No. 009: Encouragements for the Christian Voter.
On taking down your picket signs and taking up your cross.
(I know I said that it might be a while before I posted any new long-form pieces. I’ve been working on this one for a while, and I didn’t want to post it until I was confident that it was ready, but I think, or at least hope, that it’s ready now. And I think we could all use some encouragement.)
I’ve promised you that I won’t use this space to promote a political agenda. So rest assured, my intent here is neither to endorse any party’s nominee nor to suggest that you should subvert the two-party system by writing in your favorite Moore (whether Russ or Beth) or (starring Martin Sheen as) Josiah “Jed” Bartlet or even Andrew Cathy (although… an Executive Branch that functions with the efficiency and integrity of a CFA drive-thru does sound kind of dreamy).
But if you’re willing to entertain me, I would love to share a couple of thoughts that are on my mind—and that, at least to me, are a source of encouragement—as we approach the November election. Don’t worry, I hope to leave you with more than just a glib pat on the shoulder that “God is in control!”—although, of course, he is.
I’ll start with my scriptural premises, and then I’ll offer a few interpretive applications. I’ll admit it’s a lot of ground to cover, so I haven’t added any of my typical narrative flourishes to the bare principles, but I hope you’ll stick with me.
Scriptural Premises
The two characteristics that define God’s intended ordering of creation and all of its creatures, including mankind, are righteousness and justice, which, respectively, indicate creation’s perfect conformity to the character of God and creation’s perfect harmony in relation to itself (see, e.g., 1 Kings 10:9; 2 Chron. 9:8; Job 37:23; Ps. 36:6; 72:1; 103:6; Isa. 5:7; 32:1; 56:1; Jer. 9:24; Amos 5:24; and so many more).
On only one occasion has God ever made a covenant with a governing body (2 Sam. 7). Even in this case, the blessings afforded by this covenant did not look like the perfect execution of righteousness or justice, like guaranteed national prosperity, or like the indefinite perpetuity of national autonomy. Rather, they were realized in that this royal line functioned as a “type” to prefigure a King who would come in a later age, and it provided for the “human ancestry of the Messiah” (Rom. 9:5).
In the bitter midnight of the world’s cruel and idolatrous history, the Word of God took on flesh and made his dwelling among us (John 1:14). A baby was born and the government was upon his shoulders; that is, in Christ righteousness and justice found their audacious fulfillment (Isa. 9:6–7; 16:5). This is why the ministry of Jesus was not only a ministry of spiritual teaching—though it certainly was that—but also a ministry of embodied mercy and compassion, in which he set about bringing dignity and healing to the downtrodden and turned the tables (literally) of those who were manipulating the weak for the sake of their own power. The Incarnation marked a new age for the righteousness and justice of God to break through and reclaim the cosmos for his glory.
God continues to redeem the world toward righteousness and justice through the ministry of the body of Christ—the one holy, catholic, and apostolic church. The church is the only human “institution” baptized with the power and the guidance of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4–8). Furthermore, the church that Christ has chosen to herald his gospel is a “great multitude that no one [can] count, from every nation, tribe, people and tongue” (Rev. 7:9).
Righteousness may now be accessed through faith in Christ alone (Rom. 10:4)—who meets people through the compassionate ministry of the church. If I can here cite history as support,1 I would argue that the harm can be catastrophic when governing authorities try to accomplish the work of righteousness on the church’s behalf.
Despite mostly being written under the context of government-sanctioned persecution, the New Testament has little to say about the government (cf. Matt. 22:21). The apostles focus their attention on the health of the church, which makes sense if the church is God’s primary executive agent for the growth of Christ’s kingdom.
However, Paul briefly confirms that governing authorities do play a small role in establishing justice: “They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Rom. 13:4). Government is God’s gift of common grace to the nations; it will never come close to replicating what the church can offer to the children of God, but it does play a role in preventing the world at large from spiraling into the dog-eat-dog carnage that would result from anarchy.
God does not desire the death of a sinner, but desires that the sinner would repent and live (Ezek. 18:23). He has not ordained governments to punish wrongdoers because he delights to see wrongdoers suffer. He has done so because wrongdoers hurt people made in God’s image, they hurt God’s creatures, and they hurt the earth that he has given us to be our home, and God desires for all of the above to be protected and honored.
This is why most healthy governments punish thieves and murderers. This is also why we should not be surprised when governments hold accountable those who “trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed” (Amos 2:7) or convict the one “who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages” (Jer. 22:13), et cetera.
Some people are vulnerable to harm by wrongdoers because of details entirely specific to their personal life stories. Many people are vulnerable to harm because a particular demographic to which they belong is, in their immediate cultural and historical context, subject to prejudice, persecution, manipulation, or any other form of maltreatment stemming from an imbalance of power. There are countless vulnerable demographics in our world, but Scripture offers several generic examples: children (e.g., Matt. 18:1–6); those who are poor, in prison, disabled, or oppressed (e.g., Luke 4:18); the materially destitute and the stranger (Matt. 25:31–46); as well as orphans, widows, and resident aliens (Deut. 10:17–19).
The cause of justice is not limited to the context of human relationships and systems. God gave mankind the earth and its creatures to “subdue” and “rule over” (Gen. 1:28)—meaning that we should cultivate them rather than exploit them. The earth and its creatures are vulnerable to the abuse of wrongdoers as well; hence, we should expect to see governments at times addressing environmental concerns.
Scripture is frank that the injustice of the current world order will always be overwhelming. People will always be running themselves and the earth blindly and headlong toward destruction. Cruelty and idolatry take new forms in each generation, and these new forms will always scandalize us, but the sins at their root and the harm that they cause have always been around. But God is merciful, and because he is merciful—although we are running furiously away from him—we find that, at least for now, our history runs on a treadmill. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
A day will come when God executes his justice over the current world order and creates the earth and heavens anew. In the meantime, no matter the state of current affairs for any nation, Christ will uphold the cosmos, his church will persevere, and his kingdom will grow quietly and subversively until the day when he brings all things to their fulfillment (Phil. 1:3–6). We know this to be true.
The ways in which the world is catapulting itself toward destruction will generally be obvious and terrifying and loud. On the contrary, the ways in which Christ sustains his kingdom will often come through unanticipated channels, and they will seem weak and quiet and foolish, so that none of us may boast—but in weakness his power is made perfect (2 Cor. 12:9).
Interpretive Applications
The stated goal of the United States Constitution is “to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and to our Posterity.” These are certainly noble goals, and I am not here to argue against them, but I will note a couple of observations:
These goals include quite a bit more than the singular goal of executing justice that the New Testament has ascribed to human governments. It isn’t a bad thing to pursue other goals, but as Christians we are called to prioritize justice (for vulnerable people and for the earth, our home) over all other political goals. And we certainly should not hold God hostage to the expectation that he will “bless” our auxiliary goals.
Our Constitution’s goals single out only one nation as worthy of attention and effort and resources (which is to be expected for any national constitution), but God loves the whole world (John 3:16). There is no shame in working for the good of one’s nation, but Christians are called to understand their identity as part of a global church with a global mission as superlative to their identity as citizens of a sovereign nation. Patriotism can motivate love for one’s neighbor; but nationalism is unbefitting for a Christian.
The Constitution’s goals are lofty goals—which is a good thing. They give us a positive vision for which to aim. But even the church, which is imbued with the Holy Spirit, will at times suffer the effects of its members’ sins: corruption, manipulation, and abuse. Thus, we should not be in the least bit surprised that no American administration has ever come close to reaching the Constitution’s goals in a way that thoroughly secures justice for all of our land’s inhabitants—much less uses the nation’s power and influence for the good of other nations. No amount of “Christian principles” ratified into law will ever change this. Christ has never baptized a nation, and without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, which belongs only to the church, “Christian principles” will always fall short.
As I argued in a previous post, the so-called “Blessings of Liberty” are only of use to the Christian if he or she uses them as an opportunity to follow Christ into a life of obedient self-sacrifice, not as a tool for personal gain.
Christians follow a Christ who turns water into wine and multiplies loaves and fishes. Through the power of the Spirit, the church is both called and empowered to sow generously (2 Cor. 9:6). Governments, however, are not blessed as such; their resources are limited, and the limited nature of resources breeds competition. This is why every political agenda in some way attempts to capitalize on the selfishness and greed of potential voters. This is also why every political agenda prioritizes efforts to counteract only certain “worthy” injustices and in the process usually ends up dehumanizing, denying, or even demolishing those it deems “unworthy.”
This is not the justice of God. God designed all humans, the earth, and its creatures to function in a symbiotic relationship. His kingdom is one in which all are functioning together in love, charity, cheerful self-sacrifice, and mutual up-lifting. Again, the institution best suited to foster these values—even, or especially, when it appears weak and powerless—is the church. I think this is typically what Christians today miss when we fret about politics, but if we miss this, then we are also missing out on some vital applications:
Your defining allegiance is to the kingdom of Christ, which is a kingdom of life. A humble and honest juxtaposition of both of our political parties’ current platforms beside the normative truth of the Word should lead you to a recognition similar to the recent statement of Pope Francis that both parties endorse policies that are “against life.”
Voting requires two minutes of your day every two to four years, and, at least for now, for most people in America, it asks very little risk or sacrifice. Our votes do, of course, bear sweeping consequences, so I certainly encourage you to consider your votes wisely and prayerfully, attending to thorough research, considering multiple perspectives, and always prioritizing justice over personal gain. However, I would argue that the act of voting is possibly the least significant thing that you can do in order to contribute to the kingdom of Christ. Christ is calling you to surrender the entirety of your life and your abilities and resources into the service of his kingdom, every minute of every day of every year.
If your candidate wins, let your celebration be short, and if your candidate loses, let your mourning period be short. The “good” that any government official will ever enact will always be microscopic in comparison to the righteousness and justice that Christ offers the world through his church, and many vulnerable people and many vulnerable features of creation will inevitably be left behind by any government. As soon as we get an idea of whom our government intends to uplift and whom they intend to neglect, we may set to work advocating for those who have been left behind. No Christian alone can adequately address the full weight of injustice in the world, but rather than holding one another back, betraying a posture of worldly, faithless competition, let us cheer one another on as we advocate for whatever reckonings of justice are in our realms of influence.
If your candidate wins, lean into your responsibility to advocate for those whom your candidate has deemed “unworthy.” And if your candidate loses, strive to rejoice that at least some subset of the vulnerable, who might have otherwise been neglected, will now likely be given a better shot at justice. No matter the outcome, “seek first [Christ’s] kingdom and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33), and set to work spreading the gospel in the context of a ministry of embodied compassion, to the glory of the Father, through the Son, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Give your Christian brother or sister who votes differently than you the benefit of the doubt that he or she is motivated by Christian compassion. I personally think that it is beautiful that there are Christians representing a diversity of political viewpoints. I interpret this diversity as evidence that God cares to bring justice to all of creation and all of his creatures and therefore has blessed individual members of the body with different passions for combatting injustice. When we celebrate our diversity by viewing it through the lens of the all-consuming justice of God, we become empowered to “be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love” and to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:2–3).
While there are perhaps some in our nation who need to hear this, I think most of us already know that the church does not exist in order to build up the government. However, neither does the government exist in order to build up the church. It will always be tempting for Christians to lean into power and influence and comfort, but the church that approaches the government seeking to gain something from it will be utterly ripe for manipulation. Governments are gifts of common grace that God has given to nations to serve the needs of all their inhabitants equally. All that the church truly needs will be supplied by the power of the Spirit, by the grace of God, and by the united charity of the fellowship of believers (Acts 4:32–35). Do not allow yourself to succumb to fear and anxiety that the health of the church depends on a certain political outcome.
Lastly, let us believe and confess that, although God works through history in mysterious ways that we do not now comprehend, “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). This recognition should foster humility in our hearts as we participate in God’s grand story.
When we are considering how we ought to vote and what policies we out to endorse, we can study history for similar situations, we can look to the example of other nations, and we can try our best to translate principles into policies, but we are all ultimately just guessing at what political strategies will secure for us optimal results. In Scripture we see God at work on behalf of his people through righteous kings, prophets, apostles, and that odd bird Melchizedek. But we also see him at work through pagan officials, weather patterns, a great fish, and a talking donkey. (Was that last one a little too on the nose for you?) Even Satan had a role in God’s story of redemption. The “right way” to accomplish justice is not nearly as obvious as politicians would have us believe; God’s methods are often surprising.
It is possible that two Christians may be equally passionate about combatting the same system of injustice but each vote for a different candidate because they each place greater confidence in a different political strategy to bring about a permanent and sustainable end to said system of injustice. Do not assume that just because your Christian brother or sister votes for the opposing candidate they therefore must not care about the same causes as you. Stay humble; we are all just trying our best with the limited information we have to guess at what policies with facilitate sustainable justice.
Conclusion
I understand how easy it is to become overwhelmed with frustration, anxiety, grief, and rage when met with the inadequacies and failures of our government. But when I find myself in this state of mind, I must check myself with the admonition that I am here placing expectations in my government that are way beyond the scope of what Scripture ever suggests is realistic or appropriate.
It is common for politicians to market themselves under the name of Jesus so that they can manipulate well-meaning Christians to believe that a vote for them is a vote for the kingdom of Christ. But this is simply repeating the sin of Abimelek (Judges 9), who capitalized on his clout as the son of the victorious judge Gideon (making him, I suppose, the OG nepo-baby?) in order to manipulate the anxiety of a subset of God’s people so that they would install him as their king—an office of power that was supposed to belong only to the Lord.2 People will forever try to “copy” God’s unique blessing of the church and “paste” it upon a nation, a government, or a political party, but Christ is Almighty and will not tolerate to be used for any agenda that does not derive from his own Eternal Wisdom.
If you are an American Christian, then I encourage you to vote any time you have the opportunity. It certainly won’t hurt anything. But if you desire to see the kingdom of Christ grow, then take up your cross and follow him—into the dark and lost and hurting places within your local community and even to the ends of the earth. Don’t be afraid to get dirty in the process. Look after orphans and widows in their distress, and do not allow yourself to become polluted by the malice, the greed, the anxiety, the vanity, and the pride of the world (cf. James 1:27).
“Above all, love each other deeply for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).
Until next time—
Affectionate thanks,
HLS
Many examples come to mind, but perhaps the most obvious are the schemes of carnage employed during both the Spanish Inquisition and the Protestant Reformation.
In Judg. 8:23, after Gideon has delivered the Israelites from the Midianites and the Israelites implore Gideon to rule over them, Gideon responds, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” It is therefore conspicuous that just several verses later, one of Gideon’s concubines bears him a son, whom “he [i.e., Gideon] named Abimelek” (v. 31)—which, in Hebrew, literally translates to “My father is king.” The verses between these events, in which Gideon crafts an ephod that the Israelites flock to worship, show Gideon on a path away from submission to the Lord, so it seems reasonable to infer that Gideon himself planted the seed of power-hunger that manifested in Abimelek’s rebellion.