Jenny Yang is the vice president of advocacy and policy at World Relief. The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of BCNN1.
At the height of the immigration debate in 2016, I accompanied a group of pastors in Washington, DC, to meet with their members of Congress. One pastor of a prominent, large evangelical church, remarked afterward how he wanted to go back to his hotel and take a shower because he felt so “dirty” talking to politicians.
The disdain we feel for our elected officials and political systems is often rooted in a belief that politics are defined by insincerity and dishonesty. Subsequently, many Christians chose to be apolitical. They don’t contact their elected officials, vote, or even discuss issues that show up nonstop on their social media feeds, such as climate change, gun violence, and immigration.
Contrary to those who avoid politics are evangelical Christians for whom politics is the only salvation for a Christian society under threat. Their conviction is marked by a hyperpartisanship, a blind allegiance that neglects the values Christians historically hold. We give a blank check to our “tribe,” and that ends up harming the very people God calls us to love and serve. As Richard Land recently wrote, “to equate God with any human institution, particularly one as flawed and as intensely human as either political party, is a form of blasphemy.”
Evangelical political engagement should be marked by neither political disengagement nor hyperpartisanship. If we are biblically political, we can work for systems and structures that create human flourishing throughout our entire society. But overt partisanship attaches us to centers of empire power and perpetuates injustice.
So how can we engage faithfully in politics?
Our political engagement should be rooted in the belief that everyone is created in the image of God. Our pro-life ethic should be for the entirety of life, from womb to tomb. We should support policies and hold our elected officials accountable to protect life and promote full human flourishing. Any language used by our elected officials to vilify others should not be the language of the church. No matter our politics, demonizing those of a different political persuasion is not consistent with the humility, decency, and propriety that marks us as followers of Jesus.
Among the greatest challenges in churches is consistently applying the whole biblical truth in every area of our lives. A consistent pro-life ethic should mean we hold our elected officials accountable to creating policies based on biblical values we espouse and not remain silent when those elected officials, or parties, espouse policies that would harm human life, promote family separation, or diminish religious liberties. If your preferred political candidate is strongly against abortion, then you should also press that elected official to support that baby’s life after birth by ensuring that he or she has access to nutritious food and a quality education.
Scripture calls us to demonstrate preference for those who are downtrodden, marginalized, and oppressed, both through God’s commandments (Deut. 10:18; Ps. 146:9; Zech. 7:10; Mal. 3:5) and Jesus’s example (John 4:4–26; Luke 8:43–48; Mark 2:1–12). We therefore advocate for those with disabilities, immigrants, those experiencing homelessness and mental illness, and those in the foster care system, among others. The way that we speak and act, along with our political engagement, must show care and concern for those who are often least able to defend themselves. A recent Barna study found that 43 percent of 18-to-35-year-olds said caring for the poor and vulnerable is a defining mark of a Christian, along with combating corruption, extreme poverty, and racism.
Source: Christianity Today
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