“Should Christians involve themselves in politics?” That question has troubled many American Christians for at least as long as I have been politically aware.
I want to briefly explain in a way that will be easy to remember and share with others why the answer to that question is an unambiguous “yes!” To do so, let’s look at a passage of scripture that most Christians know quite well.
The Parable of the Talents
You know the story. While teaching about the end of the age and the second coming, Jesus tells a parable about a master who leaves his three servants with different amounts of money to manage until his return.
Some may object to this text being used to encourage Christians to engage in politics. Some may say that this parable is about sharing the gospel, not building up earthly kingdoms. To that, I say, absolutely! The parable is about sharing the gospel, and it isn’t about building up earthly kingdoms. But there’s more to it.
The parable is about using everything that our Master has given us to bring an increase to His estate, in anticipation of His promised return. The most pivotal and urgent way to fulfill that purpose is to share the gospel with unbelievers. But the gospel is not the only thing that we’ve been given by our Master.
It will be Like a Man on a Journey Who Called His Servents and Entrusted Them His Property
What exactly is the “property” with which we have been entrusted? I would argue that the “talents” that Christians are given are every gift, resource, skill, and opportunity that we have. All of it is from God, and all of it is meant to be used in His service. 1 Corinthians 10:31 makes it clear that everything, even the simple, mundane acts of eating and drinking, can be done – and therefore must be done – in service to God and His glory.
Because God is sovereign over all of history and human affairs, we know that every gift, skill, and opportunity that we have is from God. Among the gifts that we have as American Christians is our vote. If God has sovereignly ordained that you, Christian, have been born into the United States, then He has also sovereignly ordained that you have political power in the form of a vote. With that power comes the obligation to use it for God’s glory. To abstain from voting is to bury that talent in the ground.
To Each According to His Ability
Each of the Master’s three servants was given a different amount of property to manage, but their responsibility was the same. The servant who had been given two talents had just as much obligation to manage them well as the servant who had been given five. Likewise, when the Master returned to settle their accounts, the servant with two talents was given the same commendation by the Master for his faithful stewardship as the servant with five. But the servant who had been given the smallest amount of property was not treated lightly for having mismanaged a relatively small sum. On the contrary, he was rebuked sharply, not only for failing to double his talent like the other two servants but for failing to do the bare minimum that he could have done to increase what the Master had given him.
Every American Christian holds a bare minimum of political power. You might not be a senator or congressman. You might not even be on your city council. But if you have nothing else, you have a vote. Actually, you have votes. You have more than just one vote every four years. You have the power to vote in midterm elections as well as presidential elections. You have the power to vote in primary elections to select the candidates. You have the power to vote not just for your president, not just for your senator and congressman and governor, but also for your state auditor, state attorney general, state supreme court judges, lower court judges, state senator, and state house representative, your county commissioner, your city councilors, and your school board members, plus state or local ballot measures like constitutional amendments or bonding referenda. When you take all of these offices together and consider the opportunity you have to vote in primary elections for many of them, you are faced with the fact that even at the bare minimum, you have quite a bit of political power. Don’t bury it, not even a portion of it, in the earth and expect your Master to be pleased. Fear of mishandling what you’ve been given is no excuse for neglecting it.
On the other hand, perhaps you’ve been given more than the bare minimum of political power that an American citizen can hold. Perhaps you do hold office. If you are an office holder reading Truthscript, odds are you already acknowledge that you have a duty to steward your office for God’s glory as well as the good of your constituents.
But maybe you’re not in any elected office, but you feel compelled to run. Maybe you feel called to some other political activity, be it local journalism, volunteering with a campaign, or lobbying. Many Christians who feel called to political activity are simultaneously discouraged from pursuing it. They’ve heard that pursuing earthly power is wicked, idolatrous, and distracting from the true mission of the church.
Nonsense. God has given a variety of gifts to His children. To all, He gives the gospel and His Word and His Spirit. To some, he has given mechanical skill, administrative expertise, or artistic ability. And to some, he has given political sense. If that’s you, don’t bury what you’ve been given. Pray, seek wise counsel, and figure out how to use your political inclinations to glorify God and love your neighbor.
Faithful Over a Little
Some people will hear this message and think that it’s a distraction from the mission of God’s people. Others will hear it and feel overwhelmed, unsure of how to discern which candidates to vote for in every primary or local election.
To the former, I’ll say this: the mission of God’s people is not only to share the gospel. The Great Commission is a huge part of what Christians must be about, but that is not the total mission of God’s people. Our total mission is to glorify God. Sharing the gospel may be the most urgent way we ought to seek God’s glory – there’s only so much time left, after all. But it’s hardly the only activity that can be done in service to God. That said, you’re left with two choices. Either you can conclude that voting and political participation are incapable of glorifying God, in which case you must forswear political action of any kind. Or, if you acknowledge that political action can be taken in service to God’s glory, then you have an obligation to discern exactly how to do that with your votes. You should be prepared to give an answer when you are asked how you, as a Christian, could vote for candidate X or against candidate Y.
To the one who feels overwhelmed, let me offer this encouragement: It’s not as hard as you think. You don’t have to become a political junky who listens to political podcasts or watches the cable news all the time to be a good steward of your votes. You can watch the debates while you do the dishes and only miss one episode of your favorite sports podcast. You can go to your local candidate forum and speak with the men and women running for your city council and school board, and it will only take one evening out of your schedule. And you can ask for counsel from those you trust. If you have a relative or a friend who you trust and who is more politically up to speed, ask them who they think you should vote for and why. I guarantee they’ll be all too eager to give you an answer!
Think of it this way; if it is indeed a Christian obligation to engage with politics, then you will be able to do so in a righteous way. God does not give out obligations without also enabling us to fulfill them faithfully.
Faithful Over a Little
We may not have much power, but what we do have is on loan from our Master. As with the gospel and every other gift He’s left to us during His absence, the day will come when He asks us what we’ve done with it.
Let’s make sure that we can tell our Master that we have brought Him an increase in everything that He has left in our care.
