Fact.
Christianity is a deeply political religion because Jesus was deeply political.
Fact.
What counts as ‘political’ changes over time and context.
At some point you’ve probably heard someone say, “Keep politics out of the church.” Perhaps you’ve said it! I often hear the claim in Christian circles, usually online. I find it disingenuous at best, and nefarious at worst. I believe there’s a better approach. One that many of you may already be living out. It’s simple: keep politics in the church.
The rationale is two-fold:
- Christianity is not, nor was never meant to be, apolitical. The first two centuries of its existence, the religious movement was on the run from the violence of imperial Rome. For good reason too, the leader was lynched by the State. The threat of violence only abated when Christianity and the empire made a deal. But before that, and the core DNA of the Christian church, is about living out the very political teachings of Jesus (last shall be first anyone?) while critiquing the empire.
- Christians who claim to be apolitical are already some of the most politically organized, although usually not aligned to recognizable teachings of Jesus.
Now for some definitions.
By ‘politics’ I’m not referring to partisanship politics. I’m not advocating for a particular alignment to a political party. Politics happens outside of political parties. (Although a significant amount of decision making that impacts public life happens inside political parties.)
Some political parties try to appeal to ‘Christian values’ with varying degrees of success. However, when contrasted to the actual teachings of Jesus, most fall short, albeit not by the same margin. The trouble is when those claims that appear to uphold ‘traditional values’ have more to do with partisan reach for power, and nothing to do with Christ.
Politics also includes the manner in which countries, counties, towns, and cities handle their affairs. Those affairs are our daily lives. Therefore politics shape and form how we live.
But it also includes being ‘political’, which includes
engaging the various public institutions/infrastructures to bring about some form of change to public policy.
In other words, being political is about seeing your values reflected in the public sphere. This can be individual: how you vote, a cause you might believe in, or even getting together with school parents or neighbours to lead change.
It’s also collective: a political party you align with, an NGO you support, an outreach at your church, to name a few.
The trouble with the churches is how often their political discourse is disingenuous.
I’ve seen parishioners make the claim of being apolitical while simultaneously supporting church run after school programs and community food boxes, not connecting the dots that they are political responses to a local need. Other churches will preach from the pulpit to keep politics out of the church while simultaneously running campaigns to end abortion, overturn same-sex marriage, and deport brown people. Those are exceedingly political postures and the churches participating in them are generally led by well organized political organizations.
The latter example is commonplace in conservative Christian traditions. Therefore, it’s completely disingenuous for them—most notably evangelicals—to claim being apolitical when they are among the most politically motivated religious groups in the Americas.
(There are some traditions that are hands off with the world around them, the odd monastic tradition for example. I’m ignoring the minority here.)
So let’s just be real, most Christians are deeply political and should just be honest about it.
The majority of folks have at least some connection to public life and have valid opinions on what life out there should look like. We all do. And we ought to name that church folk are highly motivated to say/do something about their preferences, some ultimately seeking to center their interests in public life at the expense of others. That’s when the wheels fall off.
There is a disconnect when Christians lose their compass and mobilize towards self-interests that seek the preservation of social power inherited through white supremacy (white nationalism anybody?), and their own personal enrichment, at the expense of the marginalized.
Collectively, evangelicals are the most notorious when it comes to pursuing selfish ambitions as evidenced by their staunch support for Republican nominees. Doesn’t matter who it is, how morally repugnant a candidate is, evangelicals and conservative Christians will overwhelmingly support malformed policies even when it brings active harm to their neighbor, themselves, and counters the values Jesus would espouse.
This occurs because of widespread malformed thinking in evangelical spheres particularly around values. Rugged individualism is one of their central tenants. The marriage between evangelicalism and the American empire happens when the former shares the same vision as the latter. Myths like Manifest Destiny and Doctrine of Discovery. Evangelicals remain among the most selfish religious groups because of their beliefs surrounding rugged individualism, extricating themselves from the public sphere to take care of their own interests, and seeking to personally enrich themselves whatever the cost.
(I’m sure folks who’ve been immersed in evangelicalism have heard at some point someone spout an iteration of, “if we don’t take care of ourselves, who will?” a type of ideology that espouses, “I’ll get mine at the expense of everyone else.” It does make sense in some ways. After all, why would anybody outside of evangelicals support policies that are exclusively designed for evangelicals?)
Being Political
Approaching the Easter season, I have been preparing a Palm Sunday message. In recent years, it has become more apparent to me that the Passion narrative is deeply immersed in politics. Along with the rest of Christ’s teachings, but specifically around the crucifiction, we cannot ignore how Jesus ‘plays politics’. It’s unavoidable, and to utter otherwise is to domesticate the story to suit modern desires for retaining inherited privileges over the much harder, yet Christ-centered value, of mobilizing churches towards collective liberation. (None of us are free unless all of us are free.)
I will share more specifics next week for Palm Sunday. For now, politics and the Christian faith mix because it’s impossible to live out the values espoused by Jesus without standing in opposition to the empire. The modern empire. Ok, perhaps empire is too strong of a word so I’ll re-state: You can’t be a Christian and not be engaged politically. So where should one land?
Generally, there are three ‘camps’ when it comes to political engagement.
- Christians are already politically engaged, yet they have muddled faithfulness with partisan alignment to social values rooted in capitalism and white supremacy. In other words, Christians with theological façades that justify malformed behaviour like hating your neighbour.
- Christians who think they’re apolitical but in reality are somewhat politically engaged without naming it as such. These folks ought to connect the dots that their politics sides with Jesus who commanded a wide ethic of love for the neighbor, and Christ’s own call and invitation to set the political [I’ve added this word] captives free.
- Lastly, and the place where I think we should land, are folks who are already politically engaged because they have that deep ethic of love and care for themselves, their neighbours, neighbourhoods, cities, and beyond. These folks are leading by example, sometimes because life demands it, and sometimes because their own ethic to do good things demands it.
As Canada heads to a federal election, and as America spews constant chaos from the fascist, kakistocratic, and authoritarian regime, getting mobilized is necessary for all Christians (all people mind you but I’ll call out my own). In case you needed the permission, or the reminder to adjust your alignment, now is the time to move.