Involvement

Nomodiphas: We have established that God is concerned about how governments function and He does have an opinion about how they should operate. Yet, like you mentioned before, the thought remains with many Christians that as Christians we should not be involved in politics. Men like Dr. Boyd say our focus should be on the Kingdom of God alone and not on worldly affairs, in fact when the church becomes involved in world affairs it hurts itself and the gospel. I told you that I think because we have been given the dignity of causality as individuals, it follows that we retain this dignity as a whole. But to be completely honest with you, I am not entirely convinced by my own argument. What do you think about this?

Philosophos: I would agree that as Christians our principal focus should be on the Kingdom of God; however this does not preclude involvement in earthly matters. Let me ask you this: can a person be both an active artist and a Christian, can the domain of art be a legitimate full time job for them.

Nomodiphas: I see no reason why not.

Philosophos: What if they become obsessed with their art and elevate it to a point where it becomes a higher priority than God?

Nomodiphas: In that case no. Nothing can take priority over God.

Philosophos: So one can be an artist so long as their art is kept in correct proportion to God? The problem is not their art itself, but rather how they view their art?

Nomodiphas: Correct.

Philosophos: What about business? Can a Christian man be a business man?

Nomodiphas: Of course.

Philosophos: What about the temptation of greed? What if he puts money ahead of God?

Nomodiphas: No man can serve two masters. A Christian can be a businessman so long as he does not make money his primary focus.

Philosophos: If these things are true then why would we view the domain of politics any different? Why is it that a man cannot be both a Christian and involved in politics?

Nomodiphas: Because there is a huge temptation for those involved in politics to put their focus on worldly affairs and not on God’s Kingdom.

Philosophos: But the temptation of greed does not preclude Christians from being involved in business. The fact is there are temptations in every field that have the potential to prevent Christians from keeping a correct focus on the Kingdom of God, but these temptations alone do not preclude us from being involved in them. There is no command in the Word of God for us to flee the world so that we may be free from temptation. On the contrary we are told that we must live in the world while not becoming of the world. We cannot say that the possibility of temptation disqualifies Christians for involvement in a particular for if that was the case Christians would be barred from all human activity. And if we excluded ourselves from all human activity, what witness to the truth would the lost souls of this world have?

Nomodiphas: I understand that we have to live on earth and we must work and interact with others and we shouldn’t view politics as some inherently evil field. But still, isn’t salvation the most important choice we will make in life? Shouldn’t that be our primary focus?

Philosophos: Undoubtedly it is. But consider the ministry of Jesus. Did Jesus go around just trying to get people saved? No, rather he invested his life primarily into twelve men and taught them how to live, He discipled them. When Jesus left He didn’t tell his disciples to go out and get the whole world ‘saved’ rather He told them to disciple the nations. All too often we Christians go into an area and evangelize and then leave. Without following up conversion with teaching, newly Christianized areas do not see the transformation that they should. They often look no better, sometimes even worse than non-Christianized areas. This should not be. God has given us the truth of how to live and obedience to this truth should be accompanied by blessings. There are Godly principles of how education should work, how business should operate, how a family should function, and how the government should be structured. While these are temporal concerns and less important than eternal salvation; they are important nonetheless because it is through these spheres that we Christians can demonstrate God’s heart on a number of issues.

For example, when family operates according to God’s principles we can demonstrate community and belonging. When government is run in a Godly fashion it shows God’s justice. The church is designed to demonstrate God’s mercy, art illustrates beauty, and the purpose of education is to give knowledge. God has given people passion and ability to operate within these spheres in order to demonstrate the things that He values. In order to get people saved we need not leave our jobs, we can be witnesses to God’s truth by rightly understanding His principles and demonstrating them in the areas in which we have gifting and passion.

Within these spheres we are to act differently depending on the situation. As a citizen of God’s Kingdom and member of the church I am to have mercy and forgive those that harm me. However, if I am a judge I have a duty to be just and punish those that break society’s laws. If someone strikes me I am to turn the other cheek, but this reaction would not be appropriate if I was a police officer in uniform. We are to be just and merciful always, but demonstrate one depending on the situation (just as God is both just and merciful, but advances these values in different ways at different times). The church is to demonstrate mercy and the government is to be just. While working within the sphere of the church it would be wrong to not forgive just as it would be inappropriate to show mercy while in the position of a representative of the government. . . . That is enough of this for now; I am getting ahead of myself. We’ll discuss these distinct spheres and how they interact with each other and the damage that is done when they are confused at a later time.

To quickly sum things up, the Bible is full of examples of Godly men who are involved in government. Moses and King David would be obvious examples, but consider men like Joseph and Daniel. Both of them lived in secular societies. They did not think it was wrong to be involved in the government even though the people around them did not know the Truth. Instead they sought to demonstrate God’s truth in the domain they were gifted in and passionate about—it is their example that we should try to follow. We live in a secular society, yet we may be involved in politics and by doing so we can be a witness to God’s truth. We should never put our hopes in the things of this world nor should we make them our primary focus, but it is ok and even good to invest energy into temporal things for by doing this we can reveal God’s values and lead people to the Truth.