See the Kingdom

TOWARD A CHRISTIAN VIEW OF POLITICS

by John K. Stoner

Christians and politics–a puzzle, to be sure.
Like the eagle on their dollar bill, which holds olive branches in one set of talons and arrows in the other, Americans, and American Christians in particular, are of two minds in their thought about politics. That is, Americans believe that their democracy has achieved far more cultural transformation than it actually has, but simultaneously, they believe that due to the drag of sin, true cultural transformation is impossible. What we need is a political attitude which transcends this contradiction.
Here is the problem. Americans ask you to look, on the one hand, at what their experiment in democracy has done: it has ended King George’s British tyranny over the Colonies, produced the Declaration of Independence, written the world’s greatest document of governance, the Constitution, freed the slaves, fed the world, made space for God and religion, melted the pot, developed the West, invented the light bulb, given women the vote, birthed Henry Ford, produced the car, gone to the moon, built the mall, televised the NFL, won two world wars, isolated Castro, and woven the world wide web. All of this is affirmed periodically by going to the polls and voting. Democracy works, isn’t it wonderful!?
But next they describe all of the elements of culture which are fixed in stone and can never be changed: Indians are lazy, war is inevitable, education costs too much, more prisons are needed, public transportation doesn’t work, the car is sacred, old growth forests must be cut, homosexuals must be isolated, rain forests are an outdated luxury, acid rain can’t be helped, blacks are lazy, arms sales strengthen the economy, land mines create jobs, nuclear weapons keep us free, global warming is a myth, advertising fills a need, fetuses are good, immigrants are bad, and poverty can’t be helped. Humans are born in sin, and culture is trapped where it is.
Sin, Americans believe, guarantees the permanence of cultural depravity. The triumphs of democracy, on the other hand, are proven and perpetuated by right and practice of voting. In this view, voting is the ultimate political involvement, the elixir of society’s ills, the perfect tribute to democracy’s success in the past and the guarantor of its achievements in the future. To vote, and only to vote, is to be a responsible member of society. The meaning of politics, and the essence of political action is reduced, for all practical purposes, to the single act of voting.
But politics is vastly more than voting. Politics is the challenge of achieving human community. The root word is “polis,” or city, which is the essential symbol of human community. Of course narrower definitions are possible, such as the art or science of winning and holding control over a government, or activities characterized by artful and often dishonest practices. A moderate definition would be “the art or science of governing.” This may be useful, if we think of governing as guiding the process of achieving human community.
As the challenge of achieving human community, politics deserves the attention and energies of Peace Church and all Christian people, because God, by all indications, has an interest in the development of human community. There will, of course, be people who make a specialty of governing, and that should not be surprising. However, it is not to be expected that those specialists should be left alone to, by themselves, define the meaning or content of governance. Every person has an interest in defining the shape of the human community, and narrow definitions of governing should not be permitted to obscure the fundamental goal of serving the needs of humanity as a whole.
For Christians it is worth remembering that the central message of Christ Jesus, whose name we bear, was that the kingdom of God has appeared in the midst of human affairs. I shall proceed to argue, in fact, that this kingdom memory must be decisive for our political thought. Christians are bound to ask what Jesus Christ can teach them about politics, or else maintain a discreet silence about BOTH Jesus AND politics. This is an argument, I fear, which will not find easy acceptance with my readers, whose indulgence for some moments I nevertheless beg. If this seems like strange politics, I respond that any discussion which includes Jesus is, by definition, strange in a way, and anyone who brings up Jesus has brought up a voice which is, in profound ways, quite alien. This really can’t be avoided. Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingship come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” That crosses over some planets, and if we pray the prayer we are committed to making the leap. (Or we could, of course, abandon the prayer….)
Kingdom denotes reign, or governance. The message of Jesus was that God is present and taking charge. The will of God is being done on earth as it is in heaven. This is thoroughly political, and only centuries of compromise with earthly kingdoms, growing out of a fear to challenge kings as directly as Jesus challenged them, has made it seem otherwise to most Christians.

Jesus and John the Baptist

A sermon delivered on October 20, 1996 at Marbury Church of God

Text: Luke 7:17-35

• The evidence of Jesus’ authenticity was his healing ministry.
• Jesus reassured John’s faith by pointing out the effects of His ministry.
• Of others Jesus had said, “you will know them by their fruits.” He applies no less a standard to himself.

Contrast between style approach of these two men:

How can two such different men and ministries be serving the same God? Yet that is what this passage teaches us. Though different in so many ways, and even though some of John’s disciples left him to follow Jesus, we never hear of one criticizing the other. In fact, Jesus makes it clear that both were bringing the same message to “this generation”.

• Reaction of the crowds, and of the Pharisees and lawyers, to Jesus’ words was similar to that of John’s ministry, despite all the differences. Why?

It is the word of God that changes hearts, that brings the honest sinner to repentance, that effects the benefits of forgiveness in their lives. The style of the messenger can be harsh or kind, spectacular or understated, flamboyant or soft-spoken, but until we hear God speak to us personally, we will be unmoved. Those who saw their need for repentance heard John’s word of judgment and responded; likewise they were ready to hear Jesus’ words of grace. But those religious leaders and Bible teachers who “rejected God’s purpose for themselves” rejected the message both of judgment and of mercy

• Do not honor the messenger, or the style of delivery, more than the message itself!

God will find ways to speak to you, including ways you do not expect. John Newton wrote, “’twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.” Each of us, at whatever point we are in life, may need to hear a different bit of God’s voice - and God will provide that to us. But as John the Baptist said, “He must increase, and I must decrease,” so the voice of joy and mercy and eternal life must increase over the voice of woe and judgment and wrath. He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John, though John is greatest among the prophets. But both are agents of God’s grace.