Sermon from February 22, 2009
You want answers about Christianity and politics. You gave us questions about that second in number only to questions about end time events. If I include cultural issues, those questions came in first. I grouped your questions into three categories.

The first is ideology. For example, you asked: “How do we face a liberal world as Christians?” “Which party, Republican or Democrat, is the real followers of Christ? How do we handle that?” That’s where the title for this sermon came from.

The second category is activism. You asked: “What roles do Christians have in influencing government policies?” “How involved should Christians be in the political process?” “Are civil disobedience and/or illegal acts appropriate responses to other peoples’ acts that violate our belief: Blocking abortion clinics, sabotage a death-row prison sentence?” Ah! The spirit of Valley Forge lives on in the BrandywineValley.

The third category is loyalty. “How can I live joyfully and honor those in authority over me (e.g., President, Senate, House of Representatives) if I completely disagree with their tax policies, government programs, position on war in the Middle East?” “Why did so many Christians vote for a pro-choice presidential candidate?”

Your questions reflect what matters to millions of Americans. We need answers that make sense to millions of Americans. Jesus promised help in getting answers. “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth” – John 16:13.

Our Vantage Point
Let’s start with activism. Should Christians care about politics or be involved in politics? Is civil disobedience appropriate for Christians? Yes, provided that we do it from our unique, Christian vantage point. And what is that? Here it is: we know how the story is going to end, our personal stories and the story of the world.

Revelation 11:15 tells the end of the story this way: The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”

Let’s hit the pause button for a minute. Do you believe that’s how the human story is going to end? If you do, that’s where your joy comes from, no matter what Washington or Wall Street does. Don’t let events there determine your happiness. You belong to something bigger and better. Aren’t you glad?

If you don’t believe that Christ rose from the dead and will come again to judge the world with justice, I hope you’ll do two things. First, I hope you’ll notice in a minute that I don’t talk about the end of the world to escape from our present problems. Knowing how the story ends helps us to engage our problems and be realistic about them.

Second, something I can’t control may happen during this sermon. You may find yourself thinking, “The pastor is right about Christ. He’s going to come again to judge the world, and I’m not ready; I’m pretty far from God.”

Listen! Christ died to bring you close to God. You need to pay attention when a man puts His life on the line for you. So, if you have thoughts like that during the sermon, it’s Christ, trying to get your attention. I hope you’ll tell Him you trust Him to go to bat for you on Judgment Day. You’ll never make a more important decision.

Back to Christian involvement in politics! The Second Coming of Christ teaches us never again to think that Republicans and Democrats and the American political system have final sovereignty over human life or the last word on human happiness. Something infinitely better is coming. God is already at work, directing all the human family does to the fulfilling of His purpose.

Here’s how Psalm 33 puts it with politics in mind: The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. (vv. 10-11)

Our unique, Christian vantage point will shape your involvement in politics in several ways. First, you should get on your knees every day and pray, “Thy kingdom come, because the one I’m building is not yours.” We never confuse America with the Kingdom of God. It is good for us to strive together for “a more perfect union,” but what you achieve even at your best will not be the kingdom of God. That means America is always open to correction. In Christian terms America is always open to redemption.

Second, our unique vantage point will keep you realistic about the way politics actually works. Whatever you achieve politically will be imperfect. America will still be open to correction after you’ve done your best. So, if you’re not willing to compromise with people you disagree with and be happy with second best and do the hard work to achieve even that much, politics is not for you.

Third, if national policy contradicts the Kingdom of God, you need to resist. If you have the knowledge and skills and time and patience and courage to do it, make your voice heard within the political process. Speak out in large and small ways. Bearing witness to Christ like that in the political arena means that you speak and act in ways that people can see what your faith means for the great human issues of our nation. Bearing witness to Christ like that could become sacrificial. People could reject what our faith says and treat you, even despise you, as a bigoted, ignorant minority. That’s when you’ll need to remember that God thwarts the purposes of the peoples but His plans stand firm forever. That vantage point will give you strength to carry on.

Throwing Down the Gauntlet
You should also know that political involvement now takes place in a culture at war with itself. Your ideological questions reflect that: “How do we face a liberal world as a Christian?” “Discuss/define God’s Word on conservative and liberal thinking.” “How do we live in response to the liberal left power that governs our country?”

If you really want answers, you have to grapple with the nature of freedom. Different understandings of freedom lie at the roots of America’s culture wars. That difference lies behind your questions. It lies behind what Michael Sandel of Harvard calls “democracy’s discontent.”

At the heart of the liberal left power that governs our country is an understanding of freedom that has been embodied in our courts, political parties, educational system and entertainment industry. It has intrinsic power and appeal as well as the force of law behind it. What is that understanding?

John Stuart Mill, a 19th century British philosopher put it this way: “The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.” (On Liberty) An old bumper sticker dumbed it down like this: “If it feels good, do it.”

I want you to understand me: a lot of good has been accomplished by people who hold this understanding of freedom. It would be mean-spirited and dishonest not to acknowledge how we all benefit from it. Nevertheless, it is a flawed understanding of freedom. Its weakness not only undermines our Christian faith, it also places democracy at risk. Its fundamental weakness is what it believes about people.

The liberal understanding of freedom says that the most important thing about you is the freedom to choose the values you will live by, not the values themselves.

Here’s what that means. First, no values have intrinsic authority over your freedom to choose. Values are neutral until you choose to live by them. So, what’s true for you isn’t necessarily true for me.

Second, no authority outside yourself can tell you what values you should choose to live by; not parents, not church, not school, not government.

Third, government must build a complex framework of laws that gives the maximum number of people the freedom to choose the values they will live by.

From this understanding of freedom have come: the ban on prayer in public schools, Roe v. Wade, unfettered pornography, the abolition of Blue Laws and sodomy laws, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the construal of gay marriage as a civil right, laws governing racial quotas in universities and in the workplace, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the removal of the Ten Commandments and manger scenes from public places.

You should be feeling some conflict, if my words have found their mark. You like some of those laws, and you are ready to take to the barricades to oppose others. Behind all of them and the culture wars they have sparked is the understanding of freedom as the freedom to do anything you want, so long as you don’t interfere with the freedom of others to do anything they want.

Secular and religious people offer an alternative understanding of freedom. I want to talk about the Christian alternative. This is what you bring to the discussion about freedom. Look at Romans 12:1-2. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The Christian alternative to the liberal doctrine of freedom is a doctrine of freedom rooted in the will of God. The will of God! Think about that! We acknowledge a supreme authority outside ourselves, who tells us what values we must choose to live by, if we are to flourish as human beings. We call those values God’s laws and commandments. He didn’t consult us about them beforehand. That’s how we challenge the liberal left power that governs America in law, politics, education and entertainment.

The fundamental strength of that view of freedom is what it believes about people. The Christian understanding says that the most important thing about you is your freedom to submit to the will of God. You don’t choose the values you live by as though all values were equal. You don’t make it up as you go along. Our freedom comes from walking the path God has chosen for human flourishing in this world and the next.

Liberalism talks about freedom as if it were an end in itself. The Christian doctrine of freedom always raises the crucial question: Freedom for what? The Church answers: The freedom to do God’s will.

You asked which party, Republican or Democrat, is the real followers of Christ. My short answer is, “Neither,” and I would encourage you to ask the question differently: Which political party makes decisions that are more consistent with a Christian view of freedom? My next two sermons will offer test cases for freedom.

Salt and Light
Finally, you asked: “How can I live joyfully and honor those in authority over me . . . if I completely disagree with their tax policies, government programs, position on war in the Middle East, etc.?” You also asked: “Why are so many Christians voting for a pro-choice presidential candidate in the last election?”

We honor those in authority with whom we completely disagree by praying for them and not flattering them. I Timothy 2:1-3 calls on the Church to pray for those in political power. It says that such prayer is good and pleases God our Savior. You don’t have to kiss up to people whose policies are unjust.

Your questions also express frustration with political solutions to great human issues. My hunch is that your frustration is widely shared. For example, many people don’t believe that Roe v. Wade will ever be changed by legal means. Many Americans worry about court decisions that frustrate the legislative will of the people.

That’s no reason to abandon politics, but it is a reason to look for non-political ways of making a difference on the big issues of our time. The best way is to build strong churches. Let me show you my reasoning.

Politics depends on ethics for its understanding of how people should live together. Just listen to political arguments. The people arguing are knee-deep in ethics. “Guantanamo Bay Prison should be closed, because (here comes the ethical principle) people should not be held indefinitely without due process of law.” “Guantanamo Bay Prison should not be closed, because (here comes the ethical principle) some of those people will kill Americans.”

Ethics reflects the moral values we believe, cherish and honor as a people. Here comes the crucial reality: The moral values we believe, cherish and honor come from those communities that shape our outlook on life. The Church is one of those communities, and it passes on stable moral convictions that began before Abraham and can be summarized in two magnificent statements: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, and Love your neighbor as yourself – Mark 12:30-31.

Let’s build strong churches that live by those moral convictions. That doesn’t mean the Church should impose its values on an unwilling culture. But it should be free to propose moral ideas that promote human flourishing better than the destructive consequences of a freedom to do anything you please.

The Pastoral Center of Gravity
It would be tragic if our nation’s greatest boast became the greatest threat to its survival. I urge you to take seriously the discussion about freedom. People who pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” understand the uses of freedom that will bless the nation we love.

Hear the word of the Lord: “My people, who are called by my name, be faithful and true to me in a world where you are free to do anything you can get away with.” That is the divine meaning of our moment in time, and it’s all about freedom.