The Bible doesn’t tell us which political party to vote for. But, it does give us some principles to think about politics. In this session we take a brief look at some of those principles.
This session is part of the Your Questions Answered series.
Key points
- The Bible gives us some principles which help us to think about politics. This session looks at five principles that help us think about political engagement as Christians.
- #1: God made everything – Psalm 24:1. Christians should not be concerned just about themselves but concerned for everyone to worship and serve God.
- #2: Real change comes through proclaiming the gospel. Faith comes through hearing the gospel (Romans 10:14, 17). This is how societies really change.
- #3: Politics can aid the proclamation of the gospel. Many of us in the Western world have benefitted from a government which is broadly Christian. People involved in politics such as Thomas Cromwell have made a very big difference to Christians in this country.
- #4: God calls us to care about others. Proverbs 31:8 – we are called to speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves. Some people feel a special call by God to go into politics to help people in this way.
- #5: Politics has limitations. Psalm 118:8-9 – it’s better to trust in God than to trust in human beings. At the end of the day, humans have limited power and not every inequality or issue in society can be fixed. God is the only one who can solve all those things, and we should look to him.
- We finish by looking at two examples, William Wilberforce (who was instrumental in abolishing the slave trade) and Black Lives Matter. I think these illustrate that politics can be a force for good, but at the end of the day only God can change people’s hearts.
Explore further
There’s a lot more you could say about Christians and politics! I’ve written a few posts on my own blog about politics which you might appreciate:
- Christians are not right or left (politically)
- Should an Archbishop speak out about politics?
- On not understanding Tim Farron
I hope that some of those are helpful.
Your questions answered
This is part of the Your questions answered feature. See that page for more videos in the series.
If you have a question about Christianity or the Bible, please send them in or comment below.