Should Christians be involved in politics? If you read what I post here, you will already know that I think involvement in political action, like our behavior in every other part of life, should be motivated and guided by our faith, applied as conscientiously as we are able. We are subjects of a Sovereign Lord and citizens of a particular country in a particular time. In an article titled "Aliens and Citizens" at Christianity Today, Jordan Hylden discusses the tension. Two short excerpts from a very good essay:
.... Christians have always been caught in the tension between the city of God and the city of man, and negotiating the claims of the two in this already-but-not-yet world of ours has never been easy. But difficult as it may be, no less an authority than Jesus told us that we have to try: "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and unto God what is God's." Some Christians argue that the gospel is too large if it gets involved in politics, while others (such as liberation theologians) argue that the gospel is too small if it is not first and foremost political. But thinking rightly about gospel politics means not letting either side of the biblical paradox go. ....Aliens and Citizens | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction
The trick is never forgetting where we come from, where our true homeland lies, and which Sovereign we ultimately serve. The second-century Letter to Diognetus described the Christian life in the world this way: "They live in their own countries, but only as aliens; they have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. ... They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven."
It's not a bad way to put it. "In this world we have no abiding city," as Scripture tells us—but so long as we are here, our call is to work and pray that our Father's will be done "on earth as it is in heaven." That's gospel politics. [more]
The article is the exact capsulization of all my frustrations and fears about Christians becoming too involved in "American" politics. In a way that I've never been able to express, this author captures both my frustrations and the solution: for us to live what we believe in such a way that our political involvement is yet another way to honor Jesus Christ in our lives and as Christians, but not the only way, and perhaps not even the best way. Good stuff.
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