Politics and the local church is what you might call a “touchy” subject. The two things that people say to stay away from as conversational pieces at a family dinner are politics and faith. That’s because the conversation can get nasty quickly. The result has been complete retreat. As Christians, we should ask ourselves, “What does the Bible have to say about this topic?”
The Christian’s Duty to Submit
The two passages that Christians are most aware of when it comes to political involvement are Romans 13:1–7 and 1 Peter 2:13–17. Those passages are too long to include in this article, so I will entrust you to go read them now while I wait. Okay, you’re back. These passages are about submission. The government commands us to submit to all sorts of things, such as paying taxes, throwing our trash in the trash can, and not murdering other human beings. If we don’t obey its laws, the government has the right to prosecute us. It has been given this authority by God. Civil authorities are keepers of the peace, and they even have the right to put a human being to death if need be.
As members of a local church, we should call one another to obey the government when it does its God-ordained job. There may be times when you find out that your brother or sister has committed a crime for which they need to answer. If that’s you, encourage them to speak with your pastors and submit themselves to the authorities. Remind them of the grace of Jesus while also remembering that we still face earthly consequences for our sin.
But what happens when the government oversteps its bounds?
When Government Becomes Corrupt
Sadly, human institutions become corrupted by sin. Throughout history, we have had governmental bodies that permitted lawful chattel slavery, carried out the systematic murder of the Jewish people, and protected the killing of innocent preborn human beings. They have called what God abhors “good.” In light of the passages about submission that we have just looked at, are we supposed to sit back quietly while God’s arm of justice allows and even advocates for these injustices? Fortunately, the Bible speaks to this as well.
Nebuchadnezzar commanded idolatry, yet Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego wouldn’t bow. Herod violently persecuted the early church, killing James and imprisoning Peter, yet the apostles continued preaching Christ crucified. Fortunately, if you’re a United States citizen, these atrocities aren’t happening to you, or at least they shouldn’t be. However, I can think of an example or two in which faithful resistance had to be applied to the Christian life in America.
Faithful Resistance in America
Consider the famous case involving Jack Phillips, who owns Masterpiece Cakeshop in Colorado. Phillips was willing to serve gay customers, but he refused to create a cake celebrating a same-sex wedding because doing so would violate his religious convictions. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission ruled against him. Phillips didn’t back down and make the cake. He challenged the decision and ultimately won before the United States Supreme Court. The Court’s ruling was narrow, but it found that the commission had shown unconstitutional hostility toward Phillips’s religious beliefs.
Then there’s Joseph Kennedy, a high school football coach who knelt at midfield after games to offer a personal prayer. At times, players voluntarily joined him. The school district directed him to stop his public postgame prayers and eventually declined to renew his contract. Kennedy challenged the district’s decision and won. The Supreme Court held that his prayer was protected by the First Amendment’s Free Speech and Free Exercise Clauses.
These aren’t the only cases, and both men were justified in fighting the good fight, just as we see in Scripture.
God’s law supersedes man’s law.
We were reminded of this when COVID struck and some governments placed stricter limits on churches than they placed on comparable secular activities. In several cases, the Supreme Court ruled that governments could not single out religious worship for especially harsh treatment while permitting comparable secular gatherings. God’s Word commands local churches not to give up meeting with one another. When man’s law directly contradicts God’s law, Christians have the right to reject it and face the consequences.
Resistance Requires Wisdom
What this isn’t is a right to reject everything the government tells you to do. Some people will try to make an argument against every government command out there simply so they can be their own king without violating their conscience. The fact that they have to make an argument against everything they are told to do already tells me they are struggling internally, but that’s for another article. These things must be balanced with wisdom.
Let’s go back to COVID. Some of the things that the government attempted to mandate seemed like good-faith efforts to protect the most vulnerable among us. Whether you agree with the mandates or not, if that’s what the government was trying to do, that was part of its God-given job. Trust me, I didn’t like many of the mandates, but looking back, I do realize there’s a big difference between keeping local churches from meeting and requiring social distancing, no matter how stupid both of those orders became. The first can directly conflict with God’s law. The second is a conversation that needs to be had.
Know the difference between the two.
The Church Cannot Avoid Politics
All of that is to say that local churches can’t avoid politics because the Bible is political. Abortion is murder, gay marriage is against God’s natural law, stealing demands a consequence, and these are all addressed in Scripture. Church member, to live and breathe Scripture is your calling, and it starts in the local church.
Where the Bible is clear, be bold. Where it is not, be wise. Never retreat where God calls you not to.