Why Christians should Get Involved in Politics
Are you a hider? Do you stay comfortable and safe in your Christian bubble?
While we meet together, pray together, worship together, support one another in our needs and our weakness, and hear the teaching of the Word together, we are not meant to stay entirely inside that bubble.
15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
John 17:15-16
It is safer to zip ourselves up in a little Christian bubble and wait until judgment day. Hiding away is what so many Christians do, consciously or otherwise. We need to resist the temptation to hide away.
He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
3 Go! I am sending you out like "lambs among wolves".
Luke 10:2-3
We too are called to go out into the world and deliver the good news. This means building relationships with people who are not Christians. Our calling to engage with the world of politics and current affairs goes beyond the Great Commission to share the gospel and win souls for Christ. We are also called by God to seek peace and prosperity of the "city I have called you into"
"Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7
This means that we are called to seek the good of the society in which we have been placed not distance ourselves from the culture or the people. Even if society is strongly opposed to you, you actively seek the good of those around you. In the Biblical Accounts of Daniel and Joseph, both men rose to high levels of government. They were called as we are to be wise and appropriate in how we share the gospel and to live good and quiet lives. We are not called to play other people's games and give them the confrontations they desire. God did not call either man to sabotage or sulk; he called them to serve, as we are.
If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them.
James 4:17 NIV
"When we live in a society where we see poverty, homelessness, or injustice, or see people whose lives are miserable and we know we could do something to make those lives better.
I believe that it is sinful when we do not roll our sleeves up and do something to help.
This means that if we follow Jesus, we should not be hermits when it comes to politics. We should seek to understand politics and pray for and have a heart for those who are our leaders locally and nationally. We do not need to agree with them to love them."
A Mucky Business-Tim Farron
I want to encourage all Christians to engage with politics, care about the issues, enter into the process, understand the debates, listen and speak to politicians, and pray for our country and its leaders. The Bible teaches us that today's leaders and politicians are flawed, and their tenure is temporary. We know that God uses all things for good and that all creation matters, especially human beings.
Politics may not be a gentleman's business but I hope I have persuaded some of you to step out of your bubble.
It is not that frightening at all...
Comments