A month away from a contentious election, and I understand that the church shouldn’t be getting political. What does that mean? We all believe in the separation of church and state. Yet we are also proud of the moments when the Church stood up to tyrants–think of the Confessing Church in 1930’s Germany, Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980’s El Salvador. Conversely, we are appalled by Christians who cooperated with brutality. Think here of American churches that supported slavery or churches in South Africa justifying apartheid. So it isn’t true that we don’t see a place for an authoritative Christian voice speaking out about politics. It’s just about the right voice at the right time.
Is this the right time? Who has the right voice?
Is two sides enough?
To some extent answering that question depends on which side of the aisle you naturally choose. Christians on the right point to traditional values of personal responsibility, stability, and respect for authority, while the left would emphasize social justice and inclusion. None of these things are bad, nor is it always clear which one Jesus would choose–although the Jesus of our imagination would definitely choose our side! Much of our indignation around the church getting involved in politics erupts when a Christian leader chooses the side that isn’t our favorite. Where did we get the idea that there were only two options?
From politics, of course. Christians fail to speak with the unique voice that is ours because somehow we have imagined that our choices, just like everyone else’s are limited to two: left or right; red or blue. Jesus deserves so much more from us.
When confronted with the choice between paying taxes to the Roman government or not, Jesus recognized a trap. Either side spelled doom, so he chose a third way, inviting his hearers to “Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar.” This is not an answer. He annoyed both sides. Jesus instead forces his hearers to make choices, deciding in each situation what the faithful response should be. By limiting ourselves to only two choices, we choose politics over Christ. We need a better way.
Jesus likes my side best, of course.
The answer is for Christians to stand for Christian principles, not claiming that only one party is Christian. Standing for a third way is the biggest gift Christians could offer in this polarized time. We might make a difference. The third way identifies certain non-negotiables that both sides should uphold. The 10 Commandments are such absolutes. In current politics, essential Christian truths would include respect for truth, renouncing violence as a solution to disagreements, and upholding human dignity. Christians know that certain policies are just wrong, even while there may be disagreement over the right solution. Arresting innocent people, separating children from their families, targeting civilians–these acts should be universally condemned.
Stand for what is right? Would we recognize it?
Recognizing that one side is not perfect, Christians could have another role, one that might save our nation: criticizing our own side. We are all great at pointing out the problems with the other side. Comparing their worst with our best–no wonder our side is the best. Their side stands for violence and lies. Our side? Is there ever a time we pay attention to the log in our own eye instead of the speck in our neighbors? We criticize the other side, deflecting criticisms of our own with “whataboutisms” and deflection. Somehow we never persuade anyone to change sides.
What if we practiced politics by first recognizing that Jesus’ priorities are not what come naturally to us, and making an effort to see how following Jesus brings us to new opportunities and opinions? Dropping one political behavior and picking up another, we could heal the rift in our politics by recognizing that expecting perfection from either party is idolatry. Let’s not make either political party our god.
We won”t heal the rift in our country by participating in expanding the divisions. We have to take a third way. In October, look for an interfaith prayer witness, praying for the elections, once a week by City Hall. Much of what we will pray for would be considered political: Equal access to voting, end to racism and violence of all sorts. Prayer isn’t about politics. It is about what is right: creating justice for all. People of faith need to stand for something more. This is our opportunity: past arguments from left and right; pray, stand and vote for what serves the flourishing of all, ends the divisions and violence. It’s the Christian thing to do.