I make no claim that there is only one Christian perspective on political agendas. There is a difference between the ideals of faith and the implementation of laws in a fallen world. Even Jesus said that Moses was allowed by God to legalize divorce because of “your hardness of heart.” In other words, divorce wasn’t God’s perfect will, but was inevitable in a fallen world.
In the same way, politics can be moral, immoral, and a mixture of both, as politicians try to solve problems through compromise. Economic policy, for example, can be either liberal or conservative and each side will express both biblical or unbiblical values. The roll of the Church is to advise the political leaders on godly values, but we don’t always have the wisdom to offer practical advice to solve real problems in an imperfect and fallen world. In other words, we can say, “It ought to be like this…” but we cannot often tell people just how we can make the world like it ought to be.
The imperfection of politics and the sinfulness of nations, people, and their leaders, makes government an inherently flawed system. Politics, law, and government are the means to create the greatest good that we can in an imperfect world, all the while realizing that we will not have utopia or the kingdom of heaven on Earth until Christ returns with a perfect government.
Governments can do good, or they can do great evil. Politics is not a neutral sport. Most policies have moral implications. Sometimes policies are just better or worse ways of doing a good where to in the uk thing, but always, the philosophies that motivate actions and the moral character of the leaders will influence the effectiveness and the quality of the works themselves. For example a corrupt politician taking bribes may be motivated to pass bad legislation or merely spend more than he should on a good program. At worst, the greed and the fear of the people themselves in a democracy may cause a whole nation to suffer economically, or morally, as politicians promise whatever the people want in order to be elected or stay in office.
Proverbs says “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any land.” With that in mind, I offer musings on contemporary politics and policies, and sometimes will draw out their implications for a biblical worldview.
Index of Articles
- George Bush’s Move to the Left And How Clinton Shifted the Center of American Politics.
- The ACLU Has it All Wrong – Religious Diversity and the Public Square
- Esau’s Porridge: Federal Health Care and The Loss of Liberty
- The Search For Political Salvation – Failure of the Church in the Modern World
- Mischief By Statute
- Adversaries No More? – Must the Church and State be Opposed?
- The Myth of Neutrality – why the State is not.
- The Politically Incorrect Gospel
- Tithing, Taxes, and Liberty
- Voting Your Pocketbook – Christians and the Abdication of Responsibility
- God’s Controversy with Capitalism – Usury, Corporations, and a Cry for Economic Justice
- A Real Stimulus Plan… Please!
- A Tower of Babel – The Problem with Treating Government as Savior