Why I'm a politcal pariah - The Bible and politics

Wow, it took me a while to come back this one. I guess when I'm dealing with heavier material, I can more easily find an excuse to not to blog.

Anyhow, I think one of the reasons that the question of faith and politics is so difficult for the modern day church is that politics as we know them today really didn't exist in Biblical times. I mean, yes, there were governments, and I'm sure that people had ideas and strong opinions about them (see how the Jews in Jesus' time viewed tax collectors, for instance), but the idea that the average person could have a direct (or a strong indirect, if you what to nitpick) voice in the government would have been a foreign concept to Biblical audiances. Think about it - the prevailing forms of government we see in the Bible were: a familial/tribal system, a theocracy led at various times by chosen priest/prophets/judges, a monarchy, and various forms of empires and other occupying forces. So, there's some variety there, but one common theme - if you were an individual outside the ruling class and wanted something to change, you basically had two choices: plead your case to the ruling class and hope they listend, or start an armed rebellion. You couldn't just rally public support to bring about a peacable change in the government, at least not in general.

These facts make it pretty clear why, at least as I read Scripture, human government is something that is presented as a reality that must be dealt with, but not something in which people are exhorted to be an active voice for change. I don't think that's necessarily because we as followers of Christ aren't supposed to have such a voice, but such a concept just didn't make sense in the political landscape. That's why, especially in the New Testament, after earthly government had clearly passed into the realm of humans, you see Jesus, and later Paul, focusing on how we are to live with each other, inside and out of the church, and leaving the government as an entity that is there with a purpose, but ultimately outside of our specter of influence. "Give to Caeser what is Caeser's" and "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men" are the kind of statements that characterize the New Testament message about human government - a reality to be acknowledged and a construct in which we have to operate within.

None of this is particularly to support one view of the Christian's responsibility for involvement in modern democratic governments, but only to say that I don't believe the Bible lays out a clear picture of what the church/state relationship should look like in the modern era. One thing that is clear, however, is that we are to be citizens of God's kingdom first, and whatever earthly kingdom we live in second.

More tomorrow, I hope.