Politics and God's Kingdom
"The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17 NIV)
The Apostle Paul’s words on the nature of God’s Kingdom are very instructive in our time of “Church and State” controversy. What the Apostle Paul is teaching us here is, God’s kingdom rises above temporal issues like what we eat and what we drink. Our choices on foods and beverages are choices that belong to this passing age (not that we won’t eat and drink in the Kingdom—we will, I’m happy to report!). Decisions we make on things like these are not to become issues of spirituality or judging others (our man-made rules to the contrary).
If issues of eating and drinking don’t matter for the kingdom, what about issues of politics? What about labels like "conservative" or "liberal"? What about economic systems like Capitalism and Socialism? What about political issues that, in spite of a careful search, don’t seem to be highly laden with moral concerns (like term limits)? What about when people of good will differ on various ways to address common concerns?
Christians seem prone to confuse the limited issues of the political sphere with the sweeping issues of the Kingdom sphere. We confuse the time-bound and temporary realm of politics with the timeless and eternal realm of God’s rule. We confuse political Band-Aids with God’s decisive moral victories. We regard some candidates for high office as messianic. We divide the Body of Christ improperly over temporal issues and solutions. When religious leaders go on the stump for political causes, we cheapen and dilute our high calling and our glorious announcement—the good news of the Kingdom.
Does this mean we withdraw and isolate ourselves and let everything "go to the dogs"? No, not at all. Christians are dual citizens. We do "polish the brass on a sinking ship." Biblical imperatives and citizenship rights both drive us into the public and political spheres so we can speak out and influence the course of our society. The Kingdom message we profess is, after all, a comprehensive moral and social vision, not just a "personal relationship with Jesus" and an ethereal, other-worldly "heaven to come."
Yes, we pray and work for the welfare of our community (Jeremiah 29:7). But we must look for incremental gains and not much transformation. We choose our battles wisely and graciously. We must save a lot of our idealism for the Kingdom and be "as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves" here and now. Thankfully, God may grant us a profound victory now and then, like the abolition of slavery. But William Wilberforce fought slavery step by step with no sure hope of beholding sweeping victory with his own eyes.
Politics is the art of compromise. It blends the ideal with realism and pragmatism. If we insist on the whole righteous pie, we are likely to get no pie at all. Political leaders are prone to sin like the rest of us and are out to serve self-interest. Sin is in all of us, not just in "them" on the other side. And God’s (common) grace is working through "them" as well as us. No politician wears a white hat or a black hat like in the old "westerns."
In light of the majesty of God’s Kingdom and the limits (yet God-ordained validity) of Caesar’s kingdom, we must lift up our eyes to the former and lower our sights with the latter. We must embrace and long for God’s kingdom while engaging and appreciating man’s. That’s our calling and struggle, and I struggle with it all the time.
posted by Don Shoemaker at 10:50 AM
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