Christian Renaissance

Jesus and Politics - Part Two

The Christian Statesman - PO Box 8741-WP - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15221

by Andrew Sandlin

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matt. 4:17).

Jesus' life and teaching relate a final crucial fact about politics. It is that we can expect the gradual advancement of the kingdom of God in time and history which will influence and eventually shape the political realm. In Matthew 13:31-33, Jesus relates the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven:

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

The objective of these parables is to describe how the kingdom of God from small beginnings grows to an overwhelming size. Kenneth Gentry says of the parable of the mustard seed, "The imagery is unquestionably of something magnificent beyond expectation."7 The parable of the leaven in the dough speaks of the intensive working of the kingdom of God--it pervades the entire dough. This is how the kingdom of God grows. Its beginning is minute, almost unseen. However, it steadily, gradually grows to magnificent proportions. This parable of Jesus' sounds quite like Nebuchad-nezzar's dream which Daniel interpreted in Daniel 2. There, Messiah's kingdom is likened to a small, supernaturally thrown stone which crushes the feet of the image. This image is the four great world empires, the Roman Empire being the last. The stone, merely by striking the feet, destroys the entire image. Gradually the stone grows to be a mountain to fill the entire earth. It begins as something small, and soon engulfs the entire world.

Jesus' parable of the growth of the kingdom of God teaches the same thing. But what is the kingdom of God? We have already noted that it is not a political kingdom. Theologians distinguish between God's universal, providential kingdom and Christ's mediatorial kingdom. God's universal, providential kingdom is his rule over all things--it is the exercise of his sovereignty fulfilling his will on the earth (Ps. 24; 95:3; 98:5-9; 146:5-10). Christ's mediatorial kingdom is somewhat different. It is set forth in texts like Psalm 2:7-12 and 1 Cor. 15:24. It is the special rule over the nations which God the Father grants to his Son as a reward for his faithfulness.

When Jesus begins his ministry by saying the kingdom of God is at hand, he certainly is not referring to God's universal, providential kingdom. It had existed long before Christ's incarnation. Rather, he is talking about his own messianic kingdom. He refers to the rule of the nations which he will exercise.8 Recall that many of the Jews confused this kingdom with a revolutionary political kingdom that would break the yoke of the Roman oppressors and establish a Jewish theocracy on the earth. Jesus quickly disabused the Jews about this. He pointed out that the kingdom of God is not by public show and pomp, but exists in the midst of those near to him (Lk. 17:20-23; cf. Matt. 12:28). He stated that the kingdom comprises those who are poor in spirit and persecuted for their obedience (Mt. 5:3-12; 6:33). Only those who are born again (Jn. 3:3) and who do God's will enter the kingdom (Matt. 7:21). In other words, the kingdom of God as the realm of Christ's reign is not fundamentally political, but is religious and ethical. However, it affects the state. In the Old Testament we learn that Messiah's kingdom will include the widespread submission to his law (Isa. 2:3), and even political rulers will bow to his will (Isa. 49:23). The kingdom will affect every area of life, and the political sphere will not be excluded.

To preach and teach the kingdom of God, therefore, is to preach and teach the message of comprehensive salvation: Christ shed his blood as atonement for sinful man. All of those who by faith alone cast themselves upon him are swept into his kingdom. They thereby bow themselves to his authority expressed in his Word. This begins the process of sanctification. Sanctification affects the entire man. This Christian man, if properly taught, works to sanctify every area of life and thought. This is the comprehensive, biblical teaching of salvation. As an increasing number of individuals are converted and apply the Faith to all of life, they affect all areas of society. This does not exclude politics.

We cannot consistently argue that the Bible and the Christian faith applies to the individual, the family, and at most the church, but that it does not apply to the state. We cannot say that Christ is Lord of the Christian, the school, and the denomination, but that he is not Lord of the state. This is to deny Christ's claims of Lordship. It is to assault his mediatorial kingdom. In whatever we do--including politics--we are to do it to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).

If we are elected to political office, we must glorify God. We do this by obeying the Bible. And Jesus Christ himself confirms the authority of Old Testament civil law as properly enforced in the state. In other words, although Jesus did not teach political revolution, his teachings, when properly implemented by his people on a wide scale, will produce great political change by peaceful means. The kingdom of God is not political, but it has significant implications for politics, just as it has significant implications for art, education, science, technology, and so forth. Every area of life should be Christianized, including the state.

Finally, this answers the question of whether Christianity is either a radical or a reactionary force. If we had listened to many of the "Jesus People" in 60s and 70s, we would have heard that Jesus was a revolutionary political radical. One of his main objectives was to overthrow the Roman political system and establish something akin to a socialist commune. Even radical evangelical political magazines like Sojourners and The Other Side articulated this view. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those today who charge that Jesus Christ and his followers were politically and socially reactionary: women are held to be subordinate to men, slavery is permissible, private property is inviolable, and so forth. In other words, some leftists use the Bible to prove that the Bible supports leftism, while other leftists attack the Bible because it is anti-leftism. The former consider the message of Christ and the Bible radical, while the later consider it reactionary.

Christianity is neither radical nor reactionary but regenerative. 9 Christ's message is one neither of political reaction norradicalism, but of fundamental regeneration. Christ's message was not one of political revolution. Notwithstanding, we must never assume by that his message invariably supports the status quo. The message of Christ and the Bible is the message of change across the entire spectrum of life--by regeneration, not by revolution.

This is the core message of Jesus Christ as it relates to politics: political change is the effect of a religious re-orientation. Most Christians are not called to full-time political activity (for this we can be grateful!). They are called, however, to obedience in every area of life. This includes obedience at the ballot box in a democracy. If Christians are faithful in every sphere in which they are involved, eventually their faithfulness will be reflected broadly in politics.

Nevertheless, some Christians are called to direct political involvement. In the Bible, Joseph, David, Daniel, and many others were. Politics is a legitimate sphere of Christian activity. What should the goal of Christians be in a political sphere? Simply stated, it is to be just as Christian in the political sphere as in any other sphere. In modern Western democracies, it means pressing for godly change within the state: electing Christian candidates or candidates who will act on biblical truth, working to pass legislation that will reflect and enforce biblical law; working to halt the modern leviathan state which has become a substitute religion, alerting colleagues in politics that the political sphere is not amoral, but inherently reflects religious perspectives. The explicitly biblical political task is not easy. Christians must work in a system presently dominated by non-Christians. But this is really no different than most other Christian callings in the world. The kingdom of God advances slowly and incrementally in the world; it advances slowly and incrementally in politics. Christians should work faithfully, patiently, but relentlessly in pressing the claims of biblical Christianity in the political sphere.

Jesus' message was not a political message. It was a religious message. Men are saved by trusting in Christ and him alone (Jn. 14:1, 11). They are called to submit to his Lordship (Mt. 16:24-26) and obey his word (Lk. 9:28-35). If they do this, however, they will act differently in the political realm than unbelievers. They will recognize the authority of the Bible, specifically Old Testament law, in the civil sphere. They will acknowledge that both God and the state are valid authorities, but that in any conflict between them, man must obey God and not the state. Finally, Christians will recognize that the kingdom of God will progress gradually in time and history, and that it will one day pervade the political realm. Christians are called to obey in politics no less than any other area of life. Jesus is Lord in politics just as he is in the family and church.

1. Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (New York, 1905), 2:385.

2. Greg L. Bahnsen, Theonomy in Christian Ethics (Phillipsburg, NJ, 1984 edition); Rousas John Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law (no loc., 1973).

3. Andrew Sandlin, "Principled Resistance to Tyranny: One Man's View," The Christian Statesman, vol. 141, no. 1 (January-February 1998), 5-7.

4. Ethelbert Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars (London, 1955), 112-137.

5. Milhail Heller, Cogs in the Wheel: The Formation of Soviet Man (New York, 1988).

6. Andrew Sandlin, "The Christian Libertarian Paradigm: Freedom Under God's Law," Christianity and Society, vol. 4, no. 3 (July 1996), 24-26.

7. Kenneth L. Gentry, He Shall Have Dominion (Tyler, TX, 1992), 238.

8. William Symington, Messiah the Prince (Edmonton, Alberta [1884], 1990).

9. H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and Culture (New York, 1951), 190-229.

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