Should Christians Be Political?

Should Christians be political?

There seems to be a general consensus that our country (the United States) has somehow gotten ‘on the wrong track’ lately. Many people I talk to have plenty of complaints, and yet no one seems to understand what to do to correct this trend. Is there anything that can be done? The resounding answer to this question is YES! What then can we, as Christians, do to help correct this wayward path? The answer is found in the Word of God, and in our own history as a nation.

The first thing we need to do – indeed what must be done – is for the people of God to submit themselves to God and His design for our lives. Part of this design is for us to be involved in the politics and government of this nation. There are many who claim a supposed ‘separation’ of church and state, but this is a fallacy. According to the Founding Fathers, and multitudes of others involved in the leadership of this nation in the past, our country was founded upon the principles of God and His Word. Not only was the United States founded upon the precepts of God’s Word, it was particularly based on the tenants of the New Testament.

I know that this idea seems (at least to many, many Americans) to be contrary to current political thought, but the lack of understanding our heritage is precisely why we have devolved into the morass of legal and social problems we currently face. Let’s hear from a few important figures from the past to see what they thought the role of a Christian ought to be in becoming involved in politics;

“Now, more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high qualities to represent them in the national legislature.”
President James A Garfield (1)

*It should be noted that Mr. Garfield was not only involved in politics, but that he made opportunity to preach sermons based on God’s Word.

“The church must take right ground in regard to politics…[T]he time has come that Christians must vote for honest men and take consistent ground in politics…Christians have been exceedingly guilty in this matter. But the time has come when they must act differently…God cannot sustain this free and blessed country which we love and pray for unless the church will take right ground…It seems sometimes as if the foundations of the nation are becoming rotten, and Christians seem to act as if they think God does not see what they do in politics. But I tell you He does see it, and He will bless or curse this nation according to the course [Christians] take.”    
Charles Finney (2)

“Providence has given our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as privilege and interest, of a Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
John Jay (3)

“Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution and the Amendments, the universal sentiment was that Christianity should be encouraged, but not any one [denomination]…In this age there can be no substitute for Christianity…That was the religion of the founders of the republic, and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.”
United States Congressional Committee Report (4)

It seems pretty clear, at least to me, that God has placed us in this country to enact what Jesus calls us to be; a body of believers which exerts a heavenly influence on the world around us;

Matt 5:13
 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

1 – John M. Taylor, Garfield of Ohio: The Available Man (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1970), p. 180, quoted from “A Century of Congress.” By James A. Garfield, Atlantic, July 1877.

2 – Charles G. Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1868, first published in 1835), Lecture XV, pp. 281-282.

3 – John Jay, The Correspondence and Public Papers of John Jay, ed. Henry P. Johnston, A.M. (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890-93), p. 318.

4 – Reports of the Committees of the House of Representatives, pp. 6, 8-9.