The Bible mentions political structures, laws, and leaders. The mere mention of these topics demonstrates that God cares about the way we engage with our political environment. So what does the Bible say about politics?
God's Word says:
• We (humankind) were meant to be a theocracy, with God as our King, but we rejected God as Ruler and asked for a human king—which had consequences.
"So all the elders of Israel ... said to Samuel, '... appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.'
When they said, 'Give us a king to judge us,' Samuel considered their demand sinful, so he prayed to the Lord.
But the Lord told him, 'Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected Me as their king... Listen to them, but you must solemnly warn them and tell them about the rights of the king who will rule over them.' ... 'He can take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He can take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants. ... He can take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants. When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you on that day.'
The people refused to listen to Samuel. 'No!' they said. 'We must have a king over us..." (1 Samuel 8:4–9, 14–15, 17–20; emphasis mine)
"... Then [Pilate] told the Jews, 'Here is your king!'
But they shouted, 'Take Him away! Take Him away! Crucify Him!'
Pilate said to them, 'Should I crucify your king?'
'We have no king but Caesar!' the chief priests answered." (John 19:14–15)
And still, God is sovereign.
• Authority is given by God
"[God] removes kings and establishes kings." (Daniel 2:21)
"[Pilate] went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, 'Where are You from?'
But Jesus did not give him an answer. So Pilate said to Him, 'You’re not talking to me? Don’t You know that I have the authority to release You and the authority to crucify You?'
'You would have no authority over Me at all,” Jesus answered him, 'if it hadn’t been given you from above..." (John 19:9–11)
• We should obey civil laws (insofar as we are not disobeying God)
"Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval. For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong." (Romans 13:1–4)
• We should seek the good of our community, even though we do not ultimately belong here
"Seek the welfare of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it has prosperity, you will prosper." (Jeremiah 29:7)
To me, this entails voting for policies that align with biblical values. Because God is the Creator and Designer of life, His ways certainly work best for all humanity, regardless of their acknowledgement of Him (or lack thereof). Now, the problem is that there is a discrepancy in how each person perceives various policies to be aligned with Scripture (or not). More on that later.
• We should pray for our leaders
"First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1–4)
I have selected a portion of these passages to establish my point, but I encourage you to go to these passages to read the surrounding text for deeper understanding.
So, for us as Christians, politics matter. What next? Things looks pretty grim when you look at the news through a biblical lens.
Next week we will look at hope for Christians in today's political climate. Thanks for staying with me in this exploration of a touchy subject. Please feel free to share your thoughts below!
Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash.
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