“Politics is Not the Answer”…

…to what?  This phrase has become a common remark in Christian circles, a rebuke to Christians who participate in or encourage political involvement.  It sounds spiritual, it just isn’t.  Typically, it is followed up by a reminder of the failure of political involvement by Christians over the past few decades to have much effect…a bad return on investment, you could say.

The follow-up is normally a claim that “the answer” is evangelism and the preaching of salvation.  Before we go any further, note that I am not in any way diminishing the importance of evangelism.  We need more of it.  But let’s THINK about this.

If your roof leaks, is the answer : “evangelism”?  NO! it’s: “call the roofer”.  Does it make you a bad Christian because you did not respond to a leaky roof by going out witnessing?  How absurd!  But the same thing applies to civil government/politics.  If our civil rulers are not following the law, or passing ungodly laws, you can’t fix it by witnessing to your co-worker; no, in this case politics IS the answer.  And unless we learn that quickly, we stand to lose our liberties.

The sloppy thinking that is usually behind “politics is not the answer” has the same roots as the cause of the failure of Christians in the political realm.  The reason that the “Christian Right” has failed is not that Christians should not have been active.  No, it failed because Christians failed to engage their minds and apply Scriptural principles to civil government.  They got bogged down in petty, shallow political traps set for them by the big shots…mainly in the GOP.  Christians to this day continue to support politicians who mouth a few evangelical buzzwords and have an “R” behind their name while at the same time promoting the godless status quo that is destroying our nation.

So, politics IS the answer…to political problems.  And until Christians shed their shallow thinking and renew their minds (Romans 12:2) they will continue to be used for the godless purposes of the party leaders and others like them.  The Mid-Atlantic Reformation Society exists to encourage Biblical thinking.  Check out our audio downloads section, or better yet, join us for one of our third Tuesday lectures for a time of good food, fellowship, and learning.

~ Jim Mogel