Before I went on my October break, a friend asked me to blog about political activism for followers of Christ. His specific question was:
“Help me figure this out….
1) Jesus strikingly refused to align with any political interest/cause. He changed the world forever.
2) It seems like a given in our faith communities these days that Christians should be political activists, even though our Leader was absolutely a-political.
3) Or, are we, as His followers, to work towards justice, mercy, and truth completely outside the political sphere?
I don’t know how to reconcile all that, and so far, I haven’t read anyone who seems able to help me. So it’s up to you, Roy!”
Well, I appreciate the vote of confidence! I’ll offer a few thoughts (mostly unoriginal) and we’ll see where it goes…
Your assertion that our faith communities assume we should be political activists is not entirely true. There are some that are highly active, and they get the spotlight. But there are many others that, if not outright shunning political activism, at least consider it low on their priority list. Mennonites, Quakers, the Amish, Greek Orthodox, and any number of other faith communities do not invest a lot of time or energy into the political process. Obviously they invest some, and obviously they are concerned citizens, but they view their role as followers of Christ to be primarily expressed outside of the political system.
And what about outside of our US culture? In other countries there are certainly some faith communities that have far more influence on the political system. I’ve worked in countries where there is a strong separation of church & state, I’ve worked in countries where this is no separation, and I’ve worked in places where the whole thing is a confusing mess. And what I’ve learned is that communities of faith have an infinite set of choices about how to interact with the political process. The Jesuits in one country might be highly involved, the Jesuits in another country completely a-political. The same is true for Franciscans, Charismatics, Anglicans, and Fundamentalists.
So what I’m really hearing you say is that your faith community — your tribe of primarily baby-boomer white Christians — makes the assumption that political activism is a must. Many do, and on all sides of the political spectrum. Just remember that we’re called Protestants because we backed Luther in his protest against the Pope. We have a 500-year lineage of political activism.
But I find that the vast majority of folks have, as their primary focus, a desire to model their faith outside of the political spectrum. They feed the hungry, house the homeless, volunteer at schools, organize neighborhood cleanup days, teach Sunday School, send money to the poor overseas, and do what they can. For every donor to a Christian political action group, there are probably a hundred donors to World Vision, Salvation Army, Young Life, Opportunity International, Habitat for Humanity, etc etc. Not to mention your local church. Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was a thousand donors. And probably tens of thousands of volunteers.
Of course, I haven’t really answered your question. I’ve only (hopefully) altered your perspective. Truth is that I wasn’t even going to approach your question … but then I read the latest biography on Bonhoeffer and found his protest against the Nazi’s inspiring. So I’ll humbly answer your question, acknowledging that I’m no expert.
My answer is simply this: it’s both.
We need millions of people working outside of the political system to do good works. These are people that make a tangible difference on a daily basis in millions of ways. They may be regulated or even hindered by political structure, but they are primarily operating outside of that paradigm and serve the basic (one might even call it primal) needs of the world around them. My kids in Thailand, my partners in Belize, and my friends who are pastors or who serve all over the world fit into this category.
At the same time, we need thousands of people working within the political system, though sometimes these folks will be working against each others agenda (which is healthy and normal; welcome to democracy). I have my own political perspectives (which you can read here if you want) and you have yours, and though we may belong to the same faith community, we can honestly perceive different solutions for our society. When you run into a faith community that doesn’t embrace that diversity of ideas … well, that’s another blog for another time. My point is that yes, we need to engage in the political system. We just shouldn’t put so much attention on it, nor should we expect a unified response from our communities of faith.
The thousands of people working the political system are the most likely to gain the spotlight. When that happens, their agenda is often characterized as representing the whole faith community. Their mistakes and victories are blown way out of proportion. And our communities of faith are both captured by the spotlight of the political system and drawn to it like a moth to a flame.
We need to learn that there are millions of people out there doing things that are equally (if not more) important. Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat, once said that each house they build is their sermon. I believe that can be also stated as “each house built is a political statement about justice, mercy and truth.”
Hope this helps trigger some thinking. Let me know what you think!