Does God care about politics? [Myths, part 1]
Several years ago Professor J. Budziszewski, in his book, How to Stay a Christian in College, listed and corrected eight myths about politics that Christians should consider and avoid practicing. A reprint of the article in which I read about these myths in can still be found at one website on line .
Today, lets look at the first myth, or really several related myths, believed by many Christians and/or non- Christians. This myth is implied in and answered by the first part of the article. I will explain the myths briefly here:
Myth 1.a- Religion or Faith and Politics do not mix or should not be mixed, sometimes called the wall of separation between church and state.
Myth 1.b – God does not care much about politics and neither should any believer; believers should concentrate only on the Bible, or church, or family, or anticipating and waiting for the return of Christ.
In response, Budziszewski writes 3 points:
1. Politics deals with basic issues of right and wrong.
2. God has plenty to say about right and wrong.
My added comments: From the ten commandments, to the Old Testament prophets, onto the commands of Christ, and by the writers of the New Testament letters, God strongly emphasizes his concern that individuals and nations honor His law and His authority, and that justice be maintained for all people, even the weak, the poor, the enslaved, and the foreigner. God is very concerned about the right to life, and condemns the unjust killing of human beings. Questions of right and wrong and the decisions of citizens about these questions are of great concern to God the Father and Christ His Son.
3. When people don’t like what God says about right and wrong (or what they think He says about right and wrong), they tend to make a god of their own ideas. Their ideologies become substitute religions. Then they’ve got a problem because God will have no other gods before Him.
When God holds a nation to account for ungodly national decisions and actions, and the nation is a republic, as ours is, then the people, the citizens who are eligible and responsible to vote, to serve, and to pray, are the ones He will deem responsible, in large part, for the nations’ sins. That means us, you and and I, friends. If we choose to ignore national sins, claiming we have we better things to do, we are creating our own self-righteous idols.
