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- American Politics and Christian Faith: The Confession of Evangelical Conviction (Part Five)
American Politics and Christian Faith: The Confession of Evangelical Conviction (Part Five)
I’m intrigued by “Our Confession of Evangelical Conviction,” a document signed by well-known evangelical leaders that aims to address the current social conflict and political confusion by making seven affirmations:
- We give our allegiance to Jesus Christ alone.
- We will lead with love not fear.
- We submit to the truth of Scripture.
- We believe the Gospel heals every worldly division.
- We are committed to the prophetic mission of the Church.
- We value every person as created in God’s image.
- We recognize godly leaders by their character.
I’d like to look at each of the statements and evaluate them in light of current polarizing politics in America.
FIVE: We are committed to the prophetic mission of the Church.
We affirm that Christ’s kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36), therefore the Church necessarily stands apart from earthly political powers so that it may speak prophetically to all people, the society, and governing authorities. The Church has been given a divine mission of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). First, we call everyone to be reconciled to God through the proclamation of the Gospel as we teach people everywhere to copy the way of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). Second, we seek to reconcile people to one another by addressing issues of justice, righteousness, and peace (Amos 5:24). We accomplish this by loving our neighbors (Mark 12:31), and by engaging our public life with humility, integrity, and a commitment to the common good as defined by our faith in Christ (Romans 12:18).
We reject both the call for the Church to withdraw from societal issues out of fear of political contamination, as well as any attempt to distort the Church into a mere vehicle of political or social power.
Here are the Scriptures referred to (in the NIV):
- Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)
- 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:18-21)
- 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
- But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5:24)
- The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:31)
- If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:18)
The church has spoken prophetically to “people, the society, and governing authorities” about the issue of abortion, while simultaneously using political means to stop abortions. The political solution of adding conservative judges to the Supreme Court, which resulted in the repeal of Roe v. Wade, seemed like a win, but has not in fact accomplished the goal of stopping abortions. Instead, it has put the question in the hands of the states individually and a number of states have approved abortion.
Pew Research shows:
The annual number of U.S. abortions rose for years after Roe v. Wade legalized the procedure in 1973, reaching its highest levels around the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to both the CDC and Guttmacher. Since then, abortions have generally decreased at what a CDC analysis called “a slow yet steady pace.”
And although research shows that “In the first two months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24 [2022], legal abortions nationwide declined by more than 10,000, a drop of about 6 percent,” research since then show that “the number of women getting abortions in the U.S. actually went up in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade…reflecting the lengths that Democratic-controlled states went to expand access.” Has our prophetic voice been heard?
The church has spoken unclearly to the immigration issue. The Bible clearly teaches the kindness God requires toward immigrants, not giving a policy about regulating immigration, but many Christians have embraced the call for not allowing or steeply curtailing the number of immigrations allowed, and have spoken disgracefully about the character of immigrants. Other Christians have spoken for the need for a reformed immigration policy and path to citizenship, and for proper treatment of immigrants. Have we been “engaging our public life with humility, integrity, and a commitment to the common good”?
There are other justice issues the church has had mixed voices about. Racism and culturalism in the enforcement of law has been one, with voices ringing out from a view of “defund the police” to “reform the police” to “the police are just fine.” It has become a political football, too many Christians identifying with politicians’ views based on their political party.
Christians won’t all agree on what the justice issues are or how to resolve them. But we should be desiring reconciliation to God and one another “by loving our neighbors.” The world has not seen much of that from us.
About the Author Randall Johnson
A full-time pastor since 1979, Randall originally graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM) in 1979 and from Reformed Theological Seminary (DMin) in 1998. He is married with four grown children and a pile of epic grandchildren.
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American Politics and Christian Faith: The Confession of Evangelical Conviction (Part Seven)
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American Politics and Christian Faith: The Confession of Evangelical Conviction (Part Three)
American Politics and Christian Faith: The Confession of Evangelical Conviction (Part One)
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