It Is Impossible For The Church To Avoid Politics
It
is impossible for the Church to avoid politics because the decisions made in
the political realm do affect, for better or worse, affect us, and if the
political realm is making or is about to make decisions that we know to be
morally wrong, we as Christians, have a moral duty to speak out against them and,
where and when possible, remove from power the unprincipled and wicked leaders,
and place in power those representatives and officials who are more just, more
responsible, and more principled in the way they conduct the political affairs
with which they have been entrusted, but the moral and spiritual climate of the
people and the culture does eventually affect how politics are conducted
because the spiritual and moral condition of our politics is really a
reflection and result of what we as a people and culture have become.
A
wicked and corrupt government only persists if the people continue to tolerate
it and if the people are tolerating it, then it is because the people
themselves have are morally corrupt and wicked themselves. Therefore, if we want morality and godliness
to prevail in our politics, then we have to commit ourselves to being a moral
and godly people. Corruption within the
political realm doesn’t just all of a sudden happen. It came in from somewhere and where it often
comes in is from the bottom up. It never
enters in from the top down. As I have
said in previous posts and blogposts, if we want to drain the swamp from the
political arena, it is not enough to just simply bail the water out from the
top because if we just simply bail or drain the water out, but don’t identify where
the swamp water is coming from, then that swamp water is just going to keep pouring
in which is why we need to not only identify what is preventing the swamp training
and remove whatever blockage is holding the clog in, but the breaches through
which the swamp water is pouring in must also be identified and repaired and
the source of the swamp water must also be removed and replaced with a fountain
that produces clean water and because both the swamp water and the clean water
have a source.
If
we say that we don’t like the swamp water, then we need to pull out the fountain
from which the swamp water is pouring, and replace it with a fountain that
produces clean water because the fountain we establish determines the water that
is produced and that water is going to flow through every sector and level of
society from the bottom to the top, not top to bottom and the fountain that determines
the good or bad water is not political, academic, or economic. It isn’t even ideological or moral. It is spiritual and that spiritual fountain determines
our moral condition which in turn affects how households are run, how education
is taught, how news and information is reported, how the private sector is managed
and operated, the kind and quality of entertainment produced, and how political
affairs are conducted. It will even
determine the nature of the government to which we are subject.
A
wicked and oppressive government will not long last with a just, moral, and godly
people and a godly, moral, and just government will not long last with a
morally corrupt and godless people.
Virtually
anything that is political ends up being tied in some form or fashion to a
moral issue and every moral issue finds itself being addressed in the scriptures. In a piece published in the Christian Post,
Willey Rice goes over some of them that he calls upon Pastors to address before
November 3rd and the issues that he calls upon Pastors to address
are.
1. Abortion
2. Transgender surgeries on children
3. The threat of Communism and Islam
4. Immigration [1]
The
Bible has something to say about each one:
1. You shall not murder (Ex. 20:13) which applies
to unborn children.
2. Jesus warns against harming or leading
children astray. (Mt. 18:6) Those children who have been deceived into undergoing
sex-change operations have suffered irreparable damage and harm to their bodies
that cannot be undone (but maybe some day if God graciously provides advancements
in the medical that can reverse the damage done such as regrowth of breast tissue
and the restoration of male private parts; it does no harm to hope and pray for
that day to come)
3.
The Israelites were commanded by God to
be hospitable to foreigners and not to exploit or oppress them, (Ex. 22:21,
23:9) but at the same time, it was expected of any foreigners wishing to reside
among God’s people to assimilate into that society; (Ex. 12:15-18, 48, Num. 15:16)
meaning that they had to live by the very laws that God set forth just as the
Israelites did and they had to submit themselves to God, just as the Israelites
did. Everything incompatible with the order
that God set up, they had to forsake or else they could not live among His people
which in and of itself provides a basis for demanding that any migrants who
want to live among us must assimilate into our culture, abide in our respective
laws, and forsake anything from their culture that is incompatible with ours.
4. Scripture says that we are not to be in the
business of pulling up the tares that are among the wheat (Mt. 13:24-30, 37-43)
but we are to allow each person to seek after God if he or she feels so
inclined (Acts 17:27) both passages providing the basis for the freedom of
speech and the free exercise of religion.
But
Communism and Islam insist on taking up the business that is reserved for God
alone and in the process of pulling up what they perceive to be the tares among
the wheat, they end up pulling up some of the wheat along with the tares. Both ideologies are imperialistic and demand
conformity and will not tolerate coexistence with any who reject their
ideologies or any of their tenets.
By
a careful study of scripture, it can be found that every major political
decision made will find itself addressed in scripture be it in agreement with
or at odds with the Bible which is why the Church cannot stay silent on
political matters because if the Church remains silent on political matters,
then it ultimately will find itself silent on moral matters when we have been
charged with preaching and teaching godliness, righteousness and calling those
living in unrighteousness to repentance and righteousness.
Our
faith is meant to be transformative and is meant to govern every part of our
lives and everything that we do and that includes our politics. Just as the Church has a duty to admonish the
saints to live in accordance to the faith they profess in every other facet of
their life, so the Church must also admonish them to conduct their politics that
is as consistent with their professed faith as they possibly can which means
that they are to be admonished to vote for the political platform that is as
consistent with the teachings of scripture as they can possibly find.
Will
every candidate be in perfect agreement with the scripture? No, but we do have
a scriptural duty to vote in the candidates whose platform and policies come as
close to that as we can possibly find and not those whose policies and platforms
are at odds with and are even hostile to the authority of scripture and the
faith we profess to hold to.
For
example, as often as it can be avoided, we should not be voting for candidates
who are for abortion, euthanasia, who threaten our God-given liberties, who are
hostile to our faith, who affirm and celebrate LGBT behavior, who have no
regard for public health and safety, who make excuses for the actions of the
wicked and condemn the just, who corrupt the innocence of children and
subjugate them to perversion, and who make a mockery of the things that God
made holy and sacred because all of these things God condemns and will eventually
invite His judgment upon the world.
We
need to vote in candidates who will uphold our God-given freedoms, who regard the
health, safety, and welfare of the public, who will do their part in protecting
and preserving innocent life, who will respect and honor the things that God
has made to be holy and sacred, who will protect our children from harm and see
their innocence preserved, who punish the wicked without excusing their actions
and protect the innocent, and who will not be hostile to our faith or detest
the things of God but who will instead honor the things of God and encourage
the free expression, preaching, and exercising of theistic religion.
There
will be times when we are faced with a choice between candidates that we may
not look upon with much favor at all.
And what do we do when the platforms of both possess tenets in violation
of scripture? All I can say then is vote
for the least wicked one because in such cases, if we do not side with the
least bad option, we are automatically choosing the worst of the two evils and
when we choose neither, we always end up with the worst of the two. At least when we choose the lesser of the two
evils, we may have an opportunity to choose even better from there, but if the
worst of the two evils should prevail, that might be a point of no return
without a fight.
A
day may come when we may very well have to choose between two candidates who
may be for abortion or who may be affirmers of LGBT behavior or who both may be
for any number of things that are evil in the sight of God. What will we as voters do in that day? That
could very well be a difficult test with which we who are in Christ may face,
and even then, we are going, with help and guidance from God, choose who it is
that is going to be the least wicked because no matter what, we can never sit
out any vote because there is nothing to be gained from doing so. It will only result in the worst of the two
evils prevailing.
And
should the day come when we are faced with a difficult choice between two
candidates who are not as aligned with our faith and with the authority of
scripture as we would like them to be, it is because that is simply a
reflection and end result of what the people and culture of this nation and if
we do not want to be faced with such difficult choices in our politics, then we
as a people and a nation need to be the ones pursuing after godliness and
righteousness because no dynamic political figure or preacher, no eloquent
speaker or commentator, no prolific writer or blogger, no podcast or internet
video influencer, and no big name celebrity can ever do that for us or is ever
going to do that for us because that begins with you and me and if we would all
resolve within us to earnestly seek after God and to pursue all that we know to
be right and pleasing in His sight, then in time, changes for the better
throughout our society and even in the civic and political realm will follow.
End
notes:
1. Willy Rice, “4 election issues every pastor
should address before Nov. 3,” Christian Post, October 21, 2026
https://www.christianpost.com/voices/4-election-issues-every-pastor-should-address-before-nov-3.html?utm_source=notifpush.com&utm_medium=web-push
Scripture
references:
1. Matthew 18:6
2. Exodus 22:21, 23:9
3. Exodus 12:15-18, 48, Numbers 15:16
4. Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43
5. Acts 17:27
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