I was recently asked about Christians, conservatism and politics.  So I wrote a few thoughts about where I see Christians fit with the current world political systems.

This article takes a different look at politics, neither left nor right, authoritarian nor libertarian, but brings a Gospel Kingdom perspective.

For those who don’t have a deeper understanding of politics I pray this article will help you better understand God’s Kingdom and our role as Christians in politics.

Basic political understanding

Politics is not just left/right but multi dimensional

We need to get some definitions before we can make sense of politics.  See this for a definition of the Political compass which allows us to have a simple model for understanding political ideologies.

Quote: The underlying theory of the political compass is that political ideology may be better measured along two separate and independent axes. The economic (left–right) axis measures one’s opinion of how the economy should be run: “left” is defined as the desire for the economy to be run by a cooperative collective agency (which can mean the state, but can also mean a network of communes) while “right” is defined as the desire for the economy to be left to the devices of competing individuals and organizations. The other axis (authoritarian–libertarian) measures one’s political opinions in a social sense, regarding the amount of personal freedom that one would allow: “libertarianism” is defined as the belief that personal freedom should be maximised while “authoritarianism” is defined as the belief that authority should be obeyed.

While this model is not perfect it does allow us to grasp a basic understanding of various political ideologies.

Where are conservatives and others on the chart?

This chart shows approximate positions of the main ideologies we see today.  Personally I see conservatives less authoritarian and the greens more left and more authoritarian than shown on this chart.  The reasons is that conservatives usually want smaller less intrusive government and greens have been want bigger government.

Extreme groups like Antifa and Nazis are very similar in that they both are authoritarian.  This is proven by the fact that if you disagree with them they get violent. Nazi’s by policy are also socialist so on the left side of the chart.  This is so strange that they yell and scream at each other yet are almost identical by policy and by actions.  Antifa calling Conservatives Nazi’s if quite a joke.

So where do we fit as Christians?

We are not just conservative, or libertarian, or socialist, or left, or right. Instead we bring grace, love, compassion, power, truth, freedom, charity, and holiness in God’s harmony to the world!

Christians don’t (or should not) fit any one world model, but bring the full Gospel of the Kingdom (not just salvation) to the world.  Christianity is a radical change from the world system.

We need to understand God’s values and perspective on the world.

What are Godly values?

Christianity brings the following values (among others):

• Honour, love, and worship for God
• Respect for people, subject to God’s law
• Personal responsibility for sin leading to salvation (repentance from sin, faith, receiving His grace)
• Moral truth (eg. Holy matrimony (marriage), family)
• Work for a living
• Be generous and have compassion

These have a lot, but not all, in common with conservatism.

Social Justice and Political Correctness

Many Christians are deceived by terms like ‘Social Justice’ and ‘Political Correctness’ as they sound good but are fundamentally wrong because in the end they devalue both the individuals and God’s values!

How?

We need to understand Social Justice vs True (legal) Justice in the light of so called progressive identity politics.  I do NOT believe in ‘social justice’, rather I do believe in justice (unqualified justice); Martin Luther King also did not believe in social justice !

 Quote: ‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.’

To have justice based on a person’s social grouping (i.e. their group identities, eg. race, religion, etc.) rather than their individual character is a travesty of justice.
Martin Luther King Jr nailed it in his dream speech in the quote above in his phrase ‘content of their character’ which is the only basis a person should be valued.

The whole concept of social justice is based on a false foundation of a notion of group membership defining who you are and your values, rather than the God given individual character, conscience, spirit and soul that we are.

Political correctness is simply legitimising intolerance of the Kingdom worldview.  We need to remember tolerance is not acceptance or celebration of views that are contrary to God’s word.

According to David C. Rose, social justice is a solution in search of a problem. I believe that we should show compassion for all people, but when social justice requires compromise on moral and spiritual issues it is desperately wrong.

Rose says, “Social justice is both misguided and dangerous. It is misguided because it regards observed inequality as prima facie evidence of injustice because of insufficient understanding of how a free market economy actually works. It is dangerous because social justice advocates therefore attempt to solve a moral problem that doesn’t exist and, in so doing, reduce a society’s ability to solve moral problems that really do exist.”

The Social Gospel

Consider the social gospel, which has surreptitiously found its way back into our churches. The social gospel embraces ministries that provide help to the needy – clothes closets, food banks, and health-clinics – almost anything that would contribute to the welfare of society.

Churches should be engaged in these social ministries, but these ministries should not be the primary objective. Every social ministry or act of kindness should create a bridge to share the Gospel.

Good deeds (the works of faith) are very important, but there are countless service organisations that help the public. Christians not only have the privilege of putting a man in a new suit, but putting a new man in a suit as a result of the change wrought by sharing the Gospel.

Worldly view of tolerance

The menacing worldly view of tolerance has raised its ugly head in the church. There was a time when lifestyles (not the people) embodied in the LGBTQ… community were universally condemned.

Today because of the normalising of this deviate behaviour in the media, the propagandising of students in the schools, and the sensitivity training of corporate Australia we are getting too comfortable with sin and tolerant of aberrant lifestyles.

The pulpit must not be silent in this day of tolerance lest our congregations become lukewarm. George Whitefield said, “Congregations are lifeless because dead men preach to them.” Adrian Rogers said, “The sins we once hid in the back alleys, we now parade down Main Street.”

 Economics

Quote: If you are not a socialist when you are young you have no heart and if you are not a free market capitalist when older you have no brains.
This is an old quote that holds some truth.

As a Christian we can have best of both!  Both systems fail in the end for the same reason – greed.  Unfettered, both systems want to take from others.

It is interesting that free market capitalism has set more people free from poverty than any other system in history. Yet greed can also warp this system, especially when God is not in the picture.

Socialism works until you run out of other people’s money and has been a proven failure.

No economic system is capable of saving us or bringing in the Kingdom of God. Nor is any single economic system perfect. Yet one is more compatible with biblical teaching and our imperfect, sinful world.

The Bible as a whole supports an economic system that respects private property and the work ethic. (See especially Proverbs 31; Isaiah 65:21–22, Jeremiah 32:43–44, Acts 5:1–4 and Ephesians 4:28.) Rodney Stark’s definition of capitalism is bionically sound: “Capitalism is an economic system wherein privately owned, relatively well-organised, and stable firms pursue complex commercial activities within a relatively free (unregulated) market, taking a systematic, long-term approach to investing and reinvesting wealth (directly or indirectly) in productive activities involving a hired workforce, and guided by anticipated and actual returns.”

The Christian worldview embraces a form of democratic capitalism that allows for the peaceful and free exchange of goods and services without fraud, theft, or breach of contract as the biblical view. First, the Bible grants us the right to private property and calls us to be good stewards of our resources. Second, a free enterprise system affords the greatest opportunity to steward our resources responsibly by creating wealth and opportunity. Third, the competition in a free market system works according to the principle of comparative advantage, which affirms our inherent worth as individuals.

The thousands of years of experiments with socialist economic systems have resulted in nothing but failure and tragedy—Fascism, Nazism, and Communism relied on the faulty ideas of socialism and Darwinian evolution. Their catastrophic failings are documented in Igor Shafarevich’s The Socialist Phenomenon, Ludwig von Mises’ Socialism, and Joshua Muravchik’s Heaven On Earth: The Rise And Fall Of Socialism.

Socialism’s call for economic equality is countered by capitalism’s call for the biblical requirement of equality before law. The biblical view does not cause the rich to get richer and the poor poorer as socialists contend. Rather, the biblical view encourages the rich to create more wealth, thereby aiding all of society (we are to be generous and giving from the heart not Governmental imposition). Policies of forced redistribution of wealth, including welfare systems, only multiply problems for the poor by creating needless bureaucracies and concentrating too much power in the hands of the government. Capitalism, on the other hand, encourages freedom in the political sphere, minimising the danger of granting sovereignty to the state instead of to God.

We can expect to receive just wages and odly increase from the Lord, while being compassionate and loving. This is sustainable. Only under the Lord’s hand can we truly live in harmony.

The Gospel of The Kingdom

The first truth is that the will of God permeates and supersedes every aspect of life. It is God’s will that takes precedence over everything and everyone (Matthew 6:33).

Secondly, we must grasp the fact that our government cannot save us! Only God can.

The Church’s unique, God-given purpose does not lie in political activism.  This does not mean we cannot lobby and have a voice, just that we have a higher calling and focus.

Nowhere in Scripture do we have the directive to spend our energy, our time, or our money in governmental affairs. We can speak up and vote but if our primary efforts are political not not the Kingdom we have missed the point.

The New Testament gives us some broad principles on how we are to respond to our government. Romans 13 declares that the origin and institution of government is something that God has ordained. I Timothy 2 reminds us that we are to pray for those who have authority over us. If God has established the government for our good and asked us to pray for those who rule over us.

Our mission lies not in changing the nation just through political reform, but in changing hearts through the Word of God. When believers think the growth and influence of Christ can somehow be allied with government policy, they corrupt the mission of the church. Our Christian mandate is to spread the gospel of Christ and to preach against the sins of our time. Only as the hearts of individuals in a culture are changed by Christ will the culture begin to reflect that change.

Kingdom attributes

Jesus preached the Gospel of The Kingdom which includes the following attributes (among others):

• Salvation
• Healing
• Deliverance
• Reconciliation
• Prosperity (as our soul prospers, trusting the Lord)
• Charity and giving
• Transformation of society – to a Godly set of values and behaviours

This means that God rules all spheres of society i.e. the seven mountains:

1. Education
2. Religion
3. Family
4. Business
5. Government/Military/Health
6. Arts/Entertainment/Sports
7. Media

In this is the true authority of God and His word.

God’s authority manifest through the Church

We live in a representative democracy and have the power of the vote. We need to be God’s voice in our community to speak the gospel of His Kingdom.

God transcends all forms of politics. He rules beyond time and space. He gives us His authority, the Authority of the name of Jesus to deal in heavenly places, to deal with principalities and powers. He is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. He is sovereign.

We are His servants, called in His name. We (The Church) manifest His Kingdom on earth. We are Kings and Priests under the Lordship of Christ. We are His sons and daughters, blessed to be a blessing, made rich by His sacrifice, set free to set others free.

It is from this place we see the corrupt world system and bring His truth, love, holiness, freedom, and deliverance.

So who should I vote for or should I vote?

This is the obvious question.  We have an obligation to vote.

Vote for the candidate who has the values that align best with God’s word and His Kingdom!

Use your preferences wisely.  In Australia we have a preferential voting system so it is easy to vote for a minor candidate and still preference the major parties as you feel to.  Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you.

Conclusion

I pray this information gives you a better and different understanding of politics and how we can change our society for the better, i.e. towards His Kingdom.