Christians & Politics: Toward A Healthier Engagement

Yesterday, I started typing these thoughts into a Facebook post and quickly realized it was too long for that. So, here I am, making my first blog post in nearly a decade to share some thoughts that have been ruminating in my mind during this contentious presidential election season. I’m not going to tell you how to vote, although I certainly think Christians ought to think carefully about how they will wield their vote in any election, especially a presidential election cycle. To that end, two Christians leaders I greatly respect have shared how they are thinking through their vote, and though they arrive at different conclusions (one plans to vote for Trump while the other plans not to vote for either major party candidate) I think both perspectives are well-reasoned & worthy of consideration.

But beyond who to vote for, I’m increasingly burdened with how Christians should engage in politics, especially in the realms of social media and personal conversation. If politics has become our new religion, then one of the signs we’ve made an idol of our political leaders is that we feel the need to reflexively defend, justify, or explain away any problematic statement or action by a leader in OUR tribe, while simultaneously rushing to condemn and assume the worst about any similarly problematic statement or action made by leaders on the OTHER side. Believing the best about those in our camp, we interpret their actions in the best light possible and make generous assumptions about their motives, while assuming the worst about those on the other side and misrepresenting their words completely. We gloss over or ignore glaring faults in our preferred candidate, while magnifying every fault we see in their opponent.

I have seen this tendency at work in myself, too. Here are a few principles I have to remind myself of often during the throes of election season:

1. “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). We should expect basic standards of integrity, decent, and honesty from those who seek political office. But because only God is truly good, we should keep a sense of humility about ourselves and our leaders. They will fall short, as will we. Knowing this, we should be open to criticism and critique, acknowledging the limits of our position without feeling the need to reflexively defend policies and statements that are biblically indefensible. And knowing that God alone is good ought to remind Christians that we ought to be more passionate about proclaiming the virtues of our Savior than any political leader or party.

2. Christians are called to love their enemies (Matt. 5:43-44). Obedience to this command must mean more than nodding in agreement as we spew bile about our political foes. “[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things…”(1 Cor. 13:7). Yes, love is also careful not to rejoice at wrongdoing, but to rejoice with the truth (1 Cor. 13:6), and Christians are to walk in wisdom and even shrewdness in the public square (Matt. 10:16). With those caveats in place, Christians should look for opportunities to bless those on the other side of issues from us, even as we contend vigorously for our position in the public square. We can and should show dignity and respect toward our opponents in word and in deed.

3. Christians are called to a higher standard. Half-truths, name-calling, hateful memes, and even slander are standard fare in our political discourse. It’s easy to justify such tactics with a “whataboutism” that says, “What the other side is doing is worse,” or, “They started it.” But our Lord has called us to a higher standard: “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt. 5:38-39). Christians ought to refuse to stoop into the gutter of misinformation and personal attacks, determining instead to engage our opponents’ ideas honestly & charitably.

4. Christians are called to be impartial & gracious in judgment. How might Jesus’ instruction to deal with the log in your own eye before you deal with the speck in your brother’s eye apply to our political/cultural discourse?:

“For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:2-5)

What if we spent less time pointing out the “specks” we see on the other side, and more time correcting the “logs” on our own side of the debate? What would happen if both the political left & right applied the same standards to themselves that they seek to impose on each other? Might that help lead our country forward in a more productive way? I suspect donkeys & elephants will fly before that happens. But this posture ought to be the mark of those who believe that God has graciously dealt with us much less severely than we deserve.

I’m sure much more could be said , but I think these principles are a start towards a healthier Christian engagement in politics. In one of his insightful books, Yale law professor Stephen Carter argues that “religions…will almost always lose their best, most spiritual selves when they choose to be involved in the partisan, electoral side of American politics.” As American citizens, Christians ought to seek the good of the society in which God has placed us with our voice and our vote. But as citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20), let’s strive to act & speak politically in a way that makes clear that our greatest hope does not rest on a candidate or party or electoral outcome, but on a Savior who we eagerly await from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.