Principles for Christian Political Engagementಮಾದರಿ

3- Be skeptical of parties and more convinced of the Kingdom.

In a recent podcast, Mark Sayers, a pastor and cultural commentator in Australia, said that followers of Jesus should be more skeptical of political parties and more convinced of the kingdom of God. I tend to agree with Sayers, in that our primary allegiance and identity cannot be to a political party, but should be to the kingdom of God.

Our worldviews are formed by the stories we believe, the information we hear, and the things we digest. As Christians, we must be formed by scripture more than the news outlets. This means if we are attending church once a week, but watching your news outlet of choice seven days a week, we are going to be formed more by the news anchor than God’s truth. If we are spending thirty minutes in the Bible each morning, but then digesting political content on podcasts, radio, blogs, or articles for many hours each day, we are likely going to be formed more by politics than the word of God. I am by no means saying to read your Bible 24 hours a day or to hide from current events, but I would recommend thinking deeply about how you’re being formed by what you are digesting.

Throughout the Old Testament, every time the people of God put their hope in a king other than God, things went poorly. Throughout church history, every time Christians have become overly aligned with political leaders, things have also gone poorly. Is your hope in an earthly king and political party or the King of kings and his eternal kingdom?

I love the country I live in, and we should pray for it and its leaders, but America is not the church, and the church is not America. Even if we believe American freedom was shaped by the Bible, America is not the New Testament version of Israel. The people of God are those who are called by His name. We are exiles and strangers, no matter our political alignment, because our allegiance is to the King and His kingdom. Only in Jesus do we find a home and a hope.

We find ourselves in a crucial cultural moment in redemptive history. The people of God are called to be faithful witnesses who live, speak, and act in ways that reflect the reality of Jesus and His kingdom. With many swirling questions of how we should engage politically, a few things are certain.

We must live out the way of Jesus in a compelling way, with love and gentleness. We do speak truth, but we do it in a way that is in line with Jesus, rather than the age of outrage and slander that is the cultural air we breathe. We must also be careful to not bear false witness with our words and actions. We check our sources and think deeply before posting theories that may or may not be true. We think through the lens of bearing faithful witness. And lastly, we are humbly skeptical of political parties and leaders, and instead, align ourselves with Jesus and the kingdom of God.