Should Christians try to influence public affairs?

In my province when the city of Steinbach votes on the sale of liquor in restaurants, it makes national news. Curious, isn’t it? Steinbach’s mayor, Les Magnusson, a member of an Evangelical Free Church, asked a reporter from the Winnipeg Free Press what flak he imagined the heavily Mennonite city would have taken if it had been the first to push through a smoking ban. Now it was Winnipeg that had been first.

Of course, the reason Steinbach has received such attention is because it is a strongly and overtly Christian community. The attention paid to its liquor plebiscites likely reflects the idea many people have that Christians have no business trying to influence public policy. But that should not be the conclusion.

Christians have every right to express their concerns and convictions, both collectively and individually, but they need to do so with several perspectives in mind.

First, if they understand that Christ is the guarantor of the church’s security and not the state or its government, they will not demand that the laws conform to their understanding of what is right or just. If the gates of hell will not prevail against Christ’s church it is because He is its shield and protector, not some government, whatever its ideology happens to be.

So Christians may argue for a higher standard, but they won’t reject the authority of the government because it falls short of their vision for what good laws might be. They won’t ask for laws to suit their vision because it will make life easier for them as church. Ultimately, they understand, as the apostle Peter put it, they must obey God rather than people and find their safety in Him.

Second, the New Testament vision of the sovereignty of God does not demand that His people attain political dominance. This is a critical point and distinguishes Christianity from Islam, for example. God does not coerce anyone into belief in Christ, even though Christians have often fallen into that error. Faith in Christ is a voluntary act. Christians must be the first to recognize this to be so and must assert the right of others to make voluntary choices too. This understanding is certainly a part of the reason why western societies have developed into such open societies over against others elsewhere.

We should always argue for the right of others to hold views contrary to our own. At the same time we should argue for the right to witness and seek to persuade others freely – a right we can be happy to extend to others. This is the way God treats us. We can be good citizens in any society and under any government, even though in some places it might be very hard.

Third, Christians should understand that the supreme law for the people of God – that is, the church – is love, while governments must assume a quite different role, restraining evil and seeking to insure that their people are allowed to live within a just and well-governed society. Governments can’t love, but the church can and must if it is to be true to its Maker.

Fourth, Christians should see active participation in the life of the state as a normal and healthy part of their witness. They are to be salt and light. They can seek to bring their vision of a better world to their life within their communities, always recognizing that others may come to the same issues with other points of view. If we see that our life in Christ is not dependent on governments protecting us by their laws, we can argue as vigorously as possible for better public policy and still respect the outcome, though it may fall short of our vision.

There are huge issues to which we can speak as Christians and we should try to do so with as much competence as possible. Think of the issues around reproductive technologies, genetic engineering, conflict both within and outside our country, same sex marriage or adoption rights, public education, religious freedom, human rights, government involvement into parental rights. We should have something significant to offer to any of them.

If we believe that God has come to us in Christ to create a new humanity within this world, we will want to speak and act out of the truth of that relationship. God’s Word renews both our minds and our lives. That becomes the salt and light we contribute in our world. We should not withhold it even though others may not embrace it. And in the process, let’s keep reminding ourselves that the church of Christ works by persuasion and not by coercion; we can’t look to governments to do the church’s work for us.

Harold Jantz attends River East MB Church, Winnipeg. He is a former editor of the MB Herald and founder of ChristianWeek.