Chapter 4: Should Christians Impose their Views on Others?
Objections to public Christian influence
-key principles on the nature of government and some relevant historical context are important foundation for thinking rightly about advocating for the common good in the political realm
-the Establishment Clause says nothing about how individuals should or should not use their religious beliefs to inform their participation in the political process
-Christians aren’t in a special category of people who can’t or shouldn’t participate in the political process just because their views are religiously motivated
***Our country isn’t committed to the authority of a particular religion, but individuals who are have very right to bring their views into the public square and vote accordingly
Christian objections to political involvement:
-Christians shouldn’t impose their views on others
-Christians shouldn’t seek power
-Getting involved in politics harms our witness
-Political divisions disrupt unity in the church
-Christians shouldn’t be partisan
Responding to Objections:
1-Christians shouldn’t impose their views on others
-culture regularly tells us that one of the highest virtues is tolerance and that separation of church and state is central to our democracy
Ex. “I’m firmly pro-life, but I don’t think I should impose my views on other people.”
Ex. “Women have to decide what’s best for them.”
Wrong:
-to impose means to force something to be accepted by someone else
-politically, we are talking about the legal force of policy decisions
***In every matter of policy, someone is imposing their view on someone else
Ex. if we pass laws against speeding, we’re imposing the view that speeding is harmful on those who don’t think
Ex. if we pass laws against theft, we’re imposing the view that theft is wrong on those who would like to shoplift consequence-free
Ex. if we pass laws against pedophilia, we’re imposing the view that pedophilia is wrong on those who believe it’s a natural and harmless orientation that should be fulfilled
**It is not unkind or intolerant when you advocate for laws that reflect your viewpoint
-That is the NATURE of PUBLIC POLICY
-doesn’t the Constitution prohibit imposing religious views on others?
-it depends on what you mean by imposing religious views
The First Amendment of the US Constitution:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
***the Establishment Clause ensure that the government will not establish state-supported church and will not force individuals to practice a specific religion
-it cannot “impose” religious views in that way
-we’re not committed to the authority of any particular religion in public life
2-Christians shouldn’t seek power:
***there is not a problem with power; the problem is those who abuse it
-the word power has come to have a negative connotation today that it is used as a frequent objection to Christian political involvement
-when Christians seeks political positions or political influence they are accused of being power-hungry or power-worshipers like power is inherently bad
-power is just the authority and ability to execute a governing role
-government, by definition, is the body to which we give the power to make, enforce, and judge the laws of this country
-as long as we have government, someone will be in power, and those in power sought out that power
-power is necessary for public influence
***Christians should give power to those who will steward it well
By:
-promote what’s good and restrains evil
-be mindful of Christians who seek power for the wrong reasons or use power in ungodly ways
-careful when the church takes on a theological nature
Ex. Jesus gave up His power on the cross, so we should give up our power as well
This is problematic reasoning:
-it is not an accurate characterization of the cross
-Jesus willingly laid down His life for mankind
“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (John 10:18).
-Jesus was not defeated by the cross
-Jesus atoning death and subsequent resurrection were the greatest victories of all time
-Jesus was and still is sovereign over all things
“It’s the consistent witness of Scripture that God cares about the just and righteous functioning of societies–the godly application of power by the rulers God has sovereignly put in place.”
3-Getting involved in politics harms our witness
-culture won’t like us if we’re involved in the public square
-if they don’t like us, they won’t want to hear the gospel
-the gospel is of primary importance, we should avoid political subjects
-if the church is focused on politics then they are not focused on Jesus
-culture dislikes Christians in politics if they have Conservative views
****culture indeed despises when Christians advocate for policies consistent with a biblical worldview and in opposition to the popular moral consensus
-culture doesn’t like it when Christian advocate for what are typically considered to be conservative causes
***culture will accept Christians who advocate for what are typically considered to be
progressive causes
-culture accepts politicians in government who identify as Christian and promote progressive causes
-culture do not like Christians who advocate for politically unpopular positions out of concern for the gospel
-cultures do not like Christians to draw clear positions
“If these positions logically follow from a biblical worldview, are we not downplaying the significance of the gospel itself by refusing to speak to how the gospel transforms our entire view of reality?”
-people will be offended by the gospel alone
-people will be offended by the truths that flow from the implications of the gospel
***We cannot separate to minimize offense
-we cannot hide parts of the truth in hopes that people will like us enough to hear the rest is cowardly
-silent complicity with some of the greatest evils is the greatest evil
***We are to do what’s right and leave the results to God
4-Political divisions disrupt unity in the church
-in an increasingly polarized culture, many Christians have experienced “disagreement fatigue”
-it is essential to have peace and unity within the church as followers of Jesus
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17: 20-23).
-we must acknowledge that unity is vital
“I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought” (1 Corinthians 1:10).
“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one spirit and of one mind” (Philippians 2:1-2).
“But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless” (Titus 3:9).
-the problem is when Christians strive to pursue unity at all costs, including the cost of truth
-the Bible never suggests that we should sacrifice truth in order to achieve some kind of polite collective agreement in the vague name of unity
-the Bible teaches to divide from those who are not holding to truth
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them” (Romans 16:17).
“They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit” (Jude 1:18-19).
-some divisions resulting the removal of error within the church is good
-do not divide on trivial issues not on doctrine
Ex. I believe Jesus rose from the dead, and I’ve accepted His forgiveness of sin. But I believe we should be able to kill whomever we want.
-do you think that Paul’s church would have allowed Drag Queen Story Hour
-we cannot delineate between doctrine and its applications
-we can disagree on the particulars of a policy but not on the underlying doctrinal principles
-sinful pride can lead to division in the church
***division itself isn’t the problem
***wrongful division is the problem
-there must be clear biblical positions on political issues of great significance for the common good
-Biblical unity revolves around truth, not polite agreement where no agreement should be found
5-Christians shouldn’t be partisan
-people tend to express concerns of partisanship only when they think Christianity is associated with unpopular conservative positions
Christians are partisan to the world when:
-we do not put our political party before it’s placed in Jesus
-we support a given party that mostly reflects biblical positions
-we do not automatically support everything put forth by a party just because it’s the party we often vote for
-we do not think politicians associated with a given party are necessarily of better character
-we do not think the party we typically vote for has its own problems with blind spots or corruption
-we do not believe you aren’t saved if you vote for a different party
- we do not believe you are saved if you support the party Christians are typically associated with
***We recognize that it’s entirely possible b biblical positions will line up more with one party than the other. And if we appear to the world as politically one-sided then so be it.
Politics: Christians involved in ending slavery
-universal agreement in Western cultures today is that slavery was a devastating and evil institution
-thanks to abolitionists in 19th century America, slavery was eradicated in 1865 through the 13th amendment
-the process of passing an amendment was political in nature
“No one objects to modern-day Christian political influence would claim that Christians should not have sought to end slavery just because it required involvement in the political process.”
-this is a great test case for the validity of popular objections to political involvement today
***when you encounter an objection, restate it using the preface, “Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because……”
1-Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because we shouldn’t have imposed our views on others
-Public Policy: one groups’ view was being imposed on another
-slavery is evil and we don’t want to live in a society where an evil institution is legal
-we recognize that people who do not see slavery as evil are objectively wrong
-in this matter it is important to impose the morally correct view on them
You wouldn’t say, “I’m antislavery, but I don’t want to impose my views on other people.”
**The question is what is the right moral position?
2-Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because that involved seeing the power to do so
-slavery was able to exist and thrive because it was legal in several states
-in order to abolish slavery, people in power–through the House of Representatives and the Senate–were able to pass the 13th amendment
-we don’t question their government power because we know that was the morally and politically correct position to take
***Absurd to say “that because Jesus ‘gave up” His power by dying on the cross, we shouldn’t have used power to save millions of people from slavery.”
3-Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because getting involved with a political issue harmed our witness
-slavery treated people as dehumanized property
-Christian abolitionists witness to the world was to boldly proclaim the objectively evil nature of slavery given that all people are image bearers of God
-we mourn today that there were Christians who didn’t recognize the truth at the time
-just because pro-slavery Americans didn’t want to hear the truth about injustice of slavery didn’t stop anti-slavery Americans from eradicating slavery through their witness in society
-they proclaimed the gospel plus the advocacy for truths that flowed from the gospel
4-Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because it disrupted unity in the church
-historically, the issue of slavery disrupted unity within the church
-denominations permanently spit on the issue of slavery
-no one today would chastise the churches who continued to speak out against slavery
-freedom should have unified the church but even in the church there were pro-slavery stances
**it was essential that we recognized the unity of antislavery and proslavery positions should have disrupted the church as one of these positions was in serious error
5-Christians shouldn’t have worked to end slavery because Christians shouldn’t have been partisan
-no one is concerned with whether the antislavery position resulted in Christians taking sides with one particular party or not
-we don’t accuse the abolitionist Christians of political idolatry for their one-sided involvement against slavery
***we have to evaluate the issue itself: the morality of holding image bearers as property
-we see it through the lens of what the Bible teachers
-we took sides because we realized there was only one morally correct side to take
***Christians must take sides–but only through the lens of the Bible
Christian Political Engagement Facilitates the Common Good:
-some say “you can’t legislate morality”
-this is twisted because someone’s morality is always being legislated
-some say “Christians shouldn’t impose their views on others”
-this is twisted as someone is always imposing their views on others
-some say “Christians shouldn’t seek power”
-this is twisted because we don’t seek human power but God’s power
-we seek humans who will steward the power well in this world
***we are called to be politically involved on issues of great moral significance for the common good
***take every opportunity to advocate for righteousness and against evil
***we have the responsibility of doing so out of our love for others whether it’s an issue considered political or not