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The Christian And Politics The
Question Is ...
What is really expected of a Christian? What is the right thing to do? Christadelphians believe that the Bible teaches us that we should avoid all involvement in politics and that the answer to each of the questions above is 'No'. But those who are not familiar with this point of view may well be puzzled by it. After all, isn't the right to vote an important part of life in any democratic society? Isn't democracy the best political system for a country, the way to ensure moderate policies and stability? Doesn't this require all of us to participate by playing our part in the political life of our country? Millions of respectable citizens vote; there are many sincere Christians who are active in politics; and it could be argued that it's actually part of a Christian's duty to see that their country is run properly. Surely Christians should exercise their right to vote, should try to get the right people into power and so help to improve society? It has even been suggested
that it is un-Christian not to vote. What would happen,
for example, if everybody abstained at election times?
Wouldn't it result in complete chaos for us all? How
could such a selfish attitude possibly be compatible with
a Christian outlook? All these points certainly
look like reasons for Christians to be willing to play a
responsible part in the way their country is managed,
especially if it is 'for the right motives'. So why do
Christadelphians take such a different view of these
important issues? Now these expressions are all very well if you are a humanist. If you don't believe in God, and you think that man is the author of his own destiny, then it's perfectly reasonable for you to believe that we can manage our own political affairs in a way which will bring about a better future for the world. But what about God's
instructions? What about the teachings of Jesus Christ?
Surely, if we claim to be Christians, followers of
Christ, then we cannot leave them out of our
considerations. Quite the opposite in fact, we must look
very carefully at what they tell us. Christadelphians
believe that it is only God's view on this subject that
matters -- as with every other aspect of our lives. So we
must turn to the Bible to read what He has to say about
our relationships with the societies in which we live.
What then does the Bible have to say about the Christian
and Politics? What is the positive teaching of the Word
of God?
It is vital for Christians
to understand these principles. They will help us to work
out exactly how we should respond to calls to vote or
become more deeply involved in the political process of
the country in which we live. "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:30) However, Nebuchadnezzar had a hard lesson to learn; three times in this same chapter the all important principle is repeated that: "The Most High rules the kingdom of men, and gives it to whom he will". To reinforce this principle, Nebuchadnezzar, the great ruler, was suddenly and dramatically struck down with mental illness, was driven away to make his home with animals, and was deprived of his kingdom until he humbled himself before God. Nebuchadnezzar rose from the most humble background to be the leader of a great empire. The world saw him as a man who succeeded through his own abilities, yet his life was ordered by God to teach us that God, and not man, is ultimately in control. When Nebuchadnezzar had
his sanity restored by God, he was honest enough to
acknowledge these lessons. "At the end of the days
I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my
reason returned to me, and 1 blessed the Most High, and
praised and honoured him who lives for ever ... he does
according to his will in the host of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or
say to him, What doest thou?" (Daniel 4:34-35)
"He does according to his will ... and none can stay
his hand". What implications there are in these
words for us as we listen to the promises and the claims
of the political leaders of our times! God's rule, as
Nebuchadnezzar came to know, "is an everlasting
dominion ..." This example of Cyrus
gives us a clear insight into how God works 'behind the
scenes' with men and nations. In Isaiah 45A, God refers
to this powerful ruler as "His anointed", even
though Cyrus himself was not consciously aware of God's
direct involvement in his life. "I call you by your
name, I surname you, though you do not know me", God
said to the king (verse 4). The remarkable thing about
these words is that they were given by God to the prophet
Isaiah, and written down by him, about 170 years before
Cyrus was born. At the time the name 'Cyrus' would mean
nothing! Why did God tell Isaiah that He would control
the actions of this man -- why was He willing to smooth
his path to victory after victory in his rise to power?
The prophet tells us why: it was so that the political
survival of God's people, Israel, would be assured. It
was done "for the sake of my servant Jacob, and
Israel my chosen" (verse 4). God's purpose with
Israel would be fulfilled by Cyrus, even though he didn't
know it at the time. Christadelphians believe
differently. We accept fully the authority of the Bible
and believe that it tells us of the unchanging and
everlasting rule of God throughout human history. To
unbelievers, a position of complete non-involvement in
political affairs seems to be a negative attitude to the
political challenges of the world. However, true
Christians are men and women who are convinced that God
is in control of human affairs, and that His plan and
purpose is being worked out on this earth, regardless of
what any man may do to thwart it. They believe that such
non-involvement is a positive and deliberate statement of
allegiance to God, and a complete subjection to His will.
Convinced that God is in control -- not man -- such
people take no part at all in politics. How are we to
know which of our leaders is the one God wants to be in
power? How shall we be sure, if we cast our vote, that we
are voting for the person who is the right one in God's
eyes? It is sufficient to know, and to be certain that
God's will shall be done "on earth, as it is in
heaven". "Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven". (Matthew 6:9-10) The Bible tells us that God, the Creator of this earth, has had one specific purpose in mind for it from the beginning of time. The Bible tells us quite unequivocally what that purpose is. The time is coming when God's laws will be enforced throughout the whole earth. The Word of God contains this divine political manifesto for the earth's future. It is a manifesto full of promises which God Himself will deliver, and towards which He is constantly at work in our world. Moreover, He gives us an absolute guarantee that what He has promised, he will deliver. "But truly, as I live
all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD."
(Numbers 14:21) The first takes us back again to king Nebuchadnezzar. This king had a dream of a giant statue of a man, made of five different metals. In his dream, the statue was knocked over by a stone and ground into powder by it. The stone then grew into a mountain which filled the whole earth. Perhaps not surprisingly, the king could not understand his dream and he needed the prophet Daniel to tell him its meaning (Daniel 2:36-45). The interpretation he gave is an intriguing and accurate political history of the nation of Israel and the nations which invade it, given in remarkable prophetic detail that can be mapped from Babylon to the present day. The precise identification of these various empires is a fascinating and rewarding subject. However the important point for us now to notice is that (in verses 44, 45) God declares His intention to set up His own kingdom, the establishment of which is foreshadowed by the work of the little stone in the dream: "The God of heaven (shall)
set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it
shall stand for ever." This, in a nutshell, is God's
political manifesto. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:13-14) Although the language used
in the book of Daniel is sometimes difficult to
understand, there can be no misunderstanding of this
passage. Here is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of Man. He is given authority by his Father to return
to the earth and to rule over it. All nations will serve
him. What a picture of power and authority this is! When
he comes, no-one will be able to resist him. The significance of this particular occasion is underlined by the fact that Jesus is on oath, and on trial for his life, before the highest civil and spiritual authority of first century Israel. The Jewish leaders, who hated Jesus, were trying to catch him on a charge of blasphemy, and wanted him to repeat his earlier claim to be "the Christ, the Son of God" (Matthew 26:63). Jesus, who always spoke the truth, could hardly deny that this was true. "Thou hast said" was his reply. This is a Jewish idiom equivalent to saying: 'You're quite right'. Jesus did not leave it there, however, he went on to identify himself to the High Priest as the one like 1he Son of Man" in Daniel 7; and he did this by quoting Daniel 7:13 and applying it to himself: "... nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." (Matthew 26:64) Jesus could hardly have been more explicit. He was telling the Jews that he was indeed the one promised by Daniel who would come to set up an everlasting kingdom on the earth. This is confirmed by the violent response of the High Priest who knew his Old Testament scriptures and who recognised that Jesus was applying Daniel's prophecy to himself. He was appalled at what he consid ered to be these blasphemous claims by Jesus. 'Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses?" No further need at all!
Jesus is the Son of Man and the stone of Daniel; and he
will both destroy the kingdom of men at his coming and
receive the eternal kingdom of his Father! Acts 3 gives us a helpful clue about when the "hereafter" might be. This is only the second time the Christian gospel was preached after the ascension of Jesus, and therefore the message is all the more significant. The preacher is the apostle Peter, who declares: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ ... whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:19-21) Peter confirms the good
news of the great promises made by God. His was not a new
message but a continuation of those things which God had
spoken of from the beginning of the world! What greater
assurance could there be that God's plan for the world
was still on course? This is what true Christians should
be preaching about and praying for today - the kingdom of
God on earth ruled over by His Son Jesus. This is the
only political manifesto with which true Christians
should get involved. This is the only solution to all the
world's problems which God Himself will bring about,
whatever men may say or do either to help or hinder Him.
"For who hath resisted His will?" (Romans 9:19).
Luke 20 contains one particularly important incident of this kind. The enemies of Jesus were keen to draw him into declaring his political allegiance. Was it right or wrong for a Jew to pay taxes to Rome? Here was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to show his solidarity with his people, downtrodden as they were by the cruel power of Rome and the rapacity of their greedy tax-gatherers. Yet the answer of Jesus rose right above the political issues, avoided the minefield of controversy, and placed the answer firmly back on the individual conscience. "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Luke 20:25) What a wonderfully balanced response this is for every disciple of Jesus Christ! His answer holds true for every generation - not just for oppressed Jews in his day. If we truly gave to God everything we should, then we should have very little time, energy, or resource to devote to any one or anything else. So while the reply of Jesus may seem to be just a brilliant piece of verbal diplomacy to get him out of a tricky situation, it is actually a searching challenge to every would-be Christian. Where is our true allegiance, and whose claims upon us take precedence? If we are really committed to God, then it is impossible for us to balance an interest in this world with our discipleship. God wants whole hearted believers whose political interests lie solely in the coming Kingdom of God for: "No one can serve two
masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the
other." (Matthew 6:24) It is worth remembering that the preparation that Jesus underwent in the wilderness, prior to his public ministry, included this very same challenge. One of the temptations he faced was to use his power to reign over the whole earth there and then (Matthew 4:8 ? 0). He knew that God's Kingdom on earth would one day be his. Many Old Testament prophets had promised this (including Daniel, as we have seen). The angel Gabriel had confirmed this to his mother (Luke 1:32-33). "All power in heaven and earth" had been promised to him by God (Matthew 28:18). But this would only happen in God's good time - it was God's timetable for these things which was important, not that which Jesus was tempted to implement. He had the power of God's Holy Spirit: he could do great good in the world, he could influence world politics more than any other man before or since. Yet he resisted this temptation because it was not part of God's plan. It was not for Jesus to try to seize the initiative from God, or to force his Father's hand. For this reason Jesus refused to use his popularity with the crowds to try to make his Father accelerate His manifesto programme. So the record tells us that: "Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself." (John 6:15) He had the wisdom to recognise that it was not yet the time for him to intervene in world affairs. Within a short time, however, the fickle crowds who wanted Jesus as their king had turned against him. Small wonder then that Pontius Pilate, when Jesus was brought before him on the charge of claiming to be the King of the Jews", should ask him point blank: "So you are a king?" (John 18:37). Pilate was used to rebels and zealots rising up against the power of Rome. However, he recognised that Jesus was different, and that the last thing he was guilty of was political resistance to the Roman power. Jesus had never agitated against Rome, and he was not guilty of the trumped-up charge. "I find no crime in him", was Pilate's conclusion after examining his case. "So are you a king?" was Pilate's somewhat puzzled question to Jesus; and the reply that Jesus gave explains his steadfast refusal to participate in the politics of his day. "Jesus answered, My
kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of
this world, my servants would fight ... but my kingship
is not from the world (or, my kingdom is from another
place)." (John 18:36, NIV) They were to learn from Israel of old. The apostle Peter, writing to Christian believers, said: "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people" (1 Peter 2:9). He told them that they were "as aliens and exiles" in the different countries where they lived (verse 11). The example they were to show to unbelievers was of quiet and humble obedience: "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution ... Fear God. Honour the emperor (verses 13,17). No doubt they remembered how, at the beginning of his ministry, Jesus spelled out to them what these things meant in practice. His discourse is found in Matthew 5-7 and we call it the Sermon on the Mount. In it Jesus gave direct answers to the questions we asked at the beginning of this booklet. We can summarise them in the table overleaf.
All of these things were then summed up by him with the wonderful instruction to each one of us: "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:32-33) For the true Christian,
nothing is more important than the coming Kingdom and our
personal preparation for it. As we read Paul's words, it is important to remember that he was an inspired apostle. He wrote as the mouthpiece of Christ and his words are part of the inspired Scriptures. He told of many aspects of the true Christian life, including this issue of whether or not we should become politically engaged in our own day. He said that his words were a matter of commandment - not just some kind of optional advice as to whether we follow the example of Jesus or not. Rather, as he put it in his Letter to the Philippians: "Let us hold true to what we have attained. Brethren, join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us." (Philippians 3:16-17) Paul warned that there would always be those who refused to behave like Jesus and the apostles; and he characterised them very accurately for us: "For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things." (3:18-19) Those who are more interested in the things of this present world are the enemies of Christ, however hard this may appear to be. But for those who, like Jesus, look for a kingdom "from another place", Paul's reminder is a great comfort, and a helpful guide to what our Christian outlook on the modern world should be. "But our commonwealth
(citizenship) is in heaven, and from it we await a
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly
body to be like his glorious body, by the power which
enables him even to subject all things to himself."
(3:20-21) Psalm 72 speaks of the wonderful things Christ will do at his return. "He shall ..." it says, as it records a time of prosperity and peace, of justice and righteousness that the Son of God will bring about on this earth. This is the manifesto worth voting for and giving all of our time and energy to. When he comes it will be the time spoken of by the apostle John: "The kingdom of the
world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his
Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation
11:15) It stands to reason that we cannot faithfully serve two masters. So let us make our choice between Christ and the leaders of this world. And if we really want results on which we can depend - peace of mind now, and eternal happiness to come - let us choose Christ as our representative and cast our vote for him, and him alone. REG CARR Reproduced by courtesy of the Christadelphian Magazine and Publishing Association by whom all rights are reserved. |
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