“The basic problem of the Christians in this country in the last eighty years or so, in regard to society and in regard to government, is that they have seen things in bits and pieces instead of totals.” —Francis A. Schaeffer, “A Christian Manifesto”
“I’ll be honest with you,” my friend confided, “When I heard that Trump had been shot, I thought he had been assassinated. Without thinking, the first words out of my mouth were, ‘God answered our prayers!’”
Shocked, my immediate response was to say to her, “Sally, that’s not who you are.”
At least that is not who Sally once was. Sally grew up in church. She and her family were faithful church members. Force me to list the ten most servant-hearted people I know, and she would easily make the list. In recent years, something happened. In short, she was discipled by people who were passionately pro-choice, and one of her daughters began to identify as homosexual.
Today, Sally is fully devoted to her political causes. Interviewed in the New York Times about her political activism, beside her picture with fist raised high, she says, “I hate, hate, hate Donald Trump.” Yet, asked why she devotes so much time proselytizing her politics, she says, “Because there is so much hatred and divisiveness in politics.”
Sally is quick to say, “In the last few years, I have lost my religion and many of my friends.” But Sally hasn’t lost her religion. Discipled by a lost culture, she has made her politics her first love and her new religion.
“Discipled by a lost culture, she has made her politics her first love and her new religion.”
My friend’s spiritual journey from church attender to applauder of her political opponent’s assassination stunned me. And while her story may be extreme, it is far too common. Too many on all political sides are tempted to shift allegiances away from Jesus in an election year. This means that we disciple makers have plenty of work to do in this political season.
Amid the heat of this political season, what if we were to see elections through the eyes of disciple makers?
Challenging Cultural Christianity
From the beginning, RENEW.org has existed to challenge cultural Christianity. Romans 12:2 (CSB) instructs, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.” Cultural Christians, on the other hand, are more transformed by the culture than by Christ.
What if the great opportunity of this election is to lead disciples to renew their minds? What if God actually has a “good, pleasing, and perfect will,”—even with regard to politics? Jesus calls us to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30, ESV). What if Francis Schaffer was correct forty years ago when he said, “The basic problem of the Christians in this country….is that they have seen things in bits and pieces instead of totals”? How is this election an opportunity to lead disciples to love God with all their minds, to take every thought and make it captive to Christ—even political thoughts?
To be clear, we should never expect uniformity in political opinions. As we know, “In essentials unity, in opinions liberty, in all things charity.” Disagreements are to be expected over matters like the defense budget, international wars, speed limits, immigration policies, tax laws, or—on more important matters such as whether a population which enjoys amusement parks calls into question our fitness for self-government!
“How is this election an opportunity to lead disciples to love God with all their minds, to take every thought and make it captive to Christ—even political thoughts?”
However, we should expect Christians to be united on the biblical essentials. Jesus argued that a house divided against itself will not stand. He prayed that his people would be one. The foundation for unity, in Jesus’ words, is Truth: “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17, NIV).
What if this election season provides fertile soil for Christians to take captive every political thought and make it obedient to Christ? Where should we have unity in Christ? Where might we start?
First, it would be good to clarify extremes to be avoided.
Anxious Obsession
One temptation is to make too much of politics. In the past, a majority of Americans lived in rural areas and small towns, and the federal reach felt distant and limited. Today, between 24-hour news and expanded federal reach, every national drama feels personal. When I moved to the D.C. area in the 1980s, the joke was that we didn’t have such a thing as “local news,” because our local news was national news. Today, that dynamic is felt in every town.
Philosophers argue that the magnetic attraction of politics in our generation can be traced to 19th century Germany. Arguably, no philosopher has cast a longer shadow of influence over our post-modern world than Nietzsche. Once “God is dead,” Nietzsche reasoned, Truth is dead. Once Truth dies, all that is left is “the will to power.” As long as people understand that there is a Law-Giver to whom everyone must give account and to whom even the weakest can appeal, then right makes might. As Solzhenitsyn wrote, “One word of truth outweighs the world.”
However, once God is removed, might makes right. No longer do we elect officials to serve; we elect powers. Fear of the other team getting power terrorizes the soul. Every election becomes “the most important election of our lifetime.” Every presidential opponent becomes an “existential threat.”
“Once God is removed, might makes right.”
So, we are not surprised when atheists fret in fear over the loss of political power. However, as Jesus said in Matthew 6, Christians should never be anxious like the pagans who have no heavenly Father.
“Said the Robin to the Sparrow,
‘I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush about and worry so!’
Said the Sparrow to the Robin,
‘Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me!’”
—Elizabeth Chaney (1859)
While the fear of the power-struggle creates anxiety, relationship fractures, and even loss of faith for the practical atheist, children of God should never fear because our Heavenly Father knows and cares. We know that might does not make right. Right makes might, so we can be at peace, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, knowing He never sleeps.
Aloof Apathy
At the other extreme, Christians can be tempted to care too little about politics. “I’m a stranger in this world,” they say. “First-century Christians weren’t political. Why should I be?” In a word: stewardship.
The antidote to anxious obsession is not apathy, but faithful stewardship. In Jesus’ parable of the talents, the master distributes gifts and expects faithfulness. The two faithful stewards risk, work, and double their gifts. The unfaithful servant, fearful and lazy, does nothing. The faithful servants receive praise. The unfaithful servant plays “not to lose,” and is condemned for being wicked. As Christians, what does it mean to be faithful with the gifts of freedom entrusted to us?
The freedoms Americans enjoy are unique in world history. Growing out of the “Biblical century,” guided by the light of the Great Awakening, the American founders formed a government that produced more freedom than any nation has ever enjoyed. Subsequent generations recognized their responsibility to steward this gift for the next generation.
“Subsequent generations recognized their responsibility to steward this gift for the next generation.”
Abraham Lincoln’s 1838 address to the Young Men’s Lyceum in Springfield, Illinois conveyed his generation’s sense of responsibility. While the founding generation had won freedom, his generation—and those which followed—had to bear the stewardship of sustaining freedom. Threats to that freedom, Lincoln argued, would not come from some “transatlantic military giant,” but from within. Lincoln concluded:
“At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time or die by suicide.”
As Lincoln concluded his remarks, no one said, “Huh. There’s a clever, new concept!” Although just 28 years old, Lincoln understood the preciousness and the frailty of freedom. His words struck a chord. His audience needed no convincing. The proverb, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” was so often repeated in the 19th century, historians can’t determine its author! Lincoln’s generation knew they would either champion freedom or abdicate it.
Augustine argued that Christian citizens are “the salvation of the commonwealth.” Cicero believed that religion is “indispensable to private morals and public order.” In Nazi Germany, Bonhoeffer echoed each when he called the church “the conscience of the state.” While Christians should avoid the grandiosity of “saving the nation,” certainly we are called to something better than aloof apathy.
“While Christians should avoid the grandiosity of ‘saving the nation,’ certainly we are called to something better than aloof apathy.”
Five Questions for Discipling in This Moment
What does the parable of the talents imply about being faithful stewards of our own historical moment? What actions would result if we were committed to stewarding and increasing what God has gifted our generation? Does fear or laziness tempt us to bury our talents? If we want to hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” how do Christian citizens now live?
If the election season is an opportunity for discipleship, what questions could we discuss with those we are discipling? Here are five questions you might consider asking yourself, as well as those whom you are discipling:
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- Are you more concerned about influencing people to vote “the right way,” or helping disciples think and act biblically? Short-sighted discipleship is moralistic—you just try to get people to act morally. Biblical discipleship leads people to think biblically (Romans 12:2) so we will love like Jesus (Mark 12:29-31).
- If Jesus were truly King over our every political belief, attitude, and action, in what areas would He challenge you? Political beliefs, attitudes, and actions can expose our human tendency to box Jesus out of the “personal” and “unspiritual” parts of our lives (e.g., career, sports, finances, commitments). Are there areas in your life where Jesus says “Mine,” but you are still saying “mine”?
- Nietzsche argued that to understand an idea, one must understand its genealogy. Do any of your political conclusions trace their genealogy to unbiblical origins? For instance, what assumptions about government trace their origins to secularism, not the Bible? What political conclusions trace their lineage back through the sexual revolution to Freud, not the Bible? What economic and social justice beliefs trace their lineage to atheistic assumptions, such as Marxism, which go against biblical truth?
- Proverbs 24:30-31 (CSB) says, “I went by the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of one lacking sense. Thistles had come up everywhere, weeds covered the ground, and the stone wall was ruined.” As God looks at our generation, does He see thistles and broken-down walls because Christians have neglected their responsibilities as citizens? What does it look like for us to be responsible citizens?
- Read Matthew 25:14-30. God, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, has gifted each of us with a unique moment in history and has gifted many of us with substantial freedoms. How might you have buried some of your gifts? What would it look like if your ambition were to double your gifts to pass on to the next generation?
