Political Activism, Radical Faith, and the Believer's Responsibility

"A certain amount of healthy and balanced concern about current trends in government and the community is acceptable, as long as we realize that such interest is not vital to our spiritual lives, our righteous testimony or the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. Above all, the believer's political involvement should never displace the priority of preaching and teaching the gospel because the morality and righteousness that God seeks is the result of salvation and sanctification." - John MacArthur, from 'Why Government Can't Save You' (emphasis mine)

I read the above quote from a book written by John MacArthur and it prompted my quick and sincere agreement. The fact is that as American citizens we have been blessed by God with the gift of a representative government (it's not a pure democracy, but that's a discussion for another time). God is sovereign and according to His sovereign plan we (American citizens) have been born into a constitutional republic called The United States of America. And this republic has a government that was designed and established not to give us rights, but to protect our God-given rights as the founders of this country understood them. Some of these rights and privileges have to do with voting and running for office, both being a means to have our voices represented in government, be it local, regional, state, or national. We should all thank God for the privilege of living in a country that honors and protects these rights, and we should be keen to make our voices heard and to use our gifts and talents in government according to God's will.

That being said, being a political activist, a politician, a talk show host, a banner bearer, a sign waver, or even just a simple, unknown voter, is completely moot in regards to the Kingdom of Christ if it is being done apart from authentic, biblical, disciplined, Christian faith. It is only the saving, sanctifying, transforming power of God that provides a worthy candidate for office. It is only by the saving grace of God in Christ Jesus and the resulting empowering of His Holy Spirit that a person blessed with the privilege of a vote can actually make full use of it for the Kingdom of Christ. I agree that more Christian believers should vote and get involved in their country's politics. The truth is, though, that most Americans who attend church and/or go by the name "christian" don't really know Christ very well, if at all. Most American "christians" don't truly call Him Lord; He is not their Master or the one whom they serve wholeheartedly. So what good would more "moral" or "traditional" or "conservative" people do in American politics. Those kinds of people are already a dime a dozen and most are doing terrible jobs, hurting more than helping (other than helping themselves to lobbyist monies, earmarks, and pork barrel spending)! And lest you think I'm throwing the baby out with the bath water, I know there are some truly awesome and sincere believers involved in American politics at many different levels who are doing a tremendous job representing the people, and Christ, in a totally corrupt and degenerate system. That's who we need more of. But, as John MacArthur so clearly points out in the above quote, the morality and righteousness that so many Christians are seeking for in American government and daily life is something that results from salvation and sanctification, not from legislation or politics. If only we could get our priorities straight as the Church of Christ here in America, maybe we truly could make progress towards having a government that actually represents us. If we, as the body of Christ, judged ourselves and allowed the sanctifying power of Christ to change our hearts; if, by the empowering of His Holy Spirit, we were vessels of righteousness bringing the truth, love, and power of the gospel to our communities; if we could do this - living as true disciples - then whatever true change in our society is possible according to the sovereign grace of God would take place. By working on the problem from the proper paradigm we'll find that we could possibly change our country one neighborhood at a time, accomplishing the very thing in our entire nation that we had originally hoped to convince our neighbors to do through legislation.