For those of you who know me well, you know that my passion is for people of faith to get involved in the political process. I believe strongly that we are called in no uncertain terms to be involved in our government and work to influence policy, since we have the incredible and rare opportunity to do so in our nation.
However, I also believe very strongly that as Christians, in most cases we cannot claim that the Bible designates any one political agenda or policy as "the only biblical position." This is where Christians have historically gotten into so much trouble, by citing only the Bible in their arguments for or against a particular policy, rather than presenting other facts and hard evidence to support their positions.
This is not to say that the Bible is wrong or incomplete (far from it). Just that in a secular world, trying to defend policy using only the Bible has been, and will continue to be, an ineffective tactic in our quest to restore justice and righteousness in our nation and the world through public policy.
I have seen this truth played out over and over again since I first became involved in politics, but nowhere has it proven true more often than in Washington, DC.
Washington is a unique place. Never have I met so many passionate people so committed to a cause or movement than in Washington, DC—the seat of power for the entire Free World. The power is almost palpable as you walk through the halls of Congress or down K Street, where the highest paid lobbyists in the world dedicate their entire lives to affecting policy in ways that benefit their clients. Here, there is no room for canned answers or religious rhetoric. You are competing against some of the most brilliant minds in the entire world—economists, social theorists, military strategists, doctors, lawyers, scholars…people who live and breathe a single issue for their whole lives—for the loyalty of a policy maker on any given issue.
What do you say?
"Because the Bible says so" just doesn't cut it in this world. It may be that the Bible does "say so," which it often does. But the Bible is often silent or at best vague on many issues. And even when it's not, and even if they believe in the same God and Bible you do, they must answer to thousands—sometimes millions—of constituents for every decision they make. And to do that, they must be able to point to more than just scripture to back up their position—as must you.
The following is an excerpt from one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. I developed my political philosophy after reading almost anything I could get my hands on about how faith intersects with public life and policy. This book most clearly articulates what I believe we are called to as Christians engaged in policy-making, based on Scripture and biblical principles. I highly recommend it as a starting point for understanding our role in the God-ordained institution of Government.
(From Beyond Good Intentions by Doug Bandow)
As Christians, we have an obligation to care for those around us. We are to reflect God's love as we interact with the world, to be the salt of the earth. And that seasoning role extends to the realm of politics and government.
Indeed, the state is a divinely ordained institution, "God's servant to do you good," wrote Paul (Romans 13:4). Believers obviously have a critical role in ensuring that government fulfills its proper duties.
But doing good deeds, both in and out of government—in effect, implementing the liberal Protestant "social gospel"—is not the same as living the gospel of Christ. Works are important; James wrote that without them our faith is dead. But Paul reminded the Colossian church that it members were to set their "minds on things above, not on earthly things" (Colossians 3:2). Faith in the living Christ, the Son of God, is necessary to be a Christian, at least in a Biblical rather than a cultural sense. The Jewish people, for example, heard God's message, but it "was of no value to them because those who heard did not combine it with faith" (Hebrews 4:2). Indeed, the Jewish nation failed because it "pursued a law of righteousness… not by faith but as if it were by works." We can obtain righteousness, explained Paul, only "by faith" (Romans 9:31, 32, 30).
Indeed, Christians should have no illusions that the state can build an earthly utopia, rescuing man from his fallen condition. For it is Christ, not government, that saves: "I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand," he told the crowd (John 10:28). And how does one gain eternal life? Jesus explained, "Whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life" (John 5:24). In short a believer's most important responsibilities are spiritual: "our citizenship is in heaven," wrote Paul (Philippians 3:20).
The fact that our worldly civic responsibilities are secondary does not, however, mean that they are unimportant. One need only look at the horrors unleashed by atheist totalitarian states—Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union, Mao's China, Pol Pot's Kampuchea, Mengistu's Ethiopia, to name just a few—to see the important of Judeo-Christian values undergirding the political system. Even in our own nation we are seeing a serious deterioration in moral standards: families are breaking down, 1.5 million abortions are performed annually, the political system increasingly promotes envy rather than justice, and so on.<>
Believers can play a critical role by acting as the polity's conscience, calling it to account for violations of God's Law. We should not be disinterested in more mundane policy disputes, whether foreign treaties or budget matters; indeed, some of us make a living analyzing and writing about just such issues. But a Christian's most important duty is to uphold broad Scriptural standards, not to devise detailed legislative programs. For the Bible provides Christians with a general perspective rather than a specific agenda. God's message is uniquely one of justice and righteousness, not the minimum wage, federal job training programs, aid to the contras, and unilateral nuclear disarmament. Scripture can help lead us to policy positions on a number of issues, such as abortion, but God has anointed no political philosophy as His own.
Moreover, good intentions are not enough. Christians not only must have pure and loving hearts that reach out to their neighbors, but also the wisdom to develop policies that actually achieve their desired ends. "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food," wrote James. "If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" (James 2:15, 16). In the same way, believers who declare their support for worthy ends but then back ineffective—or even counterproductive—means do little more than salve their consciences.
This sort of ill-considered activism does more than embarrass the individual cleric or denomination; it trivializes the transcendent message of the gospel. Observes Charles Colson, former Nixon aide turned Christian worker: "One of the greatest" pitfalls of religious political activism "is the tendency Christians have to believe that because the Bible is 'on their side' they can speak with authority on every issue. Many church bureaucracies have succumbed to this temptation in recent decades, spewing out position papers on everything from public toilet facilities to nuclear war. The New Right has engaged in such excesses with its scorecards covering the gamut of issues from trade legislation to the Panama Canal. When Christians use the broad brush, they become simply another political interest group, pontificating on matters about which they are often woefully uninformed."
Even where believers understand the Bible correctly, they too often pass over the question of whether Biblical principles are to be enforced by civil authorities. We are to help the needy, but Scripture does not direct us to seize the resources of nonbelievers to redistribute to the poor. Mosaic Israel executed adulterers, but we have passed from the original covenant between God and the state of Israel to the New Covenant between God and the Body of Christ. The moral standards, advanced by Christian political activists remain unchanged, but their implications for policy in a secular state dominated by unbelievers may be very different than they were several thousand years ago.
Not that most Christians on both the right and the left do not genuinely believe they are doing the Lord's work. And in some ways they clearly are. The Moral Majority, for instance, rightly takes a stand on declining moral standards; the evangelical left correctly challenges a consumerist society in which a dependent underclass wallows in poverty and hopelessness. The Catholic bishops properly bring to the foreign policy debate a concern for justice. But implementing such Biblical principles requires us to apply reason without revelation, to look at impact as well as intent. As a result, on many issues there simply is no single "Christian" position. And believers should stop acting as if there is.
What I hope to do in this book is sketch out a Biblical view of politics that eclipses any particular secular ideology. I begin with an overview of the relationship of religion and politics, and then move on to summarize some of the major problems faced by our nation, as well as the inability of any existing human philosophy to rescue us.
The core of a Christian's perspective on public policy must be his understanding of God's purpose for government, which I discuss next. In understanding the state's role, however, it is important to remember that God's transcendent goal is spiritual; politics is not everything, an issue I cover in the succeeding chapter, followed by a review of the different theological positions on church/state relations over the years. Then come the application chapters—a general review of principles Christians should use to evaluate proposed policies, followed by two chapters reviewing specific issues—and a concluding wrap-up.
The object of this book is not to conjure up the one, true, Biblical legislative agenda which all Christians should rally around. Nor do I intend to suggest that believers who disagree with me are less spiritual or devout than I am. To the contrary, I am impressed with—indeed, profoundly challenged by—many of my brothers and sisters in Christ who possess far different ideological perspectives but who have dedicated their lives to doing God's work and have sacrificed far more than I have. Instead, I hope to challenge believers to, first, recognize that there are no easy solutions to many of today's problems, and, second, to use their God-given wisdom to thoughtfully work through the difficult issues that face all of us.
"In this world you will have trouble," Christ counseled us. And that warning applies to our participation in politics no less than any other human activity. But Christians, no matter what their philosophical differences, know that there is an answer: "take heart! I have overcome the world," said Jesus (John 16:33). In the end we must look to Christ, not government, not human wisdom, not anything or anyone else, for the fulfillment of God's Kingdom.
