Church and Politics
By Dominique Clem
(BA Theology, BSc. Behavioral Science)
Many people tend to view the church as a kind of
club such as a local tennis club with the exception that the common driving interest of its members happens to be God and not tennis. The members do contribute financially to their membership and they are also entitled to the church privileges but they are
religious people, together involved in religious
things.Unfortunately such club model approach of the church tends to reject William Temple's definition of the church as "the only cooperative society that exists for the benefits of non-members."1
It is quite evident that through the public ministry of our Lord Jesus, our Savior "went about teaching and preaching.and went about doing good and healing.
The apostle Peter presented the people of God both as"2 aliens and strangers in the world" and also as needing to be conscientious citizens in this world.3
As Christians we are citizens of two kingdoms and therefore we have responsibilities in both. Our responsibility to the first kingdom is to love God with all our being and our responsibility to the second kingdom is to love our neighbor as ourselves. As ministers of the Gospel, we cannot communicate God's love with credibility to people unless we also exhibit it in action. We must penetrate their social reality and partake in their sufferings as well as their struggles because people do not only need to understand the Gospel and its arguments but to see its benefits displayed through our actions.
It becomes irrelevant to state that Jesus and his
apostles were not interested in politics or that they
were not engaged in politics without a proper
understanding of their contextual situation as well as the meaning of the word "Politics." Any dictionary will give to the word "Politics" both a narrow sense and a broader sense. Its narrow sense refers to politics as the science of government that is concerned with the development, by political parties, of policies and programs for legislative change. It is about gaining power for social change. Of course Jesus and his disciples were not involved in such definition of politics, they did not form a political party nor did they adopt or organize a political program or protest. But was it because they chose not to or was it because they could not?
However, the broader sense of the word "Politics" refers to the life of the city (polis) and the duties and
responsibilities of its citizens (polites). It is the
art of living together in a community. Truly
speaking, we are all involved in such politics since
we are called by Jesus to live in this world, as he
was himself sent to it. Jesus went into this world to
partake in the life of human community. His whole
ministry was political. His teaching about the
kingdom of God presented a different social
organization with new standards and values as well as an appealing alternative to the status quo. His
kingship challenge the status quo of the community in which he was, and as we know led him to be accused of sedition.
Social concern embraces both social service and social action because some cases of need, in order to be fully relieved, necessitate political action and legislative change. To treat slaves with fairness is not sufficient, slavery must be abolished; to feed the hungry is not sufficient, hunger must be eradicated through new international economic laws or agreements to care, like Good Samaritans, for travelers who are habitually beaten up on the Jerusalem-Jericho road is not sufficient, laws should be legislate to eradicate armed robbery; to heal individuals on the street is not sufficient, hospitals and specialized medical facilities must be built. Indeed political action, taken or solicited on behalf of our neighbors, is a legitimate consequence of our love and service to them and a legacy left from the apostles. They did not take any political action because they could not have taken it. They formed an insignificant minority under the Roman totalitarian regime. The Roman legions were everywhere ready to destroy and suppress any opposition, any dissent group and to maintain the status quo. If the apostles could have taken any political action they would have. They did not request for slavery to be abolished but their preaching about human dignity inspired the nineteenth century Christians to request its abolition. They did not build any hospitals but their teachings on Jesus' compassionate love and concern for the sick led some monasteries in the sixth century to be transformed in medical institutes and latter hospitals were built. A proper biblical understanding of humanity can lead
us to a proper political orientation.
A pessimistic view of human beings will lead us to adopt an Absolutist government that makes and enforces laws without the checks and balances of a constitution or the consultation of the people. It denies human dignities as creatures made in the image of God. An optimistic view of human beings will lead us to adopt an Anarchy system that assumes that people are perfectly able to govern themselves without laws and create a just society. It denies the sin problem of human nature. Absolutism offers tyranny over justice whereas Anarchy offers chaos over order.
The only system that seems to present a balanced and realistic understanding of human beings is Democracy. It regards humans as creatures made in God's image without forgetting that they are also fallen creatures. And Reinhold Niebuhr, advocating the need for democracy in society, stated: "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary." 4
In practice, democracy is still fragile because in some countries where the level of illiteracy is high the mass media tends to easily manipulate its audience and wherever democracy is, the right of the minorities are in danger of being trampling. But in general, whatever their political affiliations, all Christians tend to advocate democracy.
As Christians, if we choose to get involved in politics in the narrow sense of the word "Politics", we should not get involved in it unless we are prepared to do our homework diligently. Politics remains for politicians who have acquired the necessary expertise and it is sometimes embarrassing to see church members and leaders pontificating on political issues without the appropriate knowledge of the mechanics of such politics. We need to be aware of the danger of "baptizing" any political ideology or any government in office as if in it there is the full concentration of truth and goodness.
Unfortunately, some Adventists believe that they
should not just conform to but actively support the
established political and social order. Romans 13:1, "be subject to all authority," seems to conclude that God ordains political leaders and all personal responsibility are abdicated. This text was and still is the most important proof text defending Adventist's courtship with such leaders as Hitler in Germay, Marcos in Philippines, Pinochet in Chili and whoever headed the Former Soviet Union.
Adventist church' relations with governments around the world suggests that conformity and collaboration have since become policy. Such policy that simply commits the Church to conformity with whatever regime
is in power is unlikely to permit it to raise its
prophetic voice and inspire resistance to evil.
Looking back in the history of our Church in America, after Abraham Lincoln declared in his first inaugural speech "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the states where it exists, " Uriah Smith, who at that time was editor of the Review, expressed his
disapproval in a letter that seemed to threaten the
sitting president with death if he did not immediately change the American legal order regarding slavery: "He has to stand up against the 'enthusiasm for freedom' which reigns in nearly twenty millions of hearts in the free North, and against the prayers of four millions of oppressed and suffering slaves. If he continues to resist all these, in refusing to take those steps which a sound policy, the principles of humanity, and the salvation of the country demand, it must be from an infatuation akin to that which of old brought Pharaoh to an untimely end. " 5Our pioneers, who formed a minority group in an almost democratic regime at that time, had a clearer
apocalyptic consciousness as well as a clear
understanding of the ultimate mission of the remnant church of God.The remnant church is not to bring about the Second Coming of Jesus but to envision that Second Coming in words and deeds in the daily life of our community. When we oppose corruption, tyranny, abuse and other evils we actually point to that final liberation. When we work in transforming our communities in communities of freedom and fellowship we stimulate others to experience the kingdom of God in their lives and envision that city in which sorrows and pains are not present but in which justice and harmony are overflowing.
All Christians individuals need to be conscientious
citizens, be informed about the issues of their
societies and as God gives us different gifts, some
individuals are called by God to serve in government, to dedicate their lives in political service. Many Adventists did assume or are assuming nowadayspolitical power in Third World countries, such as Dr.Samson Kisekka, a former prime minister of Uganda, theAdventist cabinet ministers in the government of Jamaica and Antigua, the twenty Adventists who were elected members of the parliament in independent countries of the South Pacific and the Adventists who organized in the country of Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides) the Opposition New People's Party.
6
Understanding the political involvement of Christian individuals or groups, we may wonder if the church itself should get involved in politics. We need to remember that Christians cannot make
themselves authorities in all contemporary issues and problems and it is doubtful whether the church as such should recommend particular or detailed policies. According to William Temple "The church is both entitled and obliged to condemn the society
characterized by evils such as unemployment,
continuing poverty, malnutrition; but it is not
entitled in its corporate capacity to advocate
specific remedies."
7
Instead the church should seek to inspire its members (whether politicians, civil
servants, business people, trade unionists, or leaders
in other areas of public life) to search and to apply
remedies. In other words the church outlines the
principles that the Christian citizen will apply by
utilizing the machinery of the state. The church may
not be able to state how policies or legislative
change are to be done, due to lack of expertise, but
it is able to state, due to its calling, that they
must be done. William Temple rather than saying that religion and politics do not mix, simply advocate that the church as a whole lacks the necessary political expertise (though some of its members may have it) and therefore, through its words or actions it may prove to be mistaken and so be discredited and lose its integrity. The church can even be proven to lack justice because different Christians hold different opinions and it should not side with even a majority of its members against an equally loyal minority.Therefore, as leaders, through sincere humility we
need to lead everyone to sit patiently under the
revelation of God and to affirm by faith that our
Creator can bring all of us to a substantially common mind. We should not runaway from this because Christian integrity demands it and we should not deny this because our belief in the Word and Spirit of God demands it. Therefore, we can learn to pray together, to listen attentively to everyone's legitimate position and concerns that lie behind it. We can help each other by the grace of God to discern the cultural prejudices that create in us the reluctance and inability to open our minds to alternative approach and viewpoints that will enable us to affirm the presence of the kingdom of God in our present society.
And whatever the picture that comes our way, when our biblical faith requires us to take a public stand on issues, we must obey God's word and trust him with the consequences.
1Quoted by Charles Smyth in Cyril Forster Garbett,
Hodder & Stoughton, 1959, p.106.
2 Matt. 4:23; 9:35, Acts 10:38.
3 1 Peter 2:11-17.
4 Reinhold Niebuhr, The Children of Light and the
Children of Darkness, Nisbet, 1945, p. 6.
5 Uriah Smith, editorial comment before "Letter to the
President," Adventist Review 23, Sept. 23, 1862:130
6 Raymond L. Coombe, "Adventists Lead South Pacific
Government," Spectrum 18.5, June 1988: 60-61. See also
Dionne E. Phillips and Glen O. Phillips, "Preacher
Politician in the Caribbean," Spectrum 16.2, June
1985:14 -18.
7 William Temple, Citizen and Churchman, Eyre &
Spottiswood, 1941, p. 82.