Christian and Politics
This is for persons who think that Christian should not be involved in politics and for Christians and others who will find it useful. Notwithstanding our shortcomings, God knows we need Christians in politics. We need politics to be practiced faithfully, in sum and substance, we need faithful politics.
I grew up in a home where asking a blessing before a meal and saying prayers before bed were a daily facts of life. A caring, loving church family nurtured me. In secondary school i was apart of group that start a Bible club that had 50% of the school population and that support my preaching habit. I went thru out the length of Guyana, preaching. I became one of the leading voices in youth conference and camp meetings across the country. Finally I start to share the pulpit with the pit of politics and the reason was a rough family and a tough neighbourhood, i had to do something.
“How can you be a Christian and be in politics?” I hear this question from people of faith all the time. They seem startled that a young Minister want to run for and serves in public office. To answer this question, we can begin by asking what the meaning of the word politics means. We get the word, as well as some of our central ideas about politics from the ancient Greeks. For them, the term politics referred to the interaction of Greek citizens in their city-state, the polis. As one Scholar put it, ‘Politics is the polis, or civil community, ordering its life together on the basis of the public good. And to be human is to be a participant in that kind of community’. In fact, the Greek considered any person outside the Polis to be a nonhuman, a “barbarian”. Politics involves what we do together to try to make our shared life better, recognizing that sometimes the actual result can be that we make our life together worse.
The organised face of politics is government. Government is the collection of institution and laws that develop out of the often chaotic process of people engaged in politics. We may like or dislike our government, but it is what we have made ourselves in our attempt to create a better life together. If we more or less like the government we have, we ought to maintain it and keep it healthy. If we don’t like the government we have, we should change it for the better. In both cases we will be involved in politics.
Many of us feel we have all the government we can stand and more than we can afford. We strongly, instinctively react against politics when we consider waste of resource, fraud, corruption, deception, arrogance, misuse of authority and burdensome taxes. Many people of faith hold this view politics and they also believe that government in recent decades has contributed to moral decline and the weakening of traditional values.
As frustrating and maddening as government and politics can be, they are necessary and they are often forces for good. Politics is how crippled children walk, the mentally ill get care, road are built, health care is provided, children are taught. It is through the political process, through electing people to represent us, that government works, doing the things we ourselves - as the polis - ask it to do.
Among the other things, we ask government to provide for the National Defence, to build roads, airport, foster a business climate for economic prosperity, protect workers, support needy children, protect us from hazardous waste, educate children, prevent and punish crime, promote good health, and defend our constitution right to free speech, association and worship.
What does the bible say?
“Seek the welfare of the city where i have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare”. (Jeremiah 29:7). The epigraph of this verse captures the essence of a biblical understanding of citizenship and government. The highest purpose of politics is to achieve or repair the state of wholeness and fairness. It will never be achieved fully in this life but it is the ideal for which people of faith are required to work. Politics today see to be far from peace. Political activity is increasingly marked by anger, unprincipled attacks and mean spiritedness. Political campaigns and even everyday governance are seen as war.
The fight for political power and status is an old problem. Remember the disciples arguing about who was the greatest? You can hear them jockeying for the position of the Prime Ministerial, Jesus top gun, his right hand man but as a Christian citizen healing the wounds of our society is our calling.
One simple way of expressing a Christian understanding of politics is to point out that politics and society should reflect the character of God. One characteristic of God is to love justice. God does not just have affection for justice; God demand it. Because God is just, He insists that society also be just. The bible reveals poverty as the result of society failure to ensure justice (Isaiah 58:6-12, Jeremiah 22:13-16). When a society is not just everyone suffer. A nation that ignores or undermine justice will not be exalted but only be disgrace. The work of politics includes protecting lives from drunken drivers, from fools with guns, domestic violence, etc. Also to defend our freedom, this is the liberties that citizens demand from their government.
When I ask Christian, why don’t you want to be involved in politics? Many say that they do want to “compromise their principles” or “dirty their hands”. Indeed, many assume a Christian cannot enter politics without compromising beliefs or integrity. I agree that compromise, in the sense of abandoning core value is a danger. But i can assure you that for the last three years with me in politics ‘i have never done that and will never’. However, whether or not we like it, compromise in politics is a necessity and more so a moral good.
Nothing is more important than that a Politician be a person of character. Character is value in action and it defines who we are more than any other measures. A faithful politician is committed to the biblical concepts of justice, freedom, compassion and life. But it is not enough simply to say that one is for these things. Politician must practically demonstrate their commitment by their political records or by a detailed indication of what policies and practices they will support.
What am i really saying; for the believer, politics is one way among many to put faith into action. If you are a believer and a citizen of a free country, your faith will whether you seek it or not, have a political expression. If you vote, hold office, or work for a political and social cause, the many choices you make will reflect your conscious and unconscious conclusion about God and society. If you don’t vote or otherwise engage in shaping your society, you are saying either that God has nothing to say to you about matters that affect you or that you are refusing your own God given right.
God want us to be good citizen. Being a good citizen is hard work. It is also faithful work. It contributes to creating a society in which God’s creature can thrive and God’s creation can be protected. It is good for you, for those you love, and for those who share life with you. Being a good citizen is an important responsibility. Good citizen participate in the political life of society, showing respect for laws and the process through which laws are made and they do not blindly obey laws that do not square with morality.
Good citizens understand the important and relevant issues facing their community and do the difficult work of discernment to make informed decisions and to pursue their vision of good. Good citizen express their opinions and have a voice in society, whether through their vote, letters to the newspapers, involvement in a local group, or support a political party. Good citizen also listen attentively and compassionately to the needs and perspectives to their fellow citizens.
What is our National Purpose as Christian? What is the Christian vision for Guyana? Are you a good citizen? If not, why?
Watch out for Part 2 – How to select a candidate/Political Party
I grew up in a home where asking a blessing before a meal and saying prayers before bed were a daily facts of life. A caring, loving church family nurtured me. In secondary school i was apart of group that start a Bible club that had 50% of the school population and that support my preaching habit. I went thru out the length of Guyana, preaching. I became one of the leading voices in youth conference and camp meetings across the country. Finally I start to share the pulpit with the pit of politics and the reason was a rough family and a tough neighbourhood, i had to do something.
“How can you be a Christian and be in politics?” I hear this question from people of faith all the time. They seem startled that a young Minister want to run for and serves in public office. To answer this question, we can begin by asking what the meaning of the word politics means. We get the word, as well as some of our central ideas about politics from the ancient Greeks. For them, the term politics referred to the interaction of Greek citizens in their city-state, the polis. As one Scholar put it, ‘Politics is the polis, or civil community, ordering its life together on the basis of the public good. And to be human is to be a participant in that kind of community’. In fact, the Greek considered any person outside the Polis to be a nonhuman, a “barbarian”. Politics involves what we do together to try to make our shared life better, recognizing that sometimes the actual result can be that we make our life together worse.
The organised face of politics is government. Government is the collection of institution and laws that develop out of the often chaotic process of people engaged in politics. We may like or dislike our government, but it is what we have made ourselves in our attempt to create a better life together. If we more or less like the government we have, we ought to maintain it and keep it healthy. If we don’t like the government we have, we should change it for the better. In both cases we will be involved in politics.
Many of us feel we have all the government we can stand and more than we can afford. We strongly, instinctively react against politics when we consider waste of resource, fraud, corruption, deception, arrogance, misuse of authority and burdensome taxes. Many people of faith hold this view politics and they also believe that government in recent decades has contributed to moral decline and the weakening of traditional values.
As frustrating and maddening as government and politics can be, they are necessary and they are often forces for good. Politics is how crippled children walk, the mentally ill get care, road are built, health care is provided, children are taught. It is through the political process, through electing people to represent us, that government works, doing the things we ourselves - as the polis - ask it to do.
Among the other things, we ask government to provide for the National Defence, to build roads, airport, foster a business climate for economic prosperity, protect workers, support needy children, protect us from hazardous waste, educate children, prevent and punish crime, promote good health, and defend our constitution right to free speech, association and worship.
What does the bible say?
“Seek the welfare of the city where i have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare”. (Jeremiah 29:7). The epigraph of this verse captures the essence of a biblical understanding of citizenship and government. The highest purpose of politics is to achieve or repair the state of wholeness and fairness. It will never be achieved fully in this life but it is the ideal for which people of faith are required to work. Politics today see to be far from peace. Political activity is increasingly marked by anger, unprincipled attacks and mean spiritedness. Political campaigns and even everyday governance are seen as war.
The fight for political power and status is an old problem. Remember the disciples arguing about who was the greatest? You can hear them jockeying for the position of the Prime Ministerial, Jesus top gun, his right hand man but as a Christian citizen healing the wounds of our society is our calling.
One simple way of expressing a Christian understanding of politics is to point out that politics and society should reflect the character of God. One characteristic of God is to love justice. God does not just have affection for justice; God demand it. Because God is just, He insists that society also be just. The bible reveals poverty as the result of society failure to ensure justice (Isaiah 58:6-12, Jeremiah 22:13-16). When a society is not just everyone suffer. A nation that ignores or undermine justice will not be exalted but only be disgrace. The work of politics includes protecting lives from drunken drivers, from fools with guns, domestic violence, etc. Also to defend our freedom, this is the liberties that citizens demand from their government.
When I ask Christian, why don’t you want to be involved in politics? Many say that they do want to “compromise their principles” or “dirty their hands”. Indeed, many assume a Christian cannot enter politics without compromising beliefs or integrity. I agree that compromise, in the sense of abandoning core value is a danger. But i can assure you that for the last three years with me in politics ‘i have never done that and will never’. However, whether or not we like it, compromise in politics is a necessity and more so a moral good.
Nothing is more important than that a Politician be a person of character. Character is value in action and it defines who we are more than any other measures. A faithful politician is committed to the biblical concepts of justice, freedom, compassion and life. But it is not enough simply to say that one is for these things. Politician must practically demonstrate their commitment by their political records or by a detailed indication of what policies and practices they will support.
What am i really saying; for the believer, politics is one way among many to put faith into action. If you are a believer and a citizen of a free country, your faith will whether you seek it or not, have a political expression. If you vote, hold office, or work for a political and social cause, the many choices you make will reflect your conscious and unconscious conclusion about God and society. If you don’t vote or otherwise engage in shaping your society, you are saying either that God has nothing to say to you about matters that affect you or that you are refusing your own God given right.
God want us to be good citizen. Being a good citizen is hard work. It is also faithful work. It contributes to creating a society in which God’s creature can thrive and God’s creation can be protected. It is good for you, for those you love, and for those who share life with you. Being a good citizen is an important responsibility. Good citizen participate in the political life of society, showing respect for laws and the process through which laws are made and they do not blindly obey laws that do not square with morality.
Good citizens understand the important and relevant issues facing their community and do the difficult work of discernment to make informed decisions and to pursue their vision of good. Good citizen express their opinions and have a voice in society, whether through their vote, letters to the newspapers, involvement in a local group, or support a political party. Good citizen also listen attentively and compassionately to the needs and perspectives to their fellow citizens.
What is our National Purpose as Christian? What is the Christian vision for Guyana? Are you a good citizen? If not, why?
Watch out for Part 2 – How to select a candidate/Political Party
Comments
Post a Comment