Christians in politics Part One: “On earth as it is in heaven”

There are two extremes often seen among Christian conservatives concerning involvement in politics. One extreme is ultra right-wing activism; the other is silent pacificism. Though much can be said about the former it is the latter that concerns me most, especially when it comes to local political involvement. My observation is that most people are hyper focused upon national politics, but seemingly oblivious to what is taking place in their own city and county. Locally elected officials implement polices and decision-making processes that directly impact your life. Yet, many conservative Christians sit idly by and refuse to be involved in local politics. I believe this is a mistake, a spiritual mistake.  

Christians should absolutely be involved in politics, especially local politics. There are many Bible verses I could use to convince you of this, but here is one that convinced me; “your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” MT 6:10. This verse is embedded in the Lords Prayer. It is a prayer model for all Christians and applies to all areas of life including the political process. Doesn’t God want governments to do His will? Absolutely! H B Charles says that this prayer calls us to “pursue heaven’s agenda” and to “submit to heavens authority.” 

You are commanded by Jesus to pray for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven”. God desires for His will to be done, and not just in our churches, but “on earth.” Where on earth? Everywhere! Some will want you to keep your religion in your churches. That’s not how Jesus told you to pray! We want God’s will to be done on the whole earth. As messy as it seems, the political process is one of the many ways we seek God’s will to be accomplished. 

Jesus does not want you to just PRAY God’s will, he wants you to DO God’s will. Our American form of government provides you with the means by which God’s will can be accomplished through political processes. We are a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. You have the constitutional right to use Christian beliefs to influence the outcome of elections through your political involvement. 

God has given you the ability to choose the people who rule over your city, county, state and nation through the voting process. People in the Bible didn’t have that privilege. They were ruled by pagan despots with absolute power over them. But not you! You can speak truth, put forth candidates, influence people who hold office, and vote for people worthy of leadership. What a gift!

You are the Body of Christ, the hands and feet of Jesus. Just as Satan uses humans to perpetuate his lies; God uses his people to advance truth and to implement his will. There is no place on this planet where your Christianity is out of bounds. You don’t live by one standard in your church and by a different standard in the public square. Government is one of the most appropriate places for you to live out your faith, express your views, and see God’s will done on earth as it is in heaven. 

Your involvement in the local political processes of your city and county is of paramount importance. Your quality of life is dependent upon it. After all, don’t you desire for the people who govern our city and county to embrace God’s will as much as possible? Together we can vote for people in our city and county who most closely embrace our ideals. This does not mean every person we vote for has to be a Christian, but that we vote for people who most closely align with our values. 

We need more Bible-believing, church-going, Jesus-loving, cross-bearing, disciple-making, Spirit-filled, conservative Christians involved in the political processes at the national, state, and ESPECIALLY local levels of government. Don’t let anyone tell you it is illegal or immoral to do so. Your voices need to be heard, and your votes need to be accumulated. For far too long I have seen conservative minded pastors and parishioners tread lightly when politics were mentioned. In fact, I used to be one of those pastors who was fearful about political involvement. I thought to myself: “stay in your lane, don’t get off mission, don’t risk offending people in your church, don’t isolate people, don’t be like those crazy right-wing activists, etc”. I invented many shallow justifications for why I should remain silent. My silence and lack of involvement was exactly what people “across the isle” wanted. And it is what Satan wanted as well.

Those days are over.