Christian Politics Today - To Build and to Preserve
Christian Politics Today - To Build and to Preserve
Instead of the Revolution, the Gospel!⤒🔗
There is much that is wrong in society, both on a national as well as on an international scale. The call for renewal and improvement is everywhere – and in fact has been there for centuries.
Politics involves the organisation of society. Do Christians have a task there? Do they have a message? I am convinced that they certainly have a calling in this regard – albeit with some conditions. The position of a Christian in society is a special one. As it does more often, the Bible shows this situation in marked contrasts: Christians are living in the world, yet they are not of the world. They do not identify with all of humanity. In his first epistle, the apostle Peter also emphatically marks the position of Christians: They are sojourners and exiles on this earth (1 Peter 2:11).
This distinct position has consequences for the tasks a Christian has in this life and will determine the manner of his actions – also in the political arena. The things a Christian does or does not do will be distinguished in everything from the action of those “who are of the world." This is not some pretension, but rather an intention that should prevail in a Christian’s life and therefore equally applies to the Christian politician. Over the years, this identity has often been diminished or lost by many, especially in the political sphere.
The apostle Paul says it emphatically: “But that is not the way you learned Christ” (Ephesians 4:20). In other words, Christians have their task in this world and may not shirk anything, but perform their labour with a different sense of purpose and by using different methods. It does not matter in which period we are living. Apostasy and the ignoring of the confessions do not detract or add anything to that premise.
In Christian politics it is not man but God who is at the centre. Christian politics consists above all of service to God, the Creator of heaven and earth. We serve as stewards in building and preserving. In the performance of this duty, the Christian is of service, in the most important way, to his fellow man and thus to all of society.
Three key commands←⤒🔗
There are three commands that are central to the life of a Christian:
- to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33);
- to be Christ’s witness (Acts 1:8); and
- to be the salt of the earth (prevent spoilage; add flavour) and the light of the world (to unmask the works of darkness) (Matt. 5:13-16).
These tasks also emphatically define the task and place of a Christian in politics. Political decision-making brings order to society, in the interest of the citizen. A Christian knows that true happiness is found in serving God and his righteousness.
The ancient prophet Micah put this in writing long ago: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8). Notice especially the last part. It is a high calling to point out this way of doing what is good through politics.
This also covers the second aspect: to be my Christ’s witnesses – also in politics. Groen van Prinsterer (1801-1876), the founder of Christian party politics in the Netherlands, expressed this in clear language: “Not a statesman but a confessor of the Gospel." A Christian is not primarily politically active in order to gain power and influence, but first of all to speak on behalf of the One who sent him. In so doing, he addresses the government and the people to serve God because God is entitled to this, and he must also make it clear that God’s commandments are the best conceivable political principles for all mankind. Christian politics is therefore more than a system of thought based on Biblical principles. Christian politics is above all the proclamation of God’s claim to this world and also the call to go the way God demands of us for our own sake.
This message will certainly not be popular, but this should not prevent a Christian in politics from acting in accordance with his calling. The message of God’s Word evokes resistance and annoyance on multiple fronts, but a Christian who is active in politics has no other choice. Emphasizing the only right path as pointed out by the Bible is shown as perfectly legitimate when we look at Ecclesiastes 12:13, where we read, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man [or: ‘all mankind’]." This may sound radical, yet it is clear. God’s commandments act as guardrails along our path of life, preventing accidents arising from the pursuit of self-interest. Consequently, God’s commandments are not for death, but for life. They offer perspective. We need to propagate this with much more conviction to our society than we do currently.
Christian politics brings renewal and it is dynamic. It is not conservative or old-fashioned, but progressive in the Biblical sense, leading to the most radical turnaround in society that can be imagined.
In this society – and here we arrive at the third aspect – the Christian functions through his actions as being the salt and light of the earth. Salt prevents spoilage and adds flavour. There is a task, a duty, to resist evil, waste and decadence in word and deed. By grace and by arousing curiosity, Christians may fulfill an exemplary function and must call others to follow them – to the glory of God and for their own good. It is precisely the opposite of what we often experience: going along more or less reluctantly with the way of ‘the world’.
The work of a Christian – also in politics – must consist of spreading the light, so that evil and injustice are unmasked and denounced. This requires a radical approach that at the same time evokes a lot of resistance. Whether it is the oppression and exploitation of the poor by the rich and powerful, or fraud in terms of taxes or mismanagement of aid, or the evil of divorce – also in politics a Christian will have to call evil as sin, based on Biblical standards. Christian politics is therefore by definition a radical form of politics because things must be dealt with at the root (radix).
A person will never be able to accomplish that task in his own strength. Intelligence, knowledge, skill and resourcefulness can never be the driving force of Christian politics. Instead, the foundation is prayer, both by those who propagate Christian politics and by the people who stand behind the representative. Ora et labora confidenter. The final term is a definite part of the command: pray and work in confidence! It’s not I, but it‘s God; not I, but my Father. He will accomplish it!
Two roads←⤒🔗
On the way to a new re-created society, so longed for by mankind, we witness a choice of two roads: that of the Revolution or that of the Gospel. In fact there is only one road because that of the Revolution–the path to man’s dream city – is a dead-end-road. It’s a wayward path. One more time I will quote Groen van Prinsterer: “Over against – or rather ‘instead of’ – the Revolution, the Gospel.”
Christian politics cannot but choose the road as taught in God’s Word, with an unequivocal rejection of the path of the Revolution. The roads of the Revolution and the Gospel are not parallel lanes. They are diametrically opposed. A choice must be made. Instead of the Revolution, the Christian may also pass on his secret in politics – the Gospel – in order to thereby fulfill our mission as stewards. It is not because we borrowed the earth from our children, but because God has appointed us as viceroys in his creation. This means that we are busy in building and preserving – and thereby establishing signs of the Kingdom of God’s righteousness, which dawns at the return of Jesus Christ, the King of kings.
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