A Few Brief Thoughts on Politics

I wish I could say something intelligent about the results of the 2020 presidential election in this post, but that would be futile at this point, so perhaps it would be best to briefly share something helpful about politics in general.

Thought One

First, I wish to encourage you to get comfortable with politics. But, after what we’ve all experienced since 2016, perhaps that seems like a big ask. It is important, however, that regardless of how we may feel about politics, we come to grips with the reality that politics will never go away as long as human beings are living on this planet. And, it seems to me, that is going to continue to be the case for a very long time.

Aristotle rightly noted that man is a political animal. By this he means we cannot escape the need to live in community and to engage one another about what it looks like to live justly in that community is a necessary human endeavor. This naturally leads to all kinds of public discourse and various covenants and laws and then followed by lots of wranglings about the validity and enforcement of those laws–and the consequences of breaking those laws.

The important thing to note on this point is that human beings have struggled since the fall to define justice and over the past few millennia have come to various understandings of what it is and what it looks like. And, just in case you haven’t noticed, not everyone shares a Christian view of justice. In fact, most do not. For example, the Thrasymachan or Foucaultian view of justice—“might makes right”—is the primary Modus Operandi of modern American politics.

Thought Two

This leads to the second thing I would say about politics. Realizing we live in a world where politics is inevitable and many do not share a Christian vision of justice, how should we then live, to quote a rather well-known cultural apologist?

For starters, Christians would do well to learn what it means to think Christianly and put that thinking into practice. By thinking Christianly, I mean something a little different than saying we need to have a “Christian worldview.” While that might be true to some extent, it does not mean, as many evangelicals might hear it, we create for ourselves and others a rigid set of rules so that every thing and situation belongs in some sort of taxonomy or category of action.

To think Christianly would include, however, at the very least, keeping our great commission in the forefront of our thoughts. That is, we have been commissioned with a dominion mandate to bring the gospel to bear on all nations. And politics, understood correctly, is part of that commission. Beginning in the garden, God told Adam:

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Genesis 1:28).

He repeated the same commission again as part of his covenant with Noah at the re-creation of the world (Genesis 9:1-17), to Israel in a more nationalized form in his covenant with them (see Deuteronomy), and again to the disciples of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) having received the Holy Spirit. The Christian’s involvement in politics is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a means to an end: ensuring justice for all humanity while we create gospel-rooted culture.

This naturally leads us to ask about the Christian’s role in politics in our current situation. How should we then live right now under the administration we have elected for ourselves in this country? I would argue that, in practice, it’s exactly the same. Even when regimes are not favorable to Christ, our role is akin to that which the Lord commanded Israel when they were exiles in Babylon:

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But 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 29:4–7).

Thought Three

The third, and final, thing I would say about politics here is that it is not wise to seek for hope in politics or a specific political party. David noted wisely, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” -Psalm 20:7

As Christians, we know this is true way down at the bottom, but sometimes it’s difficult to remember in the moment because it is also true that “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan” (Proverbs 29:2). That is, practically speaking, in our current situation, under a stable administration, Christians will have what seems to be the best opportunity to encourage and cultivate human flourishing. But under an administration of secular humanists bent on gaining power, degradation and death will reign. It alway has when this has been the case.

Of course, the ultimate good news is that regardless of which party wins the 2020 election, Christ is still King, not just of America, but of the entire cosmos. Regardless of which party takes the reins of power, we will get exactly the regime he wants us to have. Perhaps, we will get a regime the Lord wants to use to bring judgment, and ultimately, our repentance. Or perhaps, he will give us a regime that manifests his mercy; but even then, that may only result in us storing up for ourselves more wrath against the day of wrath.

In either case, he will give us whichever administration we deserve, which will be, providentially, the best one for furthering his great commission in the world.