Tag Archives: Faith and Politics

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Why Christians favor small government

In a recent article in the Washington Post, Professor of Philosophy John Mark Reynolds offers some balanced and thoughtful reasons why Christians favor small government.

“….We reject the utopian delusions of no state and of an omni-competent state. American Christians reject any king, but King Jesus. We reject any theocracy before King Jesus returns, because humans would have to run it. We long for justice tempered with mercy and we will vote for the man or woman who will give us a government small enough to allow liberty, but big enough to preserve it.”

Read the rest here.
Other resources on Christians engaging the public square in the arena of politics, click here.
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He’s not God

My friend John Stonestreet of Summit Ministries and worldview commentator for thepointradio.org offers a very important reminder (regardless of your political party) as we get into the election cycle–The President is not God.

“Recently on The Gospel Coalition blog, Kevin DeYoung offered a blunt reminder: “the President is not God.” This sounds like stating the obvious, but DeYoung’s reminder is a timely one as we enter another election.

Americans, even Christians who should know better, have a tendency to want our President to “right every wrong, solve every problem, fix every pothole, provide health and prosperity for all, and on top of that be a likeable, fatherly, dignified, fun-loving, brilliant, down-home, urbane, humorous, serious, athletic, good looking, poet-warrior-manager man…”

No one can live up to that! But because we expect these things, candidates end up making promises that far exceed their capacity and voters have their misplaced hopes dashed time and time again.

That doesn’t mean we should abandon the political process as some have suggested. No way. Be informed and be involved. We need competent, morally sound leadership like never before. But let’s keep our hope in the right place….” (read more)

As Christians, we should know that utopia will not be ushered in by any sitting president. Now to be sure, there can be good and bad presidents who either promote the public good or undermine it–but they are limited. And as we think Christianly about politics, this is a first principle we need to operate with.

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Ross Douthat of the New York Times Corrects Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker About Francis Schaeffer

I was encouraged to come across this post by Ross Douthat (New York Times) setting some of the record straight on the swirling controversy about Michele Bachmann and Dominionism Paranoia stirred up by Ryan Lizza’s article in the New Yorker (who apparently told his fact-checker to take the day off). Here is an excerpt:

“Schaeffer’s major contribution to American public life wasn’t any sort of sinister “dominionist” master plan, but rather a much more defensible blueprint for Christian political action: He argued that Christian values were under assault in contemporary American life, that the idea of secular “neutrality” was something of a sham, and that believers had an obligation to be 1) engaged with the culture rather than bunkered against it, and 2) engaged politically on issues (abortion, especially) where fundamental moral truths were at stake. One can dislike this blueprint and disagree with its premises, but its perspective on American politics is no more illiberal than the perspective of, say, the civil rights movement. And the fact that Schaeffer influenced a prominent evangelical politician like Bachmann isn’t nearly as surprising, strange or scary as Lizza’s piece often makes it sound.”

Joe Carter of First Things offers “A Journalism Lesson for the New Yorker”
Think Christianly with Jonathan Morrow
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Theologian Wayne Grudem on God, the Christian, and Politics

This is a hot topic these days, so how do we think Christianly about Government and Politics? Should God and Politics even mix? Theologian Wayne Grudem answers these and other questions in this interview with the Acton Institute:

R&L: Why did you write Politics According to the Bible and how will it help Christians engage the political culture?

Grudem: I found that there were many Christians concerned about the direction of our nation. But they were unsure what the Bible taught about various political topics. I had taught ethics for nearly 30 years at the seminary level, and I realized that many of the topics that I was teaching had direct implications for political questions. I taught material related to abortion, euthanasia, just war theory, capital punishment, the rich and the poor, the role of government, and environmental stewardship. The more I thought about these things, the more I realized that there were very sound biblical principles that had direct implications for political questions.

Another reason is that I realized that many Christians thought it was unspiritual to get involved in politics and government. However, I found that in the Bible there were many examples of God’s people influencing secular governments. I am arguing in the book that it is a spiritually good thing and it is pleasing to God when Christians can influence government for good.

What do you think are the biggest mistakes many evangelicals make when it comes to their approach to policy debates in the public square?

I actually list five mistakes that people make about Christian influence on government in the first chapter of my book. The first one is that government should compel religion. But I argue that government power should not be used to try to force people to support a particular religious viewpoint. I don’t think very many evangelicals hold that first wrong view today, but in past history, both Catholic and Protestant believers have fallen prey to the temptation of trying to use the immense power of government to force compliance with certain beliefs. The mistake there is a failure to understand that genuine religious faith cannot be forced.

The second mistake is that government should exclude religion, and that is of course seen in many of the decisions of secular courts today, where they’re trying to keep Christians out of the public square and keep Christians from expressing their faith publicly or influencing government at all. That denies freedom of religion.

The third mistake is the pacifist tradition that says government use of power is evil and demonic, and Christians should not have any part in it. They should not participate in military or police forces, using superior force to restrain and punish evil, because that is the work of Satan. I do not think the New Testament views government that way. Romans 13:4 says the government authority is “God’s servant for your good.” When the government authority carries the sword to punish wrongdoing, it is acting as God’s servant, as the agent of God to execute His wrath on the wrongdoer.

The fourth mistake is very common today. It tends to be held by more conservative Christians, and that is the idea that Christians should do evangelism and not politics.

I have to say first that the center of the gospel, of course, is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. It salutes the gospel of salvation by faith alone, in Christ alone. Nevertheless, there are broader implications of the gospel, because the gospel, when it is truly proclaimed, will result in changed lives. And I think Jesus wants us to have changed marriages and changed ideas of parenting and changed schools and changed neighborhoods and changed businesses and workplaces, and certainly, that would include changed governments as well.

I think that pastors have an obligation to explain to their congregations how Biblical teachings impact the government. In addition to that, there are many passages in the Bible that talk about God’s purpose for government. Another answer to this view that says we should do evangelism and not politics is that it fails to understand the great influence that Christians have had on governments since the early history of the Church. Early in the Roman Empire, it was Christian influence that led to outlawing infanticide, child abandonment and abortion in the Roman Empire. Christian influence led to outlawing the gladiatorial contests in 404 A.D. Christian influence led to granting property rights and other protections to women at various times through history. Christian influence led to a law prohibiting the burning alive of widows with their dead husbands in India in 1829. Moreover, Christian influence led to the outlawing of the cruel practice of binding young women’s feet in China in 1912. One can also look to the heroic campaigns of England’s William Wilberforce or the Christian abolitionists in our own history. Alvin Schmidt in How Christianity Changed the World points this out very well.

Dr. Wayne Grudem giving a lecture at Phoenix Seminary.

All of those changes happened because Christians realized that if they could influence laws and governments for good, they would be loving their neighbors as themselves, and they would be doing what Jesus said in Matthew 5:16 when He said, “Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.”

The last mistake, the fifth one, is that Christians should do politics, not evangelism. My book seeks to warn Christians away from the temptation of thinking if we just elect the right leaders and pass the right laws, we will have a good nation. That fails to understand that a genuine transformation of a nation will not come about unless peoples’ hearts are changed so that they have a desire to do what is right and live in obedience to good laws…..


Think Christianly with Jonathan Morrow
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Listen to Chuck Colson on Family Life Today with Dennis Rainey

Please take 20 minutes and listen to Chuck Colson talk with Dennis Rainey about why it is so important that Christians engage well within the public square on the issues of our day. Click Here to Listen

Have you read and signed the Manhattan Declaration yet? (This is an important document.) You can spread the word by retweeting this post or sharing it on facebook.

This fall, my book Think Christianly: Looking at the Intersection of Faith and Culture, will be releasing by Zondervan in which I lay out our biblical responsibility as Christians to engage culture well. I highlight examples, issues, and areas we must engage because they are cultural moments and we are to be everyday ambassadors. Here is a short video about it:



“The task of this generation – as it will be in every generation – is to understand Christianity as a complete view of the world and humankind’s place in it, that is, as the truth. If Christianity is not the truth, it is nothing, and our faith mere sentimentality.”–Chuck Colson
Think Christianly with Jonathan Morrow