The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa asked me to write an overview of Church and Politics: Christian engagement with power, political parties, and leaders. Here is my summary understanding as a follower of Messiah Jesus.
Old Testament: Creation Design and The Fall
God rules creation, but delegated authority to his human image bearers to rule on earth. We image God as we use our given authority to govern for good, doing the will of God on earth as in heaven. Genesis 3 shows how Adam & Eve were deceived by spiritual evil into rejecting their vocation to rule under God, with the idea of being like God. Human sin has always been the idolatry of self – pride and power – to be God, ruling without God. The result is exile under the rule of evil. To the degree human government is unaccountable for its God-given authority and power, not using it in service of genuine societal good, they image evil, doing the will of Satan on earth as in hell.
In Genesis 11, God scattered/exiled the one united people, in prideful rebellion against God, into nations. And assigned angels over the nations to rule via the human governors (Deuteronomy 32:8). These spiritual powers – the gods/idols of the nations – became corrupt in self-worship, seducing earthly rulers with ideas of power. God judged them for not ruling with justice for the oppressed poor (Psalm 72 & 82). Judgement of ‘the powers’ is the rise and fall of nations, empires, kings, governments, political parties. The New Testament calls them “principalities and powers”: spiritual and earthly rulers, the authorities and powers of this dark world, against which Christ-followers do battle (Ephesians 6:10-12). The powers work via ideologies (ideas/beliefs), incarnated in policies and practices, that legitimize and empower the idolatry of corrupt character in leadership and society.
But God raised up prophets to hold ruling powers (kings, princes, officials) accountable to his rule. They too became corrupt in uncritical support and blessing of governors, prophesying falsely to keep them in power – court prophets. Yet, God always had his true prophets who kept a critical distance from power, to be their prophetic conscience – wilderness prophets. They held rulers accountable to the justice and truth of God’s good governance. So, there was a separation of power – kings and prophets and priests – for accountability in the use of authority. The true prophets and priests who faithfully represented God’s kingdom, standing up to misuse of power, were persecuted and killed. False prophets and priests prospered by the favor of the governing system. Lord Acton said, “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Only sound moral character can be entrusted with (God-given) power to be used for the genuine good of society and creation.
New Testament: New Creation and The Tension
John the baptiser and Jesus of Nazareth continued the true prophetic tradition. John challenged King Herod for his adulterous relationship with his brother’s wife. So, Herod imprisoned and killed John. When Jesus heard King Herod wanted to kill him, he publicly called him “that fox”, saying that Herod was a sly, deceiving, predator of his own people (Luke 13:31-32). More examples can be cited. They both stood for justice for victims of power-politics, speaking truth to power with such moral clarity and authority, that the powers killed them. But they did this within a new reality.
The new dawn of the promised new creation – within broken creation – began in Messiah. God’s rule was/is present in Jesus, confronting human sin, spiritual and national powers (idolatrous ideologies and practices), liberating people into God’s kingdom. It’s the paradox of God’s future kingdom already present but not yet ending all evil by taking over national government. That will happen when King Jesus returns to establish his (political) empire over all the earth (Psalm 2:7-9). We see the ‘already’ and ‘not yet’ tension of God’s rule in Jesus, making his followers dual citizens. First, of God’s kingdom: we live heaven’s rule on earth (Philip 3:20 cf. Matthew 6:33, “seek first God’s kingdom righteousness”). We do that as, second, citizens of our nation.
Christians are “the salt” and “the light” in tension with political-spiritual powers (Matthew 5:13-16). Salt was a preservative, a flavourant, and a sign of God’s covenant (Numbers 18:19). Our presence restrains the spread of sin/evil, making society and the state palatable to God (salt doesn’t dominate food, nor is it absent from it). The Church is a sign of God’s covenant rule, stinging the conscience of the state when they do wrong, and supporting them in doing good. If we lose our “saltiness”, our prophetic witness, we are “thrown out and trampled”; i.e., God judges us along with the powers and the nation (Isaiah 26:5-6 cf. Luke 14:34-35). “The light” exposes and drives back the darkness of lies, power-politics, corruption, injustice – as we model God’s future society already present in the power of God’s Spirit. We are (called to be) the light of salvation and hope of the nation.
In short, Jesus and his followers were not apolitical: disengaged politically, as if God’s kingdom had not come or was only ‘spiritual’. Nor were they politicised: enmeshed with the powers, as if God’s kingdom was taking over government. They were prophetic: critically engaged in the issues and the power structures, as witness to God’s kingdom come. So, we recognise the state’s given authority and submit to it (John 19:11, Romans 13:1f). We pay taxes (Mark 12:13-17, Romans 13:7). We pray for leaders for good governance for “peaceful” society, as we model the “knowledge of the truth” to dysfunctional governments (1 Timothy 2:1-3). But, also, we resist and disobey at the point of state injustice and corruption (Acts 4:18-19), and/or totalitarian rule (Revelation 13).
Church History: Enmeshment, Separation, and Engagement
The Church-State relationship from Jesus and his first followers changed when Emperor Constantine became a Christian (311). Christianity became the state religion: enmeshment of Church and Empire. Constantine’s ‘Christendom’ was a form of theocratic nationalism with Church leaders as the court prophets. It is ‘kingdom now’ theology in various forms, policies and practices, through history, to this day. Any attempt to not only influence but take over national government ‘for the kingdom’, is dangerous triumphalism, as in Christian Nationalism, Reconstructionism, Dominion Theology, the ‘Seven Mountains’ teaching, etc. Remove ungodly leaders and policies and replace them with godly ones. The Bible must rule. That’s not theology, but ideological legitimisation of political power. Jesus rejected it as idolatry (Luke 4:5-8). These beliefs produced the evil of Apartheid by a ‘Christian government’ in a ‘Christian Nation’ with ‘Christian Education’. Thus, the Church (its leaders) in a multi-party democracy should not identify itself with any one political party, nor have a Christian political party (like Islamic, Hindu, or Jewish party). Both are theologically and politically wrong – the domination of “the salt” – with bad fruit in history. ‘Christian’ attached to a political party politicises and destroys the Church’s prophetic witness, as it was with Apartheid.
The Church-State relationship further changed (partly in reaction to the above) in the separation of Church and State with the Anabaptists and Pietists (17th century onwards, also the Enlightenment of the 18th century with the split of religion and politics). They believed, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s” (Mark 12:17), meant the state had authority in socio-political affairs and the Church in spiritual-religious matters. Thus, they were apolitical, as in “don’t mix religion and politics”. It is forms of ‘kingdom not yet’ theology and praxis that, in effect, says, “Involvement in socio-political issues brings a political spirit into the Church, so stay separate and be holy till Jesus comes to save us. Just pray for leaders and be good Christians and preach the gospel. God will take care of the rest”. This is escapism from civic responsibility, handing the nation on a silver plate to the ruling powers, political and spiritual. Total loss of “saltiness”!
We must recover the kingdom-in-tension theology and praxis of Jesus and his followers. We are in the world but not of the world (John 17:14-17): in critical detachment for prophetic engagement as witness to God’s rule already come in principle and power, and yet to come in fullness and finality when Jesus returns. This does not mean individual Christians cannot become politicians in a calling to serve God in the political arena. And Christians in their own capacity should vote in elections and participate in socio-political processes (mentioned below). Church leaders must guide them in their choice of where and how to serve, for their own integrity and witness in party-power-politics. The Church, as Church, is the community that worships the one God revealed in King Jesus, doing justice and mercy in the world, a sign to all the Caesars/Presidents that Jesus is Lord and they are not. We are a sign to principalities and powers that this is the way to be human, with dignity and value as God’s image. But sadly, the Church is often more a mirror of the powers, made in their image, than a prototype model of God’s future but already present society.
The role, therefore, of the Church in the nation for Christians and The Church:
- Prayer: the spiritual battle of the powers behind.
- Presence: active participation in society and politics as good citizens in our nation, living out our ‘heavenly citizenship’, doing “good works” (Matthew 5:16).
- Proclamation: preaching the good news of God’s saving truth and justice in Jesus.
- Prophesy: boldly speaking truth to power for the good of the nation.
- Protest: enacting prophetic truth in various ways like marches, conscientious objection, civil disobedience, and non-violent resistance of all kinds.
- Peace-making: intervening in conflict and division to make peace based on justice.
I recommend a recent publication (2024) by Tom Wright & Michael Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian political witness in an age of totalitarian terror and dysfunctional democracies.
