Posted on 03/13/2006 8:47:39 PM PST by Aussie Dasher
(AgapePress) - Last week, The Raleigh News & Observer reported that Rev. Stephen Davey, a conservative evangelical pastor and founder of Colonial Baptist Church in Cary, NC, believes the church shouldn't engage in political action. "The mission, energy and investment of the church is not to clean up the evils of society," says Davey. "The mission of the church is to evangelize society."
Davey's position is similar to that of renowned Bible teacher, John MacArthur, who claims in his book, Why Government Can't Save You, that God has not commissioned His people to declare war on their culture, but instead to obey the government, whatever it demands. Evangelicals who hold this position often declare: "You don't see Jesus standing up to the evils of the government or the decadence of His day; neither should Christians do it today?"
The statement begs the question: Was Jesus political?
Certainly Jesus' ministry was not about establishing a political kingdom. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). On one occasion, Jesus perceived that a group of people were going to try and make Him a King. So He hid from them on a mountain (John 6:15). "On the other hand," says Andrew Sandlin in Jesus and Politics, "it would be totally in error to hold that Jesus' life and teaching had nothing to do with politics. All to the contrary, a politics that does not issue from a proper understanding of Jesus' teaching will be a seriously misguided -- and ultimately dangerous -- politics."
The thrust of Christ's ministry was regeneration -- the saving of souls. His message was essentially a spiritual one. Nevertheless, when Jesus' message is applied to all of life as He intended, the results are nothing less than revolutionary. Indeed, Christ's kingdom is not of this world, but that doesn't mean it wasn't meant to pervade the world.
Much of what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount has considerable political ramifications.
Consider the Savior's words, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:4). The late great Bible teacher James Montgomery Boice, formerly the senior pastor of the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, notes the heart of Christ's statement in this text has to do with a sinner mourning over their transgressions against God. But he also rightly contends the text is "a call to involvement in the social arena -- in the struggle of blacks for true equality, the plight of underpaid workers, pollution of our natural resources, education, ethical problems in politics, medicine, and business, and other contemporary problems -- just as Christians were formerly active in the war against slavery, child labor, lack of freedom of the press, and immorality. We should mourn for such things. And we should mourn deeply enough to do something about them."
Jesus also said in this same sermon, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). Again, this text's primary application is about a person's yearning for salvation -- one's hunger for forgiveness -- thirsting to have the righteousness of Christ imputed to one's account as a free gift by faith. But as Tom Minnery contends in Why You Can't Stay Silent, "righteousness is more than that .... In the Hebrew culture, people thought far more about the community than they did about the individual. Righteousness was not primarily about one's personal relationship with God; it was the standard for right relationships between people ... this passion for a righteous society was a part of Jesus' meaning when He pronounced His blessing on those who hunger and thirst to see righteousness dominate the affairs of mankind. The Revised English Bible translates Matthew 5:6 this way: 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst to see right prevail; they shall be satisfied.'"
Furthermore, Jesus argued in the Sermon on the Mount that His followers were to be "salt" and "light" (Matthew 5:13, 14). "Salt" in Jesus' day was used as a preservative for food stuffs. "Light" dispels the darkness. John R.W. Stott, rector emeritus of All Souls Church in London says of this text: "The function of salt is largely negative: it prevents decay. The function of light is positive: it illumines the darkness. So Jesus calls his disciples to exert a double influence on the secular community, a negative influence by arresting its decay and a positive influence by bringing light into darkness. For it is one thing to stop the spread of evil; it is another to promote the spread of truth, beauty and goodness. Putting the two metaphors together, it seems legitimate to discern in them the proper relationship between evangelism and social action in the total mission of Christ in the world."
Civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said that Jesus' words in the Sermon on the Mount provided him with the foundation for his political protest of non-violent resistance. King's views were based in part on Matthew 5:39, where Jesus said: "But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also." The consensus of both liberal and conservative scholars concerning this text is that Jesus was referring to a backhanded blow -- one of the worst indignities suffered by an oppressed people in the Roman culture. To turn the other cheek, however, is a clever way of preventing another backhand from one's persecutor. It forces the oppressor to make the next blow with his fist, which was the way equals would fight in that day. It's a way of saying, "I have dignity. I am your equal. I am your peer." Without question, Jesus is instructing God's people not to retaliate when persecuted for their faith. But His words also contain a political strategy for overcoming evil with good -- shaming and exposing the evil of oppression -- using the power of oppression against itself.
Consider Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Could there be a more sublime statement with greater political overtones? This parable crosses the divide between culture, race and creed. It talks about crime, racial discrimination, hatred, bigotry, and exploitation. It even indicts religious leaders who are unwilling to do anything about these problems.
And let's not forget that Jesus was most outspoken when it came to criticizing the cultural and religious authorities of His day. He told them: "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are" (Matthew 23:15). Jesus once chased the moneychangers out of the Temple with a whip because He said they had corrupted it (Mark 11:15-17). He called Herod a "fox" (Luke 13:32). These remarks and actions by Christ were both spiritual and political in nature.
Lastly, the followers of Jesus perfectly understood the dual application of His preaching, that they were to be citizens of two worlds – a heavenly kingdom and the kingdoms of this world. They understood what Jesus was talking about when He commanded in Matthew 22:21: "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesars; and unto God the things that are God's." They would not worship the Roman Emperor as a god, and, many therefore, paid with their lives. Yet the pressure and agitation they wielded on Roman culture did much to improve the plight of women and slaves, protect defenseless children, abolish the gladiatorial games, and provide humane treatment for prisoners and the poor.
Evangelist Billy Graham once described the early Christians in this way: "Christianity grew because its adherents were not silent. They said, 'We cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.' Nor did they stop with expressing the great faith they had found. They stormed against the evils of their day until the very foundations of decadent Rome began to crumble."
So, was Jesus political? The fundamental nature of Jesus' message was unequivocally religious. Nonetheless, Christ's message had political corollaries.
Faithful Christians seek to both evangelize and bring a righteous influence to bear on the political process. Davey and other evangelicals who share his view imply the later is a futile and even worldly endeavor by the church. However, to paraphrase an argument once made by Sir Frederick Catherwood: To try to improve politics is not worldliness but love. To wash your hands of politics is not love but worldliness.
Any chance he can emerge as the new GOP leader??? : )
My favorite article on this subject.
http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article2925.html
Arrrrrgggghhhh --- I thought you didn;t do gay smilie faces!
He can most certainly be standing beside the next GOP leader!
Give to pharoah what is pharoah's.
Ping
That has really challenged me, I don't know if it was in a good way or not... considering I've regularly been going to www.liberalforums.com and arguing my point on things like pro-life, the governments foundation, homosexuality, and I always said I believed Christianity had a place in government, or at least in influencing the laws... anyone elses take on this article? The author makes some very interesting points.. the kingdom quote may be stretching the meaning, I think it migh be at least..
haha, caesar? ;-P
and the "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's" quote... ehhh, i really don't have a problem with that... AT ALL.. i mean its biblical.. but more important things like marriage, and abortion, and homosexuality.. wouldn't Jesus want us to influence government on these issues?
oh you're really gonna hate me now, girl... check freepmail....
LOL! I got your FR mail and I have replied! It's SO GOOD to see you. I have missed you.
Well is this thing called "everybody is equal" including slaves and women.. There is a Kingdom greater and more powerful than the Roman Empire that he's King of.. and he will eventually Judge everybody at some future event.. regardless of your politics..
Wasn't accepted well since the Roman Empire ran on slavery, subjugation of women which undermined the whole economy, the Roman Emperor WAS God.. and about the only sin was treason against the Emperor..
other than that Jesus was apolitical.. walking on water didnt help either..
thx sweetie, right backatcha'... let's not make it this long next time, ok?
see you soon!!
dave
"...walking on water didnt help either..."
yeah, but hose... didn't clinton do that for the dems???
Yes! Now no more of those damn gay thangs! LOL.
Ping
Nah!.. the only miracle that Bubba Clinton did was;
having the Fort Marcy Park Rangers on the bicycles investigate a murder(Vince Foster)..
in a city with the CIA, FBI, BATF, NSA, D.C. Police not to speak of the secret service..
NOW thats a miracle.. or majic.. With not a PeeP from D.C. republicans..
LOL -- yes it is. Good night, COWBOY!
exactly... that's walking on water to them, no? hehe!
It has been awhile since I read any of this fellow's work.
Link anyhow.
There is more at Google of substance than I find here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.F._Bruce
'nite sweetie... talk to you soon....
One of the difficulties with applying Christian ethics to politics is determining Christian strategy. Judas was completely convinced that Jesus had the power to overcome Rome and the Temple authority. His ethics were not in question. Strategically, however, he blundered badly. His failure, however, was not apparent.
Jesus was unable to clarify his mission to any of his disciples. Judas took on the burden of taking political action to bring about Jesus' kingdom. Judas's plans failed because Jesus was not working politically.
Mercy, generosity, forgiveness, humility, sorrow and other sentiments are not political in nature. They are more universal and human.
It is not helpful to define all human activity as political, just as it is not helpful to describe all human activity as religious. Martin Luther King was not engaged in political action when he prayed on his knees in front of angry police. The power of King's actions did not ensue from political motives but religious passion.
Action can ensue from all manner of motivation. One's motives may be pure. That is no guarantee that one's heartfelt actions are pure. It is, after all, possible, even likely, that we do the wrong thing for the right reasons.
We must never justify our actions as anything more than fear and trembling in the face of an angry God. Politics is always a messy business best left at the door of the temple.
Love your FReeper profile page. Brat.
No reason they can't do BOTH...
The temple is the human body.. Where does politics begin and the spirit end.. Or the spirit end and politics begin?..
LOL! You're right... I am a BRAT!
You are lucky to have a church like this to attend.
I've felt for some time now, that mixing religion and politics is dangerous. Since politics makes strange bedfellows, it is possible that both religion and politics will be turned into nothing more than whores if they are not kept separated.
Sorry to be so graphic, but I'm sure you catch my drift.
"shaming and exposing the evil of oppression"
Our preacher just gave a sermon on the role of faith in government. The scriptures talked about the "render onto Ceaser..." thing. He noted that Jesus was talking to Jewish leaders in the Temple. He told them to pull out a coin. Having a Roman coin in the temple was sacrilige - an image of a person with words proclaiming him (Cesear) to be king. In fact, the Romans let the Jews mint their own coins that they could use in the temple for offerings, buying sacrficial animals, etc..
So - Jesus was really showing the Jewish leaders to be a sham and exposing theri evil oppresion.
"Beat your swords into plowshares..."
Could translate as "Don't admit you have weapons, don't surrender them. Use misdirection & deception, but keep those blades."
Interesting article. I'm glad to hear the views. This is one subject I've questioned for years.
"Was Jesus Political? "
"My kingdom is not of this world."
What dribble! This is a call to personal responsibility, not government responsibility. Notice how liberals want government and people to trade places. Liberals want government to be the source of all charity, thereby absolving their responsibility. Then they want government to spread that charity and forgiveness to other, enemy countries.
Scripture disagrees. Government is God's minister to execute wrath on those that do evil (Romans). In the Old Testament, Joseph collected grain to prepare for the famine, but he didn't give it away - he sold it back to the people. No hint of a welfare government there.
Jack of all trades, master of none? Its all a matter of focus and discipline. This church has its mission and there is plenty on the plate. Just as every believer is not called to be a minister so is every church not neccessarily called to influence politicians.
Yes he was a big advocate of building carrier groups for defense and vouchers for schooling.
The temple is the human body..
_____________________________
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Scripture admonishes us to treat the body as a temple.
The temple is the holy place of God. Only as we are pure as a temple is God able to dwell in us.
When Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple he did it to purify the temple, not to make a political statement.
Judas is the key to understanding the separation between politics and spirit. Politics seeks to create a kingdom of man. The spirit of God works among us to bring us into the Kingdom of God.
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