I remember being taught, in school, the idea of separation between church and state. It was a pinnacle topic in classes like American History or Civics. Maybe it was just my perspective, but I took from those classes that without this wall of separation, the U.S government would be enforcing religion, specifically Christianity, upon the people, and if the government made any laws, regulations, or judgments with any connection to religion or influence from religion, it would be breaching the wall that separated these two great institutions.
I can also remember, as a lifelong churchgoer, the emphasis from within the church that said, “Don’t bring politics into the pulpit,” or “Politics do not belong in the church.” Again, the key enforcing phrase that would soon float to the surface of a conversation between two Christians would be, “because of separation of church and state.” So, I, like many of you, have never heard much about government and politics from within a church, much less a series of sermons from the pulpit, and because we are products of our raising, we may even feel uncomfortable with wandering into this unknown territory. It reminds me of the scene in The Lion King when Simba wanders into the forbidden realm of the kingdom, the elephant graveyard.
So then, why do a sermon series on government and politics? I want to use this first article to answer that question, and perhaps warm you up to the idea, that government and politics are not the elephant graveyard of Christianity, but instead a place that Christians ought to visit, understand, and bring the light of the Kingdom into its darkness.
Here are three reasons why we should do a sermon series on government and politics (there are more, but we will just focus on these). We could also say these are three reasons why government and politics should be a topic that comes up in the life of the church.
The scriptures teach us that we should do all things for the glory of God. (1 Cor 12:31)
Government and politics fall under the category of “all things” since we are passively and/or actively participating in them.
One of the tasks of the church is to equip and edify Christians in their pursuit of glorifying God in all things, and as stated above, government and politics include all things.
DO ALL THINGS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
Today, Christianity’s influence has shrunk, I am not referring to its influence in the world, but in the lives of Christians. We are in a time of church history where Christianity is mostly about life after death and has no bearing on what happens in this life, day to day. For many Christians, their faith is practiced on Sunday morning when they enter the church doors, but their faith does not play a large part in the various aspects or compartments of their lives: relationships, parenting, careers, finances, etc. Christians have separated their faith from certain aspects of their lives, and most have done this unknowingly. In large part, this is because the Christian church has been focused on “getting people to heaven”, unintentionally equating it to getting a life insurance policy (get it established, make a regularly scheduled payment, then live your life as you please). This way of approaching salvation undermines God’s purpose for the gospel and the power that the gospel contains. If all God cared about was getting people to heaven, then there would be no need for two-thirds of the New Testament because the majority of the New Testament is instruction on Christian living. So, the first thing we must understand is that the gospel does not just save our lives but also informs and transforms our lives.
The Gospel Informs and Transforms Our Lives
Christ died not just for the forgiveness of your sins, but that you might live a life free from the bondage of sin. Romans 6 breaks this down for us beautifully and summarizes it this way,
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions… thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:11-12, 17-18
This section of Romans emphasizes how the gospel affects who we are and redirects our purpose for living. In Christ, God has cut you free from the bondage of sin. Now live for God through obedience to God.
This is the effect of faith in Christ. This is what happens when the gospel of Jesus saves you, it informs and transforms your heart, mind, and will for the sake of living for God through obedience to God. But we must make sure to understand how much of our lives are to be informed and transformed by the gospel. The answer is simple, all of it, because Christ died for you, not just your ticket to heaven, but he purchased you with his blood.
You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20
The Christian life is a life lived for the glory of God because Christ’s life, death, and resurrection are for your life after death and your life in the flesh, on this side of the grave. It matters how you live, and it matters what you do because we are called by God to do everything for the glory of God through the gospel of Christ, even in the sphere of government and politics.
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
The Danger of Compartment Christianity
When Christ and His word do not influence all areas of life (parenting, finances, politics, etc.), then Christians are in grave danger of being influenced by the world. It is that black and white, you are either influenced by God or by the world, how you parent, how you budget, how you vote, and let us keep in mind the words of John:
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:17
When we submit all our life to Christ, the major influence over our way of life is “every word from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). This would direct our actions and choices towards righteousness and love and obedience to God and selflessness towards others. In contrast, as 21st-century Americans, the world’s influence directs us in the way of self-preservation, self-exaltation, and self-satisfaction, usually pitting us against God’s standards of justice and righteousness.
Whenever the world is our influence, the self is always exalted, and when self is exalted then all biblical principles and morals go out the window, and for all our benefit, others are negatively affected by our selfish pursuits. But when we exalt God, we are influenced by God to humility. We are ready to make sacrifices for the good of others. We are willing to live with the consequences of our behaviors, and we will focus not on self-preservation, self-exaltation, and self-satisfaction but on what is righteous, just, and good for others. (Philippians 2:3-4)
As Christians, we must understand and never forget that Christ’s work is more than the forgiveness of our sins which gives us access to the presence of God in the end, but it has set us free from the bondage of sin now so that we can live a life that is pleasing to God through obedience to His word and His law.
Remember Jesus’ scary words in Matthew 7, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” He directed these words to a people who had made a profession of faith, but when Christ examined their faith, he judged their lives as lawlessness.
We cannot compartmentalize our lives and separate what we do not want Christ to influence. We should hold all we do to the standard of 1 Peter 1:15-16, “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.” This includes submission to governing authorities and all participation in the political system.
This leads us to why we would and should focus on government and politics at church, specifically, from the pulpit.
PASTORAL GUIDANCE REGARDING GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
An honest look at the scriptures and the history of mankind clearly reveals that people need guidance and direction. Businesses have managers. The military has officers. Churches have elders (aka pastors). Sports teams have coaches and captains. Imagine any of these groups of people without their leaders. Leadership brings unity, direction, and clarity to a group of people. This is part of the responsibility Christ handed over to the elders of churches, to lead the church. When God designed the church, he knew the church needed leadership because people need direction, care, and order. Here are two guiding principles from scripture that teach the necessity of pastoral guidance for the church.
1. Where there is no guidance, a people will fall. (Proverbs 11:14)
2. In local churches, this guidance is the responsibility of the elders. The responsibility of the elders (pastors) of a church is to “equip and edify” the church so that the church can accomplish its God-given purpose. (Ephesians 4:11-14)
These two principles apply to all of life, from parenting, relationships, worship, and yes, even our involvement with government and politics. Elders are not only tasked with leading their churches through living the Christian life, but they will give account to God for the souls that they lead (Hebrews 13:17). Let us conclude this article by looking at a couple of scriptures regarding the work at hand for the elders of local churches.
The Work of the Elders
Ephesians 4:11-12
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…
Notice what the “shepherds and teachers” (we understand shepherds and teachers to be the elders of the church) are accomplishing in the church, namely equipping and building up the saints, the body of Christ. This means that the care and instruction that come from pastors are meant to equip the church with the tools needed to live the Christian life in service to God and also strengthen them for the sake of being what they are called to be in this life, the body of Christ. The next scripture shows us the end goal of the elder and how he is to achieve that goal through the proclamation of Christ and godly wisdom.
Colossians 1:28-29.
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
We can summarize Paul’s goal in ministry as maturity in Christ at the end of life for everyone who is under his ministry. He strives towards this goal by “proclaiming, warning, and teaching everyone with all wisdom…” A pastor’s responsibility is to lead Christians towards Christlikeness in all of life through preaching and teaching, and there are no parts of life that should not be affected by the holy scriptures. Let me repeat. There are no parts of life that should not be affected by the holy scriptures. There are no subjects of life to which God has not given instruction and wisdom, which includes our submission and participation in government and politics.
Without Biblical Guidance, the Church Will Wander
Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in the abundance of counselors there is safety. Proverbs 11:14
This passage tells the tale of the current state of the church in the U.S., especially when it comes to a biblical understanding and involvement in government and politics. The church is wandering without direction and guidance, with multiple factions within pointing in different directions saying, “This is the way.” I felt this sense of wandering as a young Christian, not hearing from the pulpit what the bible says about how we are to navigate government and politics as Christians. What I fear is happening within the church regarding this topic, is that a lack of biblical guidance has created a vacuum, and the world is starting to fill the space. Christians are being informed by their hearts and not the scriptures, and this is dangerous and deadly. The human heart is full of “evil continually” (Genesis 6:5) and “deceitful above all things” (Jeremiah 17:9), and secular powers and politicians know how to pull on the heartstrings of fallen man, not for the sake of governing or for the sake of justice and peace but for the sake of keeping power.
So why preach on government and politics? The short answer is that government and politics are a part of our lives, and we are to do all things for the glory of God in pursuit of Christlikeness, and the only way to inform that way of living is through the power of the scriptures. The scriptures have the power to overcome our sinful desires and thoughts and to redirect us towards holiness, obedience, and worship in all that we do, and from where else can we receive that power if we do not receive it from behind the pulpit of our local churches?
O man, what is good; And what doth the LORD require of thee, But to do justly, and to love mercy, And to walk humbly with thy God? Micah 6:8
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