A How-To Guide for Christians to Engage with Politics

9 min readApr 13, 2020

At a very young age I took a liking to politics. The fusion of power and policy has always made me eager to learn about the art form. It has led me to memorize the most strange facts about presidents and obsessively hover over historical and legislative books. My love affair with politics is a rarity. For many, politics is the problem and somehow the solution. For others, it’s boring and confusing, and they fail to see how it affects their daily lives. Yet, many Christians either refrain from engaging politically or they engage apart from their identity as a Christian. This should not be a surprise to us as many churches and ministries have voluntarily pleaded the fifth on political issues (outside of abortion and gay marriage). The fact that churches think that discussing politics is not essential, is a luxury. Currently and historically, churches simply could not and cannot afford to be silent about politics. This silence by churches has led their people to be misguided in the political arena. Politics is not something we should be silent on nor ignorant about. As Christians, we need to think critically and actively engage with politics.

What We Know Biblically About Politics

The word politics comes from the Greek word Politeia, meaning city or state. It is the affairs of the areas in which humanity agrees to cohabitate with each other. Additionally, a summary of what we see in the Bible is leaders whom are given the power to run the affairs of their cities but succumb to desires of corruption (Exodus 5:2, 1 Samuel 15:35, 1 King 11:4, 2 Samuel 11:4, Matthew 2:16, John 19:6). We believe that from the beginning God’s design has always been about bringing chaos into order (Genesis 1:1–3). We trust that His order is full of correct righteousness and justice. Politics then for Christians is using our power that God has given us, to bring chaos into order in the Politeia. Our attempts to bring chaos into order will never be enough, but we as Christians have the freedom and the responsibility to try.

Jesus’s Political Views

History is a harsh game. The longer a historical event or person is removed from society, the less its impact. There are literally too many examples to give but I will choose a popular one. On December 8th, 1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed a joint session of congress. In the waking hours of the aftermath of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, FDR with all of his frail strength, firmly stated, “December 7, 1941 a date which will live in infamy.” As we know, it very much has not. Current generations are unable to feel the fear of being attacked on their own land in the midst of a World War. In our lifetime we have been to war, but nothing like the wars of the 1930s and 1940s where 75 million people lost their lives. Now eighty years later, on December 7th you will be lucky to hear anything about Pearl Harbor, a day that lives, but just barely.

The same is true for the story of Jesus and the entire Bible. Too often our social and historical location prevents us from seeing the full cultural impact that Jesus had. Jesus made claims like, we should become like children (Matthew 18:3). He called the poor and persecuted blessed (Matthew 5:3, Matthew 5:10). He said that when we give we should not let anyone see (Matthew 6:3). We have become numb to the political impact of these statements, but Jesus was inviting people into a new Kingdom that was not about the power you held or the class you were in. This Kingdom was upside down: where children are admired, the poor are to be praised, the persecuted are heroes, and good works are not accolades for us to display. These were radically political statements. Jesus was extremely political, but his politics was about giving up power (Philippians 2:5–8) and honoring the lowest. Jesus’s politics are built on the premise of justice, mercy, and grace.

In order for Jesus to fulfill the will of his Father he needed to die. One of the easiest ways to be killed is to challenge those in power. Jesus was not murdered because of his miracles or because he always had 12 bandits with him, rather he challenged the foundations of power. Let’s be very clear, Jesus’s politics got him killed.

How To Be Politically Engaged

Engaging in politics is deeply important and Christians should think it is essential. I encourage Christians to engage in politics in these four steps.

Step #1: Crucify Your Political Allegiances

In America we have sworn ourselves to believe that there are only two ideologies to adhere by. Of course, there are other options ranging from extremes to moderates and third party options. Yet, Americans are faced with primarily two parties as the right way to fiscally and socially run the free world, democratic or republican. This approach to political parties has made us see problems and people in binary terms. We have surrendered our power to think critically with issues in the name of aligning ourselves with party platforms. I would argue that the Christian’s role in politics, in terms of parties, is not pledging our allegiance to either—but to undermine them both.

As people of faith, we need to always be reminded that every human system by nature is corrupt and flawed. And when we entrust our values, beliefs, and power into a party it is counterintuitive. People are unable to pin down Jesus into a political party because he would not align with Rome nor with the Zealots, he rebuked both. Jesus was not for a party, he was for correct and true justice which could only be found in Him. When we blindly become a ‘downballot’ voter for the sake of party preference we lose sight of how Jesus viewed politics. We need to seek peace, justice, and mercy regardless of where that lands us politically. I will speak more about this step on Thursday.

Step #2: Learn More About Issues, Not Just Abortion

If you have heard a sermon on the sanctity of human life you know that abortion is a deeply important issue to our churches. As it should be. We as Christians are always on the side of the oppressed, vulnerable, and unwanted. We stand up for human life in all capacities. Yet for many Christians the issue of abortion is as far as their political life will go. When we become single-issue voters we in return neglect the importance of others. Single-issue voting has disabled us from the ability to think through and discuss other significant issues. As Thabiti Anyabwil states, “[becoming a single-issue voter] has deskilled the church in its ability to work through complex moral issues.” When we forsake all of the world and its problems to only prize one issue, we deny the importance and potential solutions of so many others.

This means when we vote, as Christians, we need to learn and think deeply about how life, death, and unwarranted suffering is at stake in many other issues. We need to learn about: the death penalty, prison reform, immigration, asylum seeking, vaccinations, healthcare access, religious liberty, the right to bear arms, redlining, access to education and many others, because these are human life issues. Within political engagement, Christians need to prioritize human life over profit, power, and personal gain. When human life is being debated we need to act with justice, mercy, peace, and order. As the real life superhero Bryan Stevenson says, “the opposite of poverty is not wealth. It’s justice.” If our voting is centered around life, then it should lead us to abortion issues, and many, many others.

Step #3: You Need to Know History. Yes, History.

Cue the sad trumpet. History is boring, I get it. But here is the reality, if you only engage with politics today you will bend towards a consumeristic and identity-based politics. Politics today carries a deep sense of tribalism. By choosing to study the politics of yesterday, we form a more holistic perspective on the moment we are in. This should be fundamental, not only to our politics, but our churches. The Biblical writers were people who knew their Torah. The New Testament writers (especially John and Paul) led people into faith by referencing their ancestor’s history. History helps us remember and mourn where we have come from and projects where we are going.

When we become students of history, politics is much easier to digest and engage with. Get familiar with our US history, all of it. Not what we learned in high school, but the real, depraved, hard, and sometimes hopeful history. When we inhale the stories of the past we are reminded of the God who was there for all of it. He was there in the Exodus and at Pentecost. He was there during the godlessness of Nero and the reformation of Luther. He was present when John Winthrop led the Puritans in the Great Migration and the Black slaves that were forced with them. God was present on both bloodied balconies of President Lincoln and Dr. Martin Luther King. God saw, God heard, God has not forgotten, and neither should we.

Step #4: Speak Up!

This is something that Sara, my wife, has consistently reminded me of, because I fail to do it. As the rapper, Propaganda stated on my podcast, we all need to pass the ‘Uncle Dave’ test. The ‘Uncle Dave’ test is the premise that we all have that crazy uncle (friend or co-worker) who makes very offensive statements. When this person begins to indulge in their behavior, as Christians we need to speak against it. This test goes far beyond just our “uncles” but any where in life there is injustice and chaos. It is not enough to retweet and like pages that make you feel like you have contributed. We need to act, not just affirm others when they do. Speaking up takes many different forms but we can consider doing the following:

Give to organizations that are helping those who are in need. Money is power, use it well.
Use what you love to create a dialogue (i.e. draw, write, take pictures, start a book club). Be bold, it is okay to make mistakes. Politics is the art of the possible, so enjoy the art.
Attend a rally, vote in all elections, and know who represents you. Be an informed constituent.
Find your sparring partners. Learning to speak well on politics means you need to find people that will challenge you. Some of my closest friends refuse to let me off the hook with any of my conclusions (Seth, Alex, Charlotte, Chris, Fred, Rob L., Rob A., Michelle AKA Mom, and Sara) their challenges make me better. Find your people!

Closing

I am confident that these four steps make us better Christians. These steps allow us to engage with the world around us, its sin and imperfections. By engaging with politics we are pursuing justice in the midst of chaos. We are all imperfect at this and can do much better in areas, I need to get better at steps #1 and #4 tremendously.

Lastly, let me be clear, it is okay and even beneficial that we disagree on how we bring order into chaos. But if we can disagree in love by taking the proper steps of engagement we can display for the world what real and messy Gospel family looks like. We are all in our pursuit to care for those who are forgotten and steward the power that God has entrusted us with. May we do it with grace and humility to display the only one who can bring true peace and true justice.

Resources:

For step #1

Watch Tim Mackie’s talk on Old Testament and New Testament power and politics.

Watch Russell Moore’s talk at the MLK 50 Conference in 2017

Read Jemar Tisby’s article, White Evangelicals Must Ask, “Why Does Our Theology Lead to Republicanism?”

Read Tim Keller’s NYT article How Do Christian Fit Into a Two-Party System?They Don’t.

Read Emma Green’s article The Tiny Blond Bible Teacher Taking on the Evangelical Political Machine

For Step #2

Listen to Thabiti Anyabwile on single-issue Voting

Read Joe Carter’s article on justice and single-issue voting

Read Michael Wear’s article Pro-life Voters and Pro-Choice Politicians

For Step #3

Read

For Step #4

Listen to my interviews with Propaganda and Steve Patton Season 1 (this one is brutal, I was very “unwoke”, and still am, and I asked some very hurtful questions). Season 2, is much better and Dr. Alma Zaragoza-Petty join us!
Learn and give to places like Equal Justice Initiative, International Justice Mission, PATH, and many other local organizations.

Edited by my beautiful wife, Sara.