At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, preaching “the good news of the kingdom.” He went up on a hill and delivered the “Sermon on the Mount,” talking not to the politically powerful or academic elite, but to the powerless, the poor and the people of the land. He tells them:
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden….In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)
Jesus tells these “salt of the earth” people that God is giving them a “kingdom,” and that they will be blessed by God, not because of their power (of which they had none) or by use of force, but because they were “poor in spirit,” because they were “peacemakers,” because they were “merciful.” Jesus is bringing a kingdom alright, but one so completely different from a kingdom brought about by political power. Jesus challenges those who call themselves His followers to not follow the practices of the world. He says that instead of lashing out in anger with cutting words, we should try to “settle matters quickly” with our opponents in a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation. He even says we should love our enemies and pray for those who disagree with us, so that we may be children of our Father in heaven, Who achieves His purposes through mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
The kingdom Jesus inaugurated exposes “power” as a hoax and turns it on its head. Jesus said “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man (Jesus Himself) did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as ransom for many” (Mark 10:43-35). When his followers wanted to fight with violence to save him, Jesus made it clear “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest. But my kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36). Jesus told his followers to put away violence, because “All who live by the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). Instead, God showed what real “power” is through the cross. By his sacrificial love, God Himself “disarmed” the powers, making a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by his cross (Colossians 2:15).
TRYING TO GET POWER BY FORCE IS NOT FROM GOD
God overcame evil through his love. Evil is never overcome by more evil; fighting is never overcome by more fighting; hate is never overcome by more hate. The only way to overcome evil is love. Love takes all the power out of evil and reveals where real power is found. The way of the cross seems “foolish” to the world, but it is the power and wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:18, 24). The heart of God is revealed in the cross of Jesus, a heart filled “not with the love of power but with the power of love.”[1] As Karl Barth reminds us, “power in itself is bad. The intoxicating thought of power is chaos. That is the opposite of God; that is the danger by which the world that God created is continually threatened. The power of God, real power, is opposed to ‘power in itself.’”[2] Jesus’ resurrection declares the way of the cross a victory, not a defeat. It is the only path to true “victory.” Since then, followers of Jesus seek to transform the world through the love of God, not by violently fighting for political power. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6). Those who raise a Bible over their heads as a “tool” to seek political power by coercive force blaspheme the name of Jesus. Jesus’ rule over the world in the present age comes through “communities rescued by his love, renewed by his power,” and Jesus maintains his rule by, and only by, his humility and self-giving love.[3] As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “In a world depending on force, coercive tyranny, and bloody violence, you are challenged to follow the way of love. You will then discover that unarmed love is the most powerful force in all the world.”[4]
WE DO NOT FIGHT WITH THE WEAPONS OF THE WORLD
So then how should Christians act and think in these turbulent political times? We must be very careful in our words and actions. If we call ourselves Christians, then we are claiming to represent Jesus. We must be careful not to “use” God for political purposes or allow ourselves to be manipulated by the “powers” who seek selfish political gain. The Bible is clear that Christians should have the mind of Christ, and we must address others (even those with whom we disagree) with kindness, gentleness, respect (1 Peter 2:12, 15; 3:15, 16). Paul told Titus to remind Christians to “slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. At one time, we were like the world was, full of malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared,he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (Titus 3:4-5).
As followers of Jesus, we do not adopt the world’s tactics. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, [the weapons we fight with] have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:3,4). Those “weapons” are prayer, the love of God, the truth of God’s Word, mercy and forgiveness, kindness and civility, even loving our enemies. Those have destroyed strongholds for 2,000 years; I don’t doubt they will continue to be the preserving salt in our arrogant, abusive, violent culture.
Those seeking political power use fear as a weapon. Fear drives anger. Fear, instead of trust in God, “causes us to trust in the wrong people and the wrong things to protect us. We think our salvation lies somewhere where it does not.”[5] But as Christians, we are not fearful; we are hopeful because God is in control. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do it with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:15, 16).
POLITICS IS NOT THE FIRST THING
In his timely book, Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times, Os Guinness reminds us that the church’s alliance with any political party, and especially a political party bent on power at all costs, is doomed. Guiness has some helpful words:
Christians from both sides of the political spectrum, left as well as right, have made the mistake of politicizing faith. A politicized faith is faithless, foolish, and disastrous for the church—and disastrous first and foremost for Christian reasons rather than constitutional reasons. The politicization of faith is never a sign of strength but of weakness. The saying is wise: ‘The first thing to say about politics is politics is not the first thing.’ The Evangelical soul is not for sale. It has already been bought with an infinite price.[6]
YOU ARE THE SALT OF THE EARTH, A CITY ON A HILL
The love of God, shown to each of us by Almighty God expressed on the cross, is the way God is changing the world. It is like salt that not only leaves the world thirsty for more, but it is the only thing that will preserve the world. This good news, the sacrificial love of God, is what we as Christians offer to the world. If we give up the one thing that makes us Christians, the love and grace of God, in exchange for the power-hungry ways of the world fighting each other to get political power, we become useless, and we will be “trampled on” by other power-hungry people. “Do not repay evil for evil. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:17, 21).
For an in-depth exploration of these topics, take a look at my book, The Judge and the Left-Footed Leaders: Judges and Ruth for a Post-Modern World, particularly chapter 15, available on Amazon.
[1] N.T. Wright, How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels (New York: HarperOne, 2012), 239.
[2] Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline (New York: Harper, 1959), 48.
[3] Wright, 247.
[4] Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1963), 144-145.
[5] John Fea, Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2018), 45.
[6] Os Guinness, Renaissance: The Power of the Gospel However Dark the Times (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2014), 172.