Jesus Christ is Lord. This is one of the most fundamental statements that a Christian can make.
The statement has a deep history in the Christian tradition going back to Matthew 16, where Peter declares of Jesus, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This is a statement about the reality of the Incarnation, as it proclaims that Jesus Christ, a real historical figure who is fully man, is Lord — that is, fully God. These powerful words lead to the rest of the gospel and form its foundation. If Jesus Christ is not Lord, the entire gospel is meaningless. Why should I care that a man died for his beliefs two thousand years ago, even if he may have taught admirable things? But of course, He is Lord, and that truth is one of the pillars of our faith.
Thus, the question arises: What are the implications of believing that Jesus is Lord? The most immediate implication is that we must accept Christ as our personal Savior and receive the free gift of salvation and eternal life offered by the Father. But that is only scratching the surface.
I do not mean to trivialize this part of our faith; rather, I mean to say that there is so much more to our faith that grows out of this acceptance of Christ. We do not simply accept Him as our Savior. We must also declare Him to be our Lord — the Lord of our lives. In other words, Christ should preside over every aspect of our thoughts, words, actions, and interactions. We should allow Him to abide in our very being, pouring Himself out into our worldview, our work, our creations, and our relationships. If Christ is truly the Lord of our lives, then His lordship must extend to every area of life, including the way we think about and engage in politics.
Throughout my life, I have wrestled with the question of what the political nature of my faith is. To what extent should my faith impact my politics? Should it impact only social issues — that is, moral issues? Are all political issues moral, even those that do not seem to be? Should I only vote for politicians who profess the Christian faith? What good is it if they speak the name of Christ if the way they conduct themselves or even the nature of the policies they fight for is fully contrary to Scripture? Yet, behind all of these questions lies a much more basic one: Should our faith impact our politics at all?
To answer this question, let’s look at the physical evidence of faith rather than its spiritual reality. We see the measures of this evidence laid out throughout the New Testament. In Matthew 5, Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount — one of the clearest examples of the message of Christ in the Gospels. Matthew 5 also closely aligns with Galatians 5, which discusses the fruit of the Spirit. There is a lot of overlap in the attitudes and behaviors described in these two passages, including love, patience, self-control, etc. So, we have two passages that describe how followers of Christ who possess true faith and the Spirit will behave. This is the physical evidence of faith.
But does the fact that our faith has a physical expression say anything about whether it is political? The word politics comes from several ancient Greek words, including politika (referring to the affairs of cities) and polites (referring to the citizens). I will argue that, in the modern day, it has two primary meanings. First, politics refers to the science of government. This is perhaps the lesser-used meaning, as it says nothing about specific issues, but instead relates to the mechanics of government structure and how individuals can operate within the structure.
The second meaning, which is more common, is used to talk about public discourse around controversial issues or situations that impact the way we live in society together.
If politics is a discussion of how we should order our society and live in our communities, it stands to reason that a faith that commands action would shape our political beliefs and actions.
Some argue for an isolationist faith where the commandments of Scripture somehow do not impact our political views. In this internal version of the separation of church and state, a person must accept the inconsistent premise that one can truly believe something (that is, act based on it, to the point that they would die for it) and simultaneously not believe it to be objectively true enough to apply to others’ lives.
This could look like the statement, “I don’t believe in abortion because it goes against the Bible, but I fully respect your right to have one,” as if there are any rights aside from those bestowed by God; or, “Homosexuality is a sin in my religion, but I don’t think the government should legislate what two consenting adults do,” as if there could be any consistent line drawn between the sins we believe the government should legislate and those we believe it should not.
I, for one, would rather not scramble to clean up the contradictions and fallacies that arise from desperately trying to separate one’s faith from one’s political beliefs, actions, and votes. As 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, we must do everything to the glory of God. Christians should surrender control and allow their faith, the truth of Scripture, and the love of Jesus Christ to shape everything we believe, say, and do, including the way we engage in politics.
Watch for my article next month where I will break down which political issues we can take a stance on based on the truths we find in Scripture.
— Charlie Phillips* is a member of Cities Church in Saint Paul Minnesota. He studied Political Science and Bible at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul. Phillips is passionate about striving toward the truth of Scripture and Christ-centered politics. (*Name changed for professional reasons.)
