Should we talk politics? by Stewart Perry
I really didn’t want to write about politics this week… but you can’t seem to escape it… it’s everywhere. At a meeting with pastors from other churches we were talking about it, it’s been a hot topic of conversation in our office, people at the gym I go to are talking about it, even the kids at youth group this week were talking about politics!
I’ve always been a big believer in the advice of theologian Karl Barth that a preacher should have a bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other… given that all that seems to be in the media is politics then perhaps I should reflect on politics in my blog… I also thought if I can talk about it in my blog maybe that gives me permission to avoid it in my sermon this weekend… but we’ll see how that eventuates!
One thing that has always made me uncomfortable is the public declaration of a church or a church leader’s support for a particular candidate or a particular political party. I would like to think that the people in my church community have no idea which way I vote. It’s a discomfort that I know many of my peers don’t share. I have a lot of friends on social media who are church leaders and I can assure you that I’m in no doubt which way many of them vote.
The reason for my discomfort is not because the church, or me as a church leader, has no place in politics. Rather, it is because I know enough about politics to know that it is an “imperfect science”. In the same way, I’d never suggest that there was a perfect church, there’s never a perfect politician or political party.
I do consider myself reasonably politically astute. I spent the Economics class in my final year of high school debating politics (it’s a miracle we all passed the subject to be honest). I have always followed with interest the happenings in the local, regional, national, and international landscapes. I follow the news and try to hear and appreciate different perspectives… but I’m no expert.
Jesus was political… and outspoken… but he is God… I am not.
Recently I preached on the gospel passage where Jesus is asked about paying taxes and he responds:
‘Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ (Mark 12:17)
When you think about it, this is a highly politically charged statement to make. For a Jew to be asked what is God’s? The answer would have to be “everything” and using logic, if everything is God’s what’s left for the Emperor? It has to be “nothing”… wow… if they’d twigged what Jesus was actually saying, and how subversive that was, he would have been arrested on the spot!
Jesus spoke truth to power, he overturned the tables in the temples, but more than that he practically demonstrated a “beautifully compelling alternate way of being” through care, compassion, teaching and deeds of power. I heard that phrase a couple of years ago and we still have it printed on the walls of our office.
Do Christians and church leaders have a place to play in the political landscapes of our world? Yes they do (although I do think less people in our world care what we think). Should Christians and church leaders speak truth to power and overturn tables? Yes, perhaps there may be occasions to do that. Think of the involvement of the Church and Christians like William Wilberforce in the Abolitionist movement to end slavery. Thank God for their activism! But should we be doing those things without first clearly presenting what Jesus did: a “beautifully compelling alternate way of being”. That is our main thing.
I worry that if the Church becomes like the rest of the world we’ll just be screaming louder so our opinion is heard without first considering the least, the last, the lost; and without first considering our call to a personal and intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
I wonder if we flipped it around, to the way I suspect it should be, the way Jesus modelled for us, then the voice of the Church and Christians would be less about which is the right or the best person or party and more about what the issues are, that matter to God, and so they should matter to us and so should be something that every politician and political party should be aware of. We should pray loudly “your kingdom come, your will be done” but louder still should be the actions of the Church as we continuously reveal a “beautifully compelling alternate way of being”.
I feel we must pray for all in civic leadership, it’s a really tough job. Pray even for the ones we didn’t or wouldn’t vote for… especially those ones I reckon. And we should trust that God is still God and Jesus is the only saviour we need and the Holy Spirit is still actively at work in the most surprising ways.
I love the line that has been used by many and attributed to many: “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end”. This is my faith and my prayer.