history speaks volumes. There have been numerous occasions throughout church history when various church organisations have played a very influential political role. And when Churches have been strongly associated with the system of government, their influence has often proven to be tyrannical, rather than godly. The most obvious example is the Roman Catholic Church as it was in the middle ages (although there are many, many other examples from a wide range of denominations). The crusades - ostensibly attempts to advance Christianity by force rather than by the means that God set out, and the Inquisition, which used torture and repression to ensure that the population stayed in line with official doctrine are well known. Less well publicised is how the political status of the Church in that era and links between the government and the church led to power-hungry and corrupt people entering many positions of authority within the Church, and may have corrupted some Church leaders who would otherwise have been godly.

Such things can, of course, happen without political action, but too close an association between the Church and political power makes these dangers much greater. This is particularly the case if you are seeking to impose morality by political means - as you are effectively aiming to become the political establishment in this case. When fighting on behalf of the poor or to eliminate injustice, you are setting yourself up as the underdog in the world's eyes, and will be less likely to attract the power-hungry.