Of course. Who could say anything different? Many do. Just a few days ago I posted a piece arguing that the United States government had no jurisdiction over the horror taking place in Ukraine. I can already anticipate that while many will insist my take is wrong, a few will insist that I shouldn’t have a take at all, that I have veered away from my calling in even posting such a piece. Christians, some argue, should steer clear of political issues.
If that’s you, may I ask a few questions? Does the Bible speak to political issues? Does it speak to the proper role and limits of government? Finally, did Jesus command us to disciple the nations, teaching them to obey whatsoever He commanded? That, I trust, should settle the matter.
I understand that some who believe Christians should be involved in political issues may push the envelope on those matters we should consider to be things the Bible speaks of. While I may prefer the roughed grouse to the cardinal as the state bird, I can’t imagine trying to enlist the Bible on my side, thundering from the pulpit against the evil cardinal party. Push back against that kind of political activism all you like. I’d be right with you. To reject this, however, isn’t to reject Christians’ involvement in politics. It is to reject Christians’ involvement in petty squabbles.
The killing of the unborn is and is not a “political issue.” It is not in that whether it is legal or not, such a deed is perverse and evil. It is in that it is the biblical responsibility of the state to protect the innocent from those that would seek to harm them. It is in that the law impacts the behavior. The Christian should most assuredly be involved in this issue.
What about propagating the Christian faith in the state school systems? Outside of politics it is a wonderful thing to propagate the Christian faith, part and parcel of the same Great Commission we are considering. The state schools, however, are not outside of politics. They are run by the state, financed by taxes taken from Christians and non-Christians alike. The Christian’s involvement politically here would be to actually fight against propagating the Christian faith in government schools, in submission to the Bible’s command to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Of course, the same issue applies in reverse. Christians should oppose the propagation of Islam, eastern religion, atheism or any other religion in the state schools, for the same reason. Which means we should be calling for the separation of school and state.
It is a mistake to see everything as political. It is equally a mistake to see nothing as political. It likewise a mistake to see anything as outside the reign of Jesus Christ. Jesus changes everything, because He reigns over all things. As Abraham Kuyper wisely said, “There is not one square inch in all of reality over which Jesus does not cry out, ‘MINE!’” Our calling is to make visible His reign, to labor that He would fulfill the promise of Psalm 2, that every knee, of every President, Potentate, Plutocrat and Prime Minister would bow and all tongues confess that He is Lord.