Dear Harvest Family,

During the month of October, we are using this newsletter to explore some biblical principles for thinking clearly and acting faithfully in the run up to the election in November.

Last week, we started with our core conviction that Jesus Christ is the living king of all creation. This is the essence of the biblical gospel, and it’s our starting point for a proper perspective toward politics.

As Christians, we engage politics as humble, hopeful citizens awaiting the arrival of God’s future kingdom. The political tumult of the moment is subsumed in the biblical narrative of God’s greater purposes for his creation.

We do not expect any savior but Jesus to fix all that’s broken in the world, and yet we do long for righteousness, justice, and mercy on earth, and as citizens we seek to discern within the opportunities available to us what would best advance those ends.

This is where things can get messy. What are the best ways for us as Christians to pursue righteousness, justice, and mercy on earth?

Some strands of Christian tradition strongly advocate for political activism and engagement, while others insist upon political separatism.

Central to the debate is the issue of how we understand the God-ordained role and mission of the church and the state in God’s plan for human society. So, today I’d like to speak to the role of the church, and next week we’ll consider God’s purposes for the state.

In our gospel, we say that Jesus Christ is the living king of all creation. If this is true, then the church is where Jesus models and makes known his coming kingdom. The biblical word for our work as a church is ‘witness’. Jesus calls us to bear witness in word and deed to his coming kingdom (Acts 1:3-8).

When people look at the church, they should see a group of people that gives the world a glimpse of what it looks like whenever Jesus is king. Every day should be ‘show and tell’ with the church.

Our life together as a church shows the world a different way of existing in community. We have different values, different priorities, different habits, different relationships – we’re showing the world a different way to live, and that different way of living inevitably is going to impact the world around us.

In this way, the life of the church is inherently disruptive to the status quo in earthly society. It’s no accident that the people of Thessalonica accused the Christians there of turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6), or that the life of the church in Ephesus ultimately led to a riot among the tradesmen of that city (Acts 19:23-41).

When Christians in community start living their lives in submission to the kingship of Jesus, it will unavoidably impact the economies of sin in this present age. Life looks different when Jesus is king, and that is going to have public ramifications (see Kavin Rowe’s World Upside Down for an exposition of this theme in Acts).

Notice, however, that the role of the church is to pray for and bear witness to a coming kingdom. The church’s job is not to establish the dominion of the kingdom of God over the present kingdoms of men. That’s God’s prerogative, and it will happen on his timetable.

We’re not trying to start a coup or overthrow the existing power structures of society, and we recognize the provisional authority and legitimacy of earthly government (more on this next week). When the church has taken for itself the powers of the state, it hasn’t typically ended well. The church’s pursuit of earthly power as an institution is antithetical to the call of discipleship and tends to compromise our witness.

Where does that leave us as Christian citizens living today? I’ll offer a few suggestions:

First, we have a clear calling to pray for and bear witness to God’s coming kingdom. On any given issue, we should do our best to bring a biblical perspective to bear on the matter and not shy away from explaining what God clearly has to say about the topic at hand.

Second, many of the challenges facing our society will be complex, and it will be hard to discern the best policy, the best agenda, or the best course of action for the state or for the church. Faithful, mature, godly people will not always see eye to eye on how to solve our problems. This may be one of our best opportunities for witness! We can bear witness to God’s kingdom by modelling a better way of disagreeing and debating, conducting discourse and making decisions – a path of mutual submission, patient listening, and humble correction. If Christians stood out for the better way we debate with each other, that would be a huge win for our witness in today’s world!

Third, in our present system of politics, we have the opportunity to vote, advocate, and participate in the institutions of government. This is a blessing and places upon us a certain responsibility to seek the good of our land (Jer 29:4-7). Not every Christian will have the same calling for involvement and engagement. Some will spend their careers in public service. Others will not. As we engage, we should extend charity toward one another, learn from each other, and not look down on people whose intensity of engagement and involvement is different than our own.

I hope these brief thoughts are helpful. Next week we’ll dig a little more deeply into God’s role for earthly governments and our obligations to them.

In Christ,

Ben Wilson

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