Church And Politics

For our [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20)

I am at the end of my three-year term as a member of the personnel committee of my church. One of the final tasks of my term is to bring in a new ministerial staff member. This week the personnel committee met with the candidate for an interview by the entire committee. In the process of the interview one of the committee members asked the candidate how he felt about politics in the church. He gave what I thought was an appropriate answer. Basically, he said that the church is not about politics but rather about accomplishing the Great Commission.[1] He said that if we teach the Bible correctly, politics will take care of itself. He pointed out that Jesus is neither Democrat nor Republican (nor was He a Pharisee or a Sadducee). As our lead verse (above) states, we are citizens of heaven, not of this world. This world is passing away, but our eternal home in heaven is without end.

I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. The primary focus of the Church – the Bride of Christ – is to enlarge His kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world. That said, the Church, whether it wants to be or not, is involved in politics and must be active in politics. While the Church is not of this world, yet we are in the world for the purpose of being salt and light in the world.[2] That does not mean that the Church must choose one political party or the other, but those parties, that direct our government make laws that either confirm or deny the Word of God. The Church must stand firmly on the Word of God in the world.

When Jesus said, “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), He did not mean that the gates of hell would attack the Church and somehow the Church would survive. Rather, He meant that the Church would storm the gates of hell and the gates of hell would not withstand the assault. However, it seems to me that the Church is not doing much assaulting lately, rather it seems to be in retreat.

Again, this does not have anything to do with picking a political party. In many ways, they are equally corrupt. However, the Church must stand against ungodliness regardless of the party that promotes it. To do that, the Church must get involved in politics, not partisanism.

Abortion is murder. It is the destruction of the image of God. Child sacrifice is an abomination to God; therefore, the Church must stand up against it with all the resources it can muster. Because politicians take tax dollars to fund Planned Parenthood, and make laws that protect the abortionists, the issue has become political and the Church must get involved.

The gay-rights alphabet movement tirelessly works to promote their perverted lifestyle onto the general public in an effort to “normalize” their perversion. They are not content to impose their aberration on the adult population; that is not enough. They go beyond and seek to corrupt little children with their deviance. This too, is an abomination to God, and He makes that very clear in His Word. Here again, politicians enthusiastically make laws to “protect” the twisted “rights” of sodomites. The Church must fight against such perversion, and that means getting involved in politics.

There are many other ungodly legislations that could be addressed. The crisis on our southern border for example, is a cesspool of human and drug trafficking. It is all an affront to God and His Word. If the Church is going to storm the gates of hell, it must get involved in politics.

How do we do this? Unless you are living under a rock, the evidence is all around us.  The news media (as far as it can be trusted) tells us it is taking place. There are other independent news outlets that can inform us on what the mainstream media withholds. There are many other Christian resources on platforms such as YouTube, Rumble and others that tell you what the mainstream media does not want you to hear. It takes effort, but God does not have us here in this world sit on our blessed assurance, watching the world go by on the way to hell. Pastors should be reading the new media almost as much as the Bible so that they can identify sinful legislation and those promoting it, regardless of political party, and call on the church to get involved in fighting it.

Just because the Church is non-partisan does not mean that it should not engage in politics. One way or another, the Church is involved in politics. It can either fight for righteousness or allow itself to be overcome by wickedness.

Notes:

[1]  Matthew 28:18-20

[2]  Matthew 5:13-16