"Religious Right R.I.P."

The post-election critique continues, this time from newspaper columnist Cal Thomas. In his most recent column entitled, "Religious Right R.I.P.", Thomas raised the age-old tension of Christian involvement in politics.

Cal Thomas certainly brings credentials to his critique. As one of the original members of the conservative Moral Majority, he has seen the evolution of political movements, including the positives and negatives inherent to any such evolution. This was the basic message that he and Ed Dobson chronicled in their 1999 book, Blinded By Might.

The essence of Thomas' message is that Christians need to look past politics and on to Christ for the source of cultural transformation. As he writes,

Social movements that relied mainly on political power to enforce a conservative moral code weren't anywhere near as successful as those that focused on changing hearts...

Thirty years of trying to use government to stop abortion, preserve opposite-sex marriage, improve television and movie content and transform culture into the conservative Evangelical image has failed. The question now becomes: should conservative Christians redouble their efforts, contributing more millions to radio and TV preachers and activists, or would they be wise to try something else?

I opt for trying something else.

Too many conservative Evangelicals have put too much faith in the power of government to transform culture.

Pointing away from politics, Thomas goes on to say,

If results are what conservative Evangelicals want, they already have a model. It is contained in the life and commands of Jesus of Nazareth. Suppose millions of conservative Evangelicals engaged in an old and proven type of radical behavior. Suppose they followed the admonition of Jesus to "love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and care for widows and orphans," not as ends, as so many liberals do by using government, but as a means of demonstrating God's love for the whole person in order that people might seek Him?

Such a strategy could be more "transformational" than electing a new president, even the first president of color.

Just a couple of comments in response. I have always had, and continue to have, a high degree of respect for Cal Thomas. His perspective is grounded and is, more often than not, consistent with my own. I would wholeheartedly agree with his admonition that Christians be fully focused on living out the message and mission of Jesus Christ in every aspect of life. It is through Christ, after all, that lasting transformation takes place.

That said, it seems sometimes that Cal Thomas, and others who hold his perspective on this issue, almost want to throw the baby out with the bath water as it were. What is the role, if any, of Christians within the public square? Are we to engage at all? Or, is it better for Christians to completely disengage and leave the dirty world of politics to others?

It doesn't seem to me that it necessarily needs to be couched in an "either/or" approach. The danger, as Cal Thomas and others caution, is that we rearrange our proper priority scheme where strategies for cultural renewal are concerned--substituting the power in Congress for the the true power in Christ.

I don't believe that the Bible paints a picture of disengagement in the political sphere. (If we determine not to engage in the dirty world of politics, then we'd better not engage in the other spheres of Hollywood, the law, Wall Street, or any other "non-Christian" setting.) God has established government, and the Bible has multiple examples of godly people who are actively serving God in that capacity.

And consider the examples of people like William Wilberforce, whose 20-year crusade in the British Parliament resulted in the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833. Or, more recently, the role that German pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, played in an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. He and his fellow conspirators failed, and he was thus condemned to death in a concentration camp in 1945. But, imagine if they had been able to stop Hitler? Much good would have presumably come from it.

The point here is that there is much reform that can/should take place within the political sphere. And Christians have just as much of a vested interest in pursuing such reforms as any other group. But they must do so with a realistic understanding of what is, and what is not, realistically possible where political reform is concerned. And if, in their quest for political influence, they forsake their first love and allow the mistress of politics to seduce them away from the call of Christ, then Cal Thomas' warning should be heeded without delay.

But that's just me. What do you think? 

Comments

[Greg]

In Sunday school class yesterday, Brian brought this up. We can still try and reach the lost by witnessing and serving. We can also write our political officials about current bills that they are trying to pass that we don't agree with. We can still be active in the political realm without being radicals. I don't think we should give up like that.