FROM
God & Politics,
SEP/OCT 1994
Can Politics Save?
Ken Jones
©1994,
1998 Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
Can politics save? Any professing Christian would answer with an emphatic
no! But that's only if the topic of conversation is the doctrine of
salvation. However, when the subject turns to certain hot political
issues, often, what sounded like absolute, unconditional doctrine is
transformed into a political viewpoint. There seems to be an increasing
tendency to blur the distinctive doctrines of the Christian faith and
judge the integrity of Christian profession by political views rather
than by doctrine. This "labeling" is being done by both Christians
and non-Christians alike. When we hear such terms as the Christian Right,
it leads to some rather legitimate questionsare those the views
of all Christians? Am I any less of a Christian if my views differ in
any way? Such questions demonstrate the dangers of crossing the lines
between Christianity and politics. But what's at issue here? What would
even prompt such a question as can politics save?
What is Salvation?
I believe the problem can be understood from a twofold perspective;
first, the failure to clearly and accurately define salvation. Salvation
in the context of Scripture (See Ephesians 2:1-10) infers two things:
to be saved from something (the wrath of God), and to be saved for something
(the glory of God). We are saved because God has justified usthat
is, declared us righteous because of Christ. However, salvation is seldom
presented in these terms. What we are saved from is generally ignored,
with all of the emphasis being placed on that for which we are saved.
Without a sound understanding of what we are saved from many contemporary
Christians are confused also as to that for which we are saved. As defined
above, we are saved for God's glory Ephesians 2:6-7 "And has raised
us up together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; That in the ages
to come he might show exceeding riches of his grace in his kingdom toward
us through Christ Jesus." The popular conception is that we are
the "Kings Kids," saved to be healthy, wealthy and wise, saved
to perform great signs and wonders, saved to "build the kingdom
of God."
Such a misunderstanding as to God's purpose in saving us naturally
leads to a misunderstanding of the Christian's place in society. It
is at this point that politics can become problematic for Christians,
which leads to the second aspect of our twofold perspective, misunderstanding
the nature and intent of politics.
What is Politics?
The nature and intent of salvation is transcendentreaching beyond
time and space, whereas politics per se concerns the governing of individuals
in time. As a matter of fact, the Greek words associated with "polis"
(city), give us words like "citizen." So, as "polis"
is "city," politics is that which concerns the welfare of
the city; specifically, the "city of man," not the "city
of God." So for the purpose of clarity, when we speak of politics,
we are referring to the laws and institutions governing our local, state,
national and even international citizenship. Of course, we are told
in Scripture (Phil 3:20) that as Christians our citizenship is in heaven,
but this does not mean we have no citizenship on planet earth. On the
contrary, such passages only demonstrate the transcendent nature of
our salvation. Passages like Romans 13:1-17 and 1 Peter 2:12-15 make
is clear that our heavenly citizenship does not exempt our being subject
to earthly rulers. Hebrews 13:14 sums it up nicely: "For here we
have no continuing cry, but we seek one to come." So we are subject
to those who have rule over us and we are free to participate in the
political process, but it is critical for us to understand the limitations
inherent within the political systems of fuller humanity. While there
is some good that can and does arise from human political institutions
even at their best they lack saving power. Our best and brightest statesman
and woman, our most helpful programs, are not to be confused with our
Savior. This looking to a political figure or to the nation or state
for salvation was a large part of the problem of the zealots of Jesus'
day in that case of the former, and of the Romans, in the case of the
latter, and it defines much of the political activism of Christians
in America today.
The Scriptures provide us with examples of godly men involved in the
political process, such as Joseph in Genesis, Daniel and Nehemiah in
the books that bear their names. While these men used their positions
and influence for the good of society they clearly understood their
salvation to be distinct from their political activity. We do not see
these men attempting to politicize the kingdom of God or to spiritualize
their secular service. To do so would be to elevate politics to a level
that invades the redemptive office of our Lord and Savior. The church
is no more an instrument of the state than the state is an extension
of the church. But this is exactly the impression that is given by certain
Christian political concern groups.
Harold Bloom, a secular Jew, seems to have a solid grasp of the problem
in his book, The American Religion: The Emergence of the Post-Christian
Nation, where he states,
"I argue in this book that the American Religion, which is so
prevalent among us, masks itself as Protestant Christianity yet has
ceased to be Christian. It has kept the figure of Jesus, a very solitary
and personal Jesus, who is also the resurrected Jesus rather than
the crucified Jesus or the Jesus who ascended again to the Father.
I do not think that the Christian God has been retained by us, though
he is invoked endlessly by our leaders, and by our flag-waving President
in particular, with special favor in the context of war. But his invoked
force appears to be the American destiny, the God of our national
faith. The most Gnostic element in the American Religion is an astonishing
reversal of ancient Gnosticism: we worship the Demiurge as God more
often than not under the name of manifest necessity. As for the alien
God of the Gnostic, he has vanished, except for his fragments or sparks
scattered among our few elitists of the spirit, or for his shadow
in the solitary figure of the American Jesus."
It is interesting that a non-Christian has the insight to understand
that the attempt to define Christianity in political or patriotic terms
is a departure from historic Christianity. Again, these observations
are not to be constructed as implying that Christians should be politically
dispassionate or unpatriotic. But it is to say that there is no political
consensus or legislative agenda that is tantamount to a Christian mandate.
Our salvation is solely in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross in
whom we are to put absolute trust. We are notnor is our nationsaved
by having faith in Christ plus being aligned with the Christian Right.
Neither are we saved by faith in Christ plus voting Republican or Democrat.
The addition of anything to the completed work of Christ is a perversion
of the Gospel of grace. The brutal truth is, we can be politically naive,
immature, irresponsible or pathetic and it has absolutely no bearing
on our salvation. Whatever this may say about our civic mindedness,
it says nothing about our spiritual status. On the other side of the
coin, a person may be quite moral, politically aware and vote the "right"
way on all the hot issues but apart from Jesus Christ he or she is still
a child of hell.
Consider the case of George Whitefield, that great 18th century evangelist
of the Great Awakening, and the issue of slavery. Here is a case that
should reinforce the fact that what we are politically is to be viewed
apart from what we are spiritually. Whitefield, from all indications,
seemed to believe that the black slaves of the American colonies were
men and women created in the image of God and should be respected as
such. He had an overwhelming desire to educate them and to preach the
Gospel of Christ to them. Yet, Whitefield used his considerable influence
in an effort to bring slavery into Georgia. Some of Whitefield's contemporaries
disagreed with his position, but Christians and church leaders differing
on the issue of slavery was not uncommon. As an African-American, my
views of Whitefield's politics may be quite critical, although I consider
myself a spiritual heir to his evangelistic legacy.
The great British Baptist of the 19th century, Charles Spurgeon, was
quite adamant in his opposition to slavery even to the point where the
sale of his sermons in this country declined. But these instances only
underscore the fact that it is one's view of Christ that determines
salvation and not one's politics.
Whether the issue is slavery, civil rights, abortion, health care or
the death penalty, Christians have and will continue to hold to different
views be they right or wrong, but such political diversity must be understood
apart form unity in Christ.
There is much talk today about unity and solidarity among Christians,
but too often this a call to arms to the political views of the Christian
Right, as it was the Christian Left during the sixties. It would be
great to see such rallying around essential doctrines of the Christian
faith. The real problem, however, is not Christians being politically
active, which is in itself a good thing; it is the tendency to define
Christianity in political terms or by legislation. It is at this point
that we enter the realm of another gospel. This is what Harold Bloom
has called the "American Religion." Here's another observation
form Bloom's book:
"Unlike most countries, we have no overt national religion,
but a partly concealed one has been developing among us for some two
centuries now. It is almost purely experimental, and despite its insistence,
it is scarcely Christian in any traditional way. A religion of the
self burgeons, under many named, and seeks to know its own inwardness,
in isolation. What the American self has found, since about 1800,
is its own freedom from the world, from time, from other selves. But
this freedom is a very expensive torso, because of what it is obliged
to leave out: society, temporality, the other. What remains, for it,
is solitude and the abyss."
As Christians we should not isolate ourselves or put our heads in the
sand, but it is absolutely critical that we make the distinction between
the city of God and the city of man. It is our duty to make this world
a better place in which to live even as we remember that this world
nor America is not our Jerusalem, our city of Everlasting Peace.
The concepts of solidarity and diversity must be held in proper balance
when discussing Christianity and politics. As Christians we should be
solidified on the essentials of the Christian faith. With one voice
we should declare the one Gospel. Jesus does not declare himself to
be one of the ways to heaven or even the best way, he simply says that
he is "the way." The Gospel should be expressed in terms that
are equally absolute. Paul, in both Galatians 1:6-9 and 2 Corinthians
11:4, deals with the absolute singularity of the Gospel message. This
is why it is distressing to hear Christians respond to the question
of what is the Gospel, "to me the Gospel is..." Yet when it
comes to political issues, as pointed out above, we represent a diversity
of views. When we fail to be clear on what grounds we are to be absolutely
solidified as Christians we run the risk of misrepresenting our relationships
with non-Christians. In civic matters we are to be concerned about issues
that are important for all citizens, Christian and non-Christian alike.
Therefore we may find ourselves united with unbelievers or people of
different religions in our political involvement. This involvement or
participation should in no way be perceived as comprising the Gospel,
as it relates to our horizontal relationships on this plane. Other articles
in this issue will explain in more depth the distinctions between the
kingdoms of man and the kingdom of God. Suffice it to say here that
we are encouraged rather than forbidden to seek to make life better
on this plane. And in doing so we will find ourselves in league with
people of diverse religious backgrounds. But when it comes to salvation
we will part company, taking our position on the Gospel of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Confusion on this point will cause us to define
Christianity by political positions and to alienate non-believers on
issues which equally concern them and on which they may have positive
contributions.
Some seem to be on a crusade to win America back to God through the
political process. Time and space will not allow me to expound on how
unbiblical such a crusade is, but such confusion of America and of salvation
inevitably leads to a misunderstanding of evangelism. If salvation or
revival is attempted through the political process or the legislation
of morality, then evangelism will center on Capitol Hill, rather than
on Calvary's Hill.
To look at the world around us we should be outraged at the crime and
violence injustices, poverty and corruption. And we should use the political
process through personal involvement to make a change. But any positive
change should not be construed as salvation or returning America back
to God.
The Rev. Ken Jones is the pastor of Greater
Union Baptist Church in Compton (South Central Los Angeles), California,
and is a co-host of The White Horse Inn radio broadcast. Educated at Pepperdine
University and Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Ken is ordained
in the National Baptist and Southern Baptist Conventions jointly.
