American Politics and Christian Faith: The Confession of Evangelical Conviction (Part One)

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:

1. We give our allegiance to Jesus Christ alone.
2. We will lead with love not fear.
3. We submit to the truth of Scripture.
4. We believe the Gospel heals every worldly division.
5. We are committed to the prophetic mission of the Church.
6. We value every person as created in God’s image.
7. We recognize godly leaders by their character.

Some of the more prominent signers are Skye Jethani, Lecrae, Dwight McKissic, Scot McKnight, Rich Villodas, Kaitlyn Schiess, Phil Vischer, and Russell Moore. Signatory Karen Swallow Prior, Christian academic and English professor, said in a statement to CBN News, “As Americans and evangelicals, we are called by God in this time and place to faithfully contend as citizens for the policies and candidates we believe best reflect the will of God, yet, we must do so with the recognition that this time and this place, along with our callings as citizens, are all secondary to our witness within a church body which is eternal and universal.” She continued, “If we fail to contend for our politics in a way that displays the fruit of the Spirit or fails to display our faith by our love for one another, then we fail to represent Christ.”

I’d like to look at each of the statements and evaluate them in light of current polarizing politics in America.

 

ONE: We give our allegiance to Jesus Christ alone.

We affirm that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and the only head of the Church (Colossians 1:18). No political ideology or earthly authority can claim the authority that belongs to Christ (Philippians 2:9-11). We reaffirm our dedication to his Gospel which stands apart from any partisan agenda. God is clear that he will not share his glory with any other (Isaiah 42:8). Our worship belongs to him alone (Exodus 20:3-4), because our true hope is not in any party, leader, movement, or nation, but in the promise of Christ’s return when he will renew the world and reign over all things (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).

We reject the false teaching that anyone other than Jesus Christ has been anointed by God as our Savior, or that a Christian’s loyalty should belong to any political party. We reject any message that promotes devotion to a human leader or that wraps divine worship around partisanship.

Here are the Scriptures referred to (in the NIV):

• And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. (Colossians 1:18)
• ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
• I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. (Isaiah 42:8)
• ³ “You shall have no other gods before me. ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (Exodus 20:3,4)
• ²⁴ Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. ²⁸ When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

 

There could hardly be any controversy for Christians over the statement that “no political ideology or earthly authority can claim the authority that belongs to Christ” or that our “worship belongs to him alone,” but have Christians actually worshiped or delegated supreme authority to any political candidates? I dare say none would say they do. No Christian would equate either of the candidates with Jesus.

This is not to say that there aren’t people who have given Messianic acclaim to the candidates. They have. Someone has created a video called “God Made Trump” which describes Donald Trump as someone whom God made who can fix this country, fight the Marxists, have arms strong enough to wrestle the deep state yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild, ruffle the feathers, and tame the cantankerous world economic forum. Such idolatrous rhetoric wouldn’t mean Donald Trump felt this way, except that he posted the video on January 13, 2024 on Truth Social. Trump has also positioned himself as the only one who can save this country.

No such brazen claims have been made about Kamala Harris, despite Fox News Jesse Watters from “The Five” dubbing her the pantsuit Messiah. But longtime Democratic strategist Doug Sosnik sees three political movements of his lifetime, Reagan, Trump, and Barack Obama, and feels Harris could become one as well. “She could be at a point where she’s a head of a movement, which is bigger than a candidate, and that’s pretty much unstoppable. And if you are leading a movement, issues don’t matter, nothing matters. She’s not there, but she’s not far from being there.” But issues do matter, and being a leader who is a movement overriding real issues is not a good thing.

As the Evangelical conviction states about Jesus Christ, “Our worship belongs to him alone (Exodus 20:3-4), because our true hope is not in any party, leader, movement, or nation, but in the promise of Christ’s return when he will renew the world and reign over all things.” Do we really believe this? If we do, does this preclude us from participating in any election of leaders? No, but it precludes us from viewing any of them as the needed savior of our nation. Only Jesus can save our nation.

Does it preclude us from belonging “to any political party”? That seems a little overdrawn. Just as I can be a child of my country and not agree with everything my country does, I can be member of a political party and not agree with every part of its platform. But if I see my political party as the savior of our nation, I’ve gone too far. I am guilty of promoting “devotion to a human leader” and of wrapping “divine worship around partisanship.”