Serving in the political arena

Politics Under God John H. Redekop. Herald Press, 2007.

John Redekop has packed a lifetime of observation and experience into Politics Under God. The well-known Mennonite Brethren activist and teacher, former conference moderator, member of numerous committees and boards, columnist for decades in this periodical, and professor of political science, Redekop here proposes an “Anabaptist realism” that reflects his own intellectual journey.

Put simply, Redekop says by all means get into the political process, but do it with care and balance and remember your first allegiance is to Jesus Christ.

Redekop’s book has already drawn wide attention for its many helpful insights. As an Anabaptist, he sets forth an approach for involvement in government and politics that’s distinguished from classically Lutheran or Catholic approaches. He doesn’t want us to return to the 16th century, however; he calls his approach “reformed Anabaptism,” responding to the greatly changed situation that the inheritors of the Anabaptist mantle need to face today.

“Reformed Anabaptism does not assume any social or geographical removal of the Christian community from the mainstream of society,” he writes. That spells involvement in the political process. The limits or boundaries for Christians, however, are set by the ethics of Christ. Christians should not be arguing for two sets of ethics, one they live within the church and another they adopt within the structures of society. They can live only by one, which they must live in obedience to Christ. But that still leaves a great deal of room for involvement in the work of the government and most of the book is devoted to explaining how that might be done.

Redekop has always been good at providing lists, and this book has a number of them. He lists, for example, reasons why Christians should give careful thought to political matters and names ten things that “God requires of Christian citizens in a world permeated by politics.” He outlines how Christians can pray for government. He discusses the charge that conservative Christians try to “legislate morality” and gives a solid list of occasions when Christians should speak to government. He names areas in which faithful believers can work with government. He works with the issue of dissent and withholding taxes as a form of protest.

Redekop helpfully explains how the dominant political philosophies – liberalism, conservatism, or socialism – either resonate or clash with biblical Christian values. Many readers, I suspect, will find themselves connecting his descriptions with their own experience. Each of the political ideologies has some elements that one can readily accept, and others that simply don’t mesh. That becomes part of the argument for limited involvement.

One of the core issues Redekop acknowledges is the question of coercion. The ability to use force lies at the very heart of government’s ability to do its work. Redekop comes at it a number of times but he never does so quite satisfactorily.

Governments can force obedience, can execute, can go to war. Such use of force protects us, restrains evil, and makes justice possible. Despite affirming it as a necessary aspect of the working of government, Redekop can’t quite make the argument for his own participation in it as a Christian pacifist. This is the one point at which he says an “extensive discussion” is needed that he can’t go into. One wishes he might have done more.

Like the church, governments make absolutist claims. Yet, as Redekop states, even though “the political order has done much that is good, it is the church, not the state, that is the bearer of the meaning of history.” That’s the claim of Scripture. Is it an argument for non-involvement? By no means, says Redekop. Because governments intrude so deeply into all of our lives, use our taxes, and engage in so much of what the church once did, we need to be involved. But we must think about it carefully and let Christ be Lord in the process. That won’t make life easier, but it will certainly help us make a difference as Christ followers in our world.

Politics Under God is a very helpful book and deserves wide reading.

Harold Jantz is former editor of the MB Herald and lives in Winnipeg.