Long ago, when I was a student at the University of California, a pamphlet fell into my hands with the title, "Jesus, the Rebel Worker Leader." I was shocked. This reduced Jesus, who was God manifest in the flesh and the Savior of men, to a huckster of radical social programs. I knew that the gospel had implications for society, but I was completely turned off by this distorted portrait of Jesus. What Jesus said certainly bore on politics, but by no means was he a political activist.

At that time I had no idea how much times would change and how many people would come to view Jesus and his gospel as political. Some of them would use the name of Jesus to promote radical, socialistic ideas. Some who did not class themselves as political radicals would come to say nevertheless that the gospel is politics. In a time filled with slogans and programs of a political gospel, the Christian must be alert to the issues and find his way in the light of Bible truth. Should one stop resisting and go along? Or, should one react by saying that Christians should have nothing to do with politics?

Can a Christian understand that the gospel has implications for society and politics without falling into a political gospel? There are three good reasons for answering affirmatively.

• First, Christ is king over all things, and that means he is also king over society and its politics.

• Second, that we act in the name of Christ does not mean of itself that we are acting politically.

• Third, although our concern for those around us should be expressed in a vigorous effort to bring them into Christ's church, we cannot limit our activities as Christians to the church as an institution. We should attempt to bring Bible truth to bear on all of life.

A Christian has Christ in his or her heart. And that personal experience of communion with God through Christ is very important. Nevertheless, if our Christian experience is not to be warped we must look away from ourselves to the big picture – to what God is doing on a grand scale in his kingdom. The Bible tells us that Christ was with the Father from the very beginning. He was active with the Father in creation. It tells us that all things hold together in Christ. It tells us that in his death and resurrection Christ conquered all of the powers of this world and that he is the ruler over all things. In one way or another all things carry out his purposes of salvation and contribute toward his kingdom. If we say that Christ is Lord over all things, can we limit our vision to our own personal lives, important as they are?

In looking beyond, however, we must avoid confusing the gospel with politics. The idea that the gospel is politics means that in responding to Christ and proclaiming his gospel we perform a political act. But this idea narrows what it means to respond to Christ, and it results in a distortion of the gospel. What we do politically is only part of what we do in our lives. We can indeed say that the gospel bears on politics; but by no means can we say that the gospel itself is politics.

When the gospel speaks to me, it speaks to my heart. This means that it speaks to me in the most intimate and personal way. But this also means that it speaks to me in my entire person. How I respond will affect my life throughout. The same Lord who has spoken to me through his Word in my heart is also the one who has declared that he is Lord over all of life. This means that to go to church on Sunday I should bring this Lordship to expression, but it also means that I should bring it to expression wherever I am and whatever I do, not only in the church but also in the marketplace and voting booth.

The Bible tells us how important our individual experience with Christ is. But it also tells us that we must love our neighbor as ourselves. The apostle Paul emphasized the new life that we have in Christ. He tirelessly went about preaching the gospel. But he also responded to the claims on his life of those around him. He said, for instance, that he had not ignored the needs of the poor. When he went to Jerusalem for the last time during his ministry it was to deliver an offering that had been taken in the churches for the poor saints there. This is all kingdom work. And in our modern, complicated society we need to ask how we can serve today, even in ways that were not known to the early church. Christians are rightly active in the church, but they are also involved, e. g., in education, politics, and the arts. They need to be active in dealing with the problems of abortion and drug abuse.

There was a time when, out of fear of compromising the gospel, evangelical Christians withdrew almost entirely from the social and political arena. Now many are coming on strong with a political agenda. Especially in the present circumstances, when the political gospel is as prevalent as the social gospel was years ago, we should take care. We should protect the church and see to it that it preaches the gospel in its purity and power. But we should not ignore groups which are earnestly seeking to serve Christ outside of the institutional church, such as the Christian school movement, the Christian Action Council, and the Association for Public Justice. We should also be ready to form other groups where needed. We may not go either the way of withdrawal or of abject capitulation. The only way is to bring biblical truth to bear on all of life.