Its Political

There is no question that we are currently in the midst of incredible political polarity. It seems like everything is political and every issue has a line that is a mile wide separating the sides. Judging by the political commentary, from national news to Facebook posts, there is a practical belief that the loudest, most persistent (and obnoxious), voice will win the argument of the day. We proclaim our “rightness” with name-calling, finger-pointing, and mockery of the “other side” and with every comment, we expand the division created by the mile-wide line. The defense of our position and our passionate insistence that we are “right” (or “on the right side of history”) alienates everyone who disagrees with us. In addition to being political, everything, it seems, is personal.

And that’s just in the church.

We can all feel it and most of us feel helpless to repair it. We long for unity but the polarity in and between congregations is leaving us fractured. We are feeling desperate for solutions, but our overwhelming cynicism is leaving us with little hope that things will get better anytime soon.

It is within this context that some Christians felt compelled to share the article, “America’s Divide has Invaded the Church. How Will We Stop It?” by Jack Wilkie. Several friends hailed this as great wisdom and encouraged others to embrace its message. While I appreciate the author’s intent and his sincere desire to bring healing to the church, I found his solution troubling, as well as the premises that his conclusions were based on.

Take for instance his statement, “Notice how little socio-political commentary the New Testament offers, despite dealing with a political system that affected the church greatly.” He reaches that conclusion because, “the emperors are hardly named, and almost not discussed at all.” But 1st century Christians would have seen political subversion interwoven throughout the New Testament, especially in the gospels. The commentary may not have been explicit, but the political implications were clear. Every time a Christian proclaimed Jesus to be Lord, they were saying that Caesar was not. When they called Jesus their savior, they made a statement that Caesar had failed to save them. When they spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God, they were blatantly declaring that they belonged to a kingdom greater than Rome. The language of the early Christians proclaimed allegiance to Jesus alone. Like it or not, such allegiance was political anarchy in the Roman Empire. When you understand that the language of the Christians declared new meaning for the language of Rome, you see that the New Testament is filled with socio-political commentary.

Wilkie’s solution, then, is based on a premise that the New Testament church was basically apolitical, which, I believe is an inaccurate starting point. In fact, why would the early church be persecuted if it was not engaged in subversive political activity? I think it could be argued that the socio-political commentary of the early church was not explicit (John the Baptist didn’t lose his head over preaching the gospel, he lost it because he had the nerve to call out the sin of Herod), but I do believe there is a sort of passive-aggressive, subversive political activity that is clear, not only in the early church but also in the teachings of Jesus. So, what is Wilkie’s solution?

“For the time being, I believe this means it’s time for us as Christians to disconnect from the political. I don’t mean to say the Christian can’t vote, but our everyday advocacy is contributing to a split that we simply cannot let happen. It’s my contention that the political climate has become so toxic and controversial that a Christian cannot vocally participate without driving a wedge between them and their fellow man.” Instead, Wilkie advocates that the church should redevelop a sense of mission – serving others, proclaiming the gospel, and discipling Christians. I heartily agree with this last part of his statement. The church needs to regain its vision. I disagree, however, that socio-political commentary can be disentangled from the mission of the church.

In Luke, as Jesus begins his ministry, we are told that Jesus went into the synagogue and was given a scroll from the prophet Isaiah to read.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and the regaining of sight to the blind,

to set free those who are oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

In dramatic fashion, Luke tells us what Jesus did when he finished reading. “Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to tell them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled even as you heard it being read.’” (Luke 4:18-21, NET)

This was not just a “feel-good” proclamation by Jesus. Those listening would have understood that there were political overtones to that passage. You can’t free captives in the Roman Empire without getting political. The oppressed and the poor were victims of the tyranny of the empire and those who chose to look the other way shared in the guilt. Poverty and oppression always have elements of the political. Jesus came to turn things upside down (including tables), not to passively retreat for the sake of peace.

The message of the gospel is not, in itself, a political message, but it impacts every aspect of our lives, including the political. It is impossible to live out the gospel without running headlong into government, socio-political systems, legal injustice, or corruption of power. The mission of the church is not overtly political, but if the church carries out its mission it will collide with politics. The real problem is that we have been seduced into seeing political solutions as primary. If we have the right president, or appoint the right judges, or include God in the Pledge of Allegiance (does that strike anyone else as odd – shouldn’t God be the focus of our allegiance, not just an inclusive phrase), or pass the right laws, then everything will be set right. The church has expended so much energy pursuing political solutions we have lost sight of Godly solutions – that WE are the solution.

Throughout the last 2,000 years, things are made right, from a kingdom perspective, when the church acts like the church, circumventing the power of the government, not as a goal in itself, but because that is the natural result when people march as citizens of the Kingdom of God rather than as citizens of the state. That doesn’t mean that political forces will succumb to the power of the church, it means the church diminishes the systemic power to shine a light on God’s kingdom in a way that transforms the hardest of hearts and disrupts earthly power. When we live out the gospel, we allow God’s power, God’s wisdom, and God’s ways of doing things to rule the day. We place our trust in God, not politicians, not laws, not courts, not votes.

As palatable as it seems to withdraw from socio-political commentary, I would instead advocate that we simply change our focus. Rather than depending on justice from the government, let’s first do everything in our power as the church, to be examples of justice. Let us go above and beyond what is expected and show our willingness to sacrifice our resources - our time, our energy, our power, and our money – for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let’s stop making politics our primary weapon in a spiritual battle and start using spiritual weapons. Let’s remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood and that we are called to love our enemies, not hurl insults at them. Let’s hold ourselves to a higher standard of respect, dignity, compassion, patience, kindness, mercy, justice, and love, first, before we expect more from our political and governmental systems. Let’s not relinquish our responsibility to the state, let’s embrace our calling to care for the poor and the oppressed. Let’s worry less about national borders and more about the boundlessness of God’s kingdom. Let’s worry first and foremost about being the church and let the political consequences fall where they may. Let us “live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”