The Distraction of Political Entanglement: Part I
The majority of nations in the world are some form of representative republic. This means that the citizens of those countries are given an opportunity to shape their governments by supporting and voting for their preferred representatives. This influence is extended to the Christian population whose votes count in equal measure.
Of course, this hasn’t always been the case. Under Roman authority, believers in the first century had no influence on how they were governed. For most of the middle ages, much of Christianized Europe was ruled by monarchs and warlords where the exchange of power was usually driven by dynastic succession or conquest. But today, believers can peacefully support representatives, vote on laws, and even run for office.
But given the lack of scriptural instruction related to politics, honest Christians might secretly ponder things like:
Should we view political engagement the same as everyone else or should we view it differently?
As believers, how should we use our political influence?
Should believers even engage in politics at all?
In this three-part series, I want to talk about a phenomenon that’s become more and more prevalent over the last couple of decades. Specifically, I want to discuss the entanglement of Christianity and politics.
What do I mean by entanglement?
By entanglement, I’m referring to when faith and politics become so intertwined that we can’t see the distinction between them.
For example, some Christians believe that government is a powerful tool that should be used to advance God’s kingdom in the world. They believe that we should re-direct government resources toward making the world a better place. Others believe our laws and representatives should reflect Christian values. They believe this will ensure our citizens retain a high moral standard and secure God’s blessing to us as a nation.
On the surface, these ideas might be good and right. But there may be unintended consequences.
When believers become entangled, we can unwittingly empower worldly systems and put ourselves at risk of maligning and suppressing the indwelling Christ.
When we manipulate the levers of politics to direct government resources, it can dilute and undermine the legitimate work of Christ that He intended through His Body.
When we focus on legislating a national Christian identity, the church can risk losing its distinctiveness against an empty, counterfeit culture.
Despite the best of intentions, entanglement often ends up influencing the Body of Christ more than any good we could accomplish through it.
To be clear, I’m not saying it’s bad for Christians to be politically involved. Goodness knows that ways of running a country that are better than others and plenty of room to debate what that should look like. I’m not even saying it’s bad for your Christian worldview to influence your vote. Entanglement, however, is a distraction that can restrict the flow of Christ’s life in our identity and mission.
As we enter a season of amped-up political rhetoric, I thought it important talk about this issue. It’s been something I’ve been meaning to write about for a long time. This is probably the longest and most difficult subject I’ve written on so far. While writing, re-writing, and editing to convey the right message and tone, it’s forced me to re-think a lot of what I believe. There are parts of it I may still be wrong about. Like any of my posts, I’m open to challenge and correction.
What I’m going to say may be offensive, but it’s not meant to be. But it is intended to challenge us and re-direct our attention to the things that matter. It’s a perspective that I think any serious follower of Christ desperately needs to consider.
God and Human Government
So where should we start?
Before we talk about entanglement, it’s probably a good idea to take a close look at the nature of human government and how it fits into God’s plan. Let’s start with a verse out of Paul’s letter to the Romans…
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Romans 13:1 (ESV)
Here, Paul is telling the Roman believers that, although God is King, they are still to act as subjects of the Roman Empire. He’s reminding them that hooliganism isn’t the way of Christ and that they’re to keep their noses clean and avoid trouble.
Why?
Because earthly authorities are intermediaries of God’s ultimate authority. He’s the one who’s actually in charge. To be a public menace under their authority is to be one under His.
This word “instituted” in the ESV translation is interesting. It’s also translated “ordained” in the KJV and “established” in the NASB. The original Greek word is tetagmenai (τεταγμέναι) which is a form of the word tasso. Tasso simply means to arrange, order, or appoint. By this we know that God establishes all earthly governing authorities (regardless of whether those authorities recognize His authority over them). This principle of establishing earthly authorities is also found in Proverbs 8:15. Scripture specifically cites examples of God’s appointing of Pharaoh (Exodus 9:16), King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:17), and of Pontius Pilate (John 19:11).
At first glance, one might read Romans 13:1 and conclude that God created human government to aid humanity in the management of its affairs. But this passage isn’t saying that. It merely says that the Lord merely appoints authorities among the nations within their respective seats of power. The enterprise of human government, however, is a purely human invention.
Human government is just one part of what scripture refers to as the world.
The word “world” is even more intriguing. The Greek word used for world is kosmos (κόσμος). In scripture, it has different meanings depending on the context. Sometimes it simply refers to earth and the created realm. It can refer to the inhabitants of the earth or their manner of living. It can also generically refer to the part of creation in need of redemption. Lastly, it can refer to the elements of the world that actively refuse to recognize Christ’s reign (John 7:7; John 16:33; James 4:4; 2 Peter 2:20; 1 John 2:16).
However, the meaning of this last definition is far more nuanced.
In his book, Insurgence: Reclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, author Frank Viola explains that when scripture refers to “the world”, it’s often referring to the various systems under which the world operates. He argues that these systems were not created by God, but instead by fallen man to fill the void of provision that was left when Adam and Eve were cast from the Garden. These systems can include financial systems, educational systems, religious systems, social systems, systems of leisure and entertainment, and (you guessed it) political and governmental systems.
These systems are complex and interconnected. They’re so common and transparent that we can live our entire lives around them without being aware of them. To reference popular culture, they represent the matrix—a system of systems which have a common function and a common Architect. Because these systems originate from within the world, they’re driven by worldly principles. These include selfishness, fear, deception, and the false and arrogant belief that mankind has within itself the solution to its deepest problems. While I’ll leave you to read the book for the explanation of who the Architect is, suffice it to say it is not the Lord.
While these systems provide a degree of safety, comfort, and utility, they’re ultimately opposed to Jesus Christ. By their nature, each seeks to erode and undermine the Lord’s efforts. For example, financial systems encourage us to place our safety and security in our wealth above our hope in Christ. Religious systems encourage us to practice habits of dead transaction and constrain us to speaking what’s acceptable to the culture. The systems of entertainment can damage our soul by providing a steady stream of tantalizing (often unhealthy) distraction which robs us from opportunities of eternal significance. Politics encourages us to believe that the only real solutions are government solutions. It tells us that we must appeal to and manipulate human power structures rather than to seek Christ who transcends the political plane.
Far from being a gift from God, human government and the political enterprise were developed over the centuries by a fallen world as humanity’s best attempt at ensuring good order. It represents the best (and worst) of what the world has to offer mankind outside of the Lord’s reign. Yet, in His sovereignty the Lord uses human government to suppress evil and check the lawlessness of those under its authority (Romans 13:4). He removes and raises up leaders as He sees fit (Daniel 2:20-21). And while He tolerates some evil committed by these governments, He will also punish those governments when their evil becomes excessive (Zechariah 1:15).
But for God’s people, the Lord has always had something completely different in mind.
Perfect Government
In contrast to human government is the Kingdom of God. (I wrote extensively about the Kingdom of God in an earlier post you can read here. You may want to read that article first before continuing.)
The Kingdom is actually a form of government. To be precise, it’s a a trans-dimensional, trans-territorial communal monarchy ruled by a perfect and loving King. Like other nations, the Kingdom has a ruler and a population marked by a common name and culture. But that’s where any similarities end.
For starters, rather than striving for justice, the Kingdom is ruled by justice. Everyone is represented equally, and everyone is given equal access to the King. Despite what your church may teach, the King rules His people directly without hierarchies, committees, or intermediaries. No one gets to “vote” on how the Kingdom operates. There are no written laws or founding documents, for the law has been written on the hearts of its citizens (2 Cor. 3:3).
While dynamic in function, its nature and governance are timeless and unchanging. It’s not ruled by force or threat. Instead, it’s ruled directly by the glory (infinite majesty) and grace (absolute freedom) of its King. Unlike earthly rulers, the King does not reside far and away from His citizens. Instead, He chooses to live among them—inside them. This unique arrangement allows them to be energized, empowered, and directed by the very life of their King.
Because its rule is perfect, this Kingdom represents perfect government. It cannot be improved. Because it’s trans-territorial, it’s rule extends to citizens of all nationalities, regardless of the type of earthly government they might presently be under. For them, the Kingdom represents the higher authority. While the King’s rule does not negate earthly authorities, it does transcend them. While our earthly authorities demand allegiance over Christ, we align with the Lord rather than with men (Acts 4:19-20; 5:27-29). However, this is not license for outrage or rebellion. Rather, we’re called to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9, 26:52). If we must decline obedience to man out of reverence for the true King, we do so with the utmost respect toward our earthly authorities.
I should emphasize that, as believers, the Lord never intended for us to live under the world’s systems. Rather, by His design the Kingdom would satisfy every need. But because we are “in the world, but not of it” (John 17:15-16), we can’t always avoid being affected by many of these systems. We may even benefit from them. But we need to be reminded that just because someone might benefit from something doesn’t make it inherently ‘good’. Nor does it mean that should automatically support it.
Despite the present reality of the Kingdom, many believers maintain that political engagement remains a critical instrument for taking ground in America. Yet while we know that God uses the nations to provide a level of stability, nowhere does scripture suggest human government should be used as a means of advancing the Kingdom.
What does Jesus say?
My Kingdom is not of this world.
John 18:36a (ESV)
There’s a lot being said in this profound little declaration. He’s not just saying that the Kingdom is a separate part of the world or that it has a different origin. He’s emphasizing that the Kingdom and the world are two entirely different things. They’re of an altogether different substance. They’re mutually exclusive in the way they operate and completely independent from one another.
As such, the Kingdom simply doesn’t cooperate with the world in the accomplishment of its work. Our ultimate trust and loyalty must lie with either the world and its methods or with Christ and His.
Some point to Mark 12:14-17 as an example of Jesus mingling Kingdom and politics. However, a closer look reveals it actually to be an object lesson on keeping them separate. Others will point to Acts 22:25-29 as an example of where Paul used identity politics to get himself out of trouble. However, it’s more accurate to say that he exploited a political loophole to advance the Kingdom.
Given all this, it would seem that a believer strives to do two things at the same time. The first is to try to distance themselves from the influence of world systems. The second is to strive to live in the present reality of the Kingdom.
Read these two objectives again.
Read them slowly and let them sink in.
We’ll need to keep them in the forefront of our minds as we move forward.
Here we’ve laid the foundation.
In the next post, we’ll talk more about entanglement itself. We’ll discuss why Christians become entangled and how we often cope with inconsistencies between our faith and our politics.