Should Christians be Involved in
Politics?
By Stephen M. Golden
Copyright © March 11, 2012
Recently (at the time of this writing), I've been hearing
Christian brothers and sisters saying things like "It's not a
responsibility of Christians to be involved in politics,” “Scriptures do not
indicate Christians should be involved in politics," and "I think
Christians should be about spreading the Gospel instead of being involved in
politics."
But can a case be made for Christians to be involved
in politics? I think so. Jesus said we are to render to Caesar what is
Caesar's.
Matthew 22:21b
Then he said to
them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what
is God's.”
(also Mark 12:17 and Luke 20:25)
In addition to saying people ought to pay taxes if
taxes are due, as well as contribute to Godly work, Jesus is saying, that in as
much as it is consistent with God's law, be
good citizens. In our country,
giving to Caesar does not stop at paying taxes.
It means we are to do what good citizens are expected to do so we may be
above reproach.
Romans 13:1-7
13:1 Everyone
must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority
except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been
established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is
rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring
judgment on themselves. For rulers hold
no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be
free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will
commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong,
be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an
agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is
necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment
but also because of conscience.
This is also why you pay taxes, for the
authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.
Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue,
then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
Again, the underlying theme is to be good citizens
in whatever country you reside. In
Jesus' time, there was no country in which the people were the government. It was
outside of the experience of the people of the time to have the level of
government involvement we have available to us today. For that reason, it is unrealistic for us to
expect Jesus to have said, "Get involved in Government. Promote Godly causes throughout your
community, city, state, and the nation."
However, to be a good citizen in the United States,
you must be somewhat involved in politics.
For Christians, this means you should at least understand the issues
well enough to promote Godly action in accordance with morality and
righteousness, and at a minimum, vote in every election. There is sufficient scriptural justification
to expect Christians to get involved in politics in the United States.
The Scripture says we are to submit to the governing
authorities. But we are a government “of the people, by the people, and for the
people.”[1] We are responsible for electing our governing
representatives. We choose who will
represent us; we vote them in and out of office; they are our servants. They are not
our “leaders.” A representative might be
a “leader,” but he is elected as a representative.
If we aren't active in the process of choosing Godly people into these
positions based on their stand on Godly principles, we are not performing our
scriptural duty; it cannot possibly be pleasing to God. We must therefore be aware, understand the
issues of the day, and what the candidates believe about these issues in order to elect Godly people. We should also explain to others why they
should vote in ways that are pleasing to God.
This can go hand-in-hand with spreading the
Gospel.
To my knowledge, the
In fact, shortly after it was established, our
government was called “The Great Experiment” by foreign statesmen. Other governments exist today which have
adopted some of the principles on which the United States were founded, but
only the government of the United States was founded under the principle that
our rights are God-given[2]
and not government given. Our rights are
therefore inalienable. In addition, we
choose our leaders from among ourselves.
We give them their authority.
Therefore, any scripture that mentions the
government covers us on both ends, as being under the authority of the
government and being the government. Any
scripture text that mentions the government is talking about us. If we are the government, do you not think
God has placed us in that position? (Romans 13:1-7) Do you not think it is our obligation to do
God’s will as the “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”[3]
and to govern to the best of our ability?
As a result, Christians in the U.S have an
additional burden—a responsibility—not placed on Christians in other countries. The fact that we have let the ungodly take so
much of our national Godly heritage away is lamentable.
John Adams said, "We have no government armed
in power capable of contending in human passions unbridled by morality and
religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It
is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."
He's saying that our government is only possible if
people are led by Godly morals. It's no
wonder many politicians today are trying to remove the Constitution as our
source of government. The farther we go
from Godliness, the less likely it is our form of government will survive. Nevertheless, implicit in Mr. Adams' statement
is the requirement that moral and religious people be involved in the
government.
Matthew 5:13-16
“You are the salt
of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
“You are the light
of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp
and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its
stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your
light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your
Father in heaven.
Part of letting our light shine is being Godly
people involved in our government.
"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do
nothing."[4]
Peter tells us
1 Peter
2:13-14
Submit yourselves
for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the
king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish
those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
Even this passage can be viewed as relevant to the
subject. We will be commended for doing
right. Being a good citizen is doing
right. It is part of our civic
duty. Also, what I said previously about
electing our governing authorities and selecting Godly people applies here as
well.
There are many responsibilities for a citizen. One is to defend the Constitution and the
laws of the
So, while there are no scriptures that say,
"Brethren, be involved in politics and do your best to insert Godly
principles into the resolution of social issues of the day," the
scriptures God has given us should be
sufficient to compel us to be active in the decisions being made by our
government in order to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world in
these United States of America.
[1] Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
[2] Agnostics and Atheists of the day described our rights as “natural rights,” or rights we have simply because we are living autonomous humans in order to remove the requirement of God.
[3] Abraham Lincoln,
[4] Often attributed to Edmund Burke