Doing God ... Politics
The overarching title of this series, ‘Doing God’ might be
taken in some sense to have been building to a talk on politics. After all, Alastair Campbell when he was Tony
Blair’s press secretary once said that ‘We don’t do God’.
Contrary to Campbell, Archbishop Desmond Tutu once famously
said that “When people say that the Bible and politics don’t mix, I ask them
which Bible they’re reading!” Tutu is, of
course, right – the Bible is full of stories about politics and power. There is the whole contested nature of the
Kingdom of Israel – never really resolved in the Bible. Jesus speaks primarily about the Kingdom of
God, using political language for his teaching.
And, centrally, Jesus is executed by the Roman governor on the very
political charge of claiming to be a King.
Politics pervades the Bible.
Alongside this, however, are two injunctions that are often
said to stand counter to this. The first
comes from St John’s Gospel. Jesus,
standing before the Roman governor on trial for his life is asked “Are you the
King of the Jews?” His reply is
ambiguous: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18.33-36). I’ll come back to this.
The second comes from St Paul who tells Christians in Rome
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no
authority except from God and those authorities that exist have been instituted
by God. Therefore whoever resists
authority resists what God has appointed” (Romans 13.1-2). Paul has, of course,
been used (perhaps I should say ‘abused’) by tyrannical governments to counter
any kind of protest. The apartheid
government in South Africa used this text to put down dissent, but history
reminds us that the British Government and its Anglican apologists have not
shied away from using Paul in this way.
We should remember, however, that Paul too died at the hands of the
Roman authorities. He resisted authority
that prevented him from being a Christian.
Writing to a small group of Christians in the capital of the Empire,
Paul tells them to live as part of an ordered society rather than to live
according to the law of the jungle. But,
crucially, Paul places governments under the authority of God. What seems to be a fairly conservative
passage is actually very radical. The
Roman Emperor, probably Nero when Paul was writing, claimed to be a god, not to
be subject to God. Paul reminds the
Roman Christians, that government, that politics, is a human affair and subject
to the authority of God.
And that is where Jesus’ answer to Pilate, that Pilate was
signally unable to understand, fits in.
Jesus kingdom is the Kingdom of God, it is not from this world of human
politics. Far from being a clear cut
separation between religion and politics, Jesus’ answer to Pilate is simply a
reminder that politics stands under God and under God’s judgment.
A Christian approach to politics is, then, characterised by
two things. First, Christians see
politics as secondary to God’s authority.
Christians will (or at least should) refuse any account of politics that
claims to be absolute. Whether that be
the divine right of kings or Nazi and apartheid states that claim to be able to
determine what counts as human; these are idolatrous and Christians cannot
accept them on their own terms. That is
why the fundamental political act for Christians is worship – just what we are
engaged in here and now. It is the
fundamental political act because it reminds us all that God is the ultimate
authority, and that human politics is subject to God. To take but one example, we will pray the
Lord’s Prayer in a few minutes and ask our Father that ‘Thy Kingdom come; Thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’
This is where the earliest Christians had their first encounters with
political power. The earliest Christian
creed was simply ‘Jesus is Lord’, and this brought them into conflict with an
imperial system which required them to say that ‘Caesar is Lord’. For the Christian, politics is always subject
to God’s authority. As such worship is
our fundamental political act. The earliest Christian worship led to
persecution.
The second characteristic of Christian approaches to
politics is that there is a humility in engagement with political matters
because no human political programme can be said to be complete and utterly
identified with the Gospel. This is a
warning, I think, against having a Christian political party. Where such parties exist, they must have the
humility to say that they are partial and that Christians do support other
parties and other programmes. Similarly
it is wrong to suggest that any of the political parties in the UK are the
‘Christian option’. There are Christians
in them all and rightly so. Christian
approaches to politics are as human, and therefore as flawed, as any
others. This is not a neutrality, just a
recognition that no programme is perfect.
For Christians, ‘doing politics’, is secondary to
worshipping the true and living God. But
from that place, Christians will oppose tyranny and absolutist government. Christians will engage in political action,
but do so humbly, as those who pray for the coming of God’s kingdom. So Christians will not make the mistake of
identifying any one political programme with God or God’s kingdom. Let me end by suggesting two quintessential
Christian political acts that we should all be engaged in. They are a starting point for Christian
political engagement.
The first is prayer for those in politics and in positions
of power. The New Testament instructs us
that “supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings should be made
for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead
a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2.1-2). Prayer reminds us, and our rulers, that they are
not absolute, but are subject to God.
The Swiss theologian Karl Barth, dismissed from his position at a German
university for refusing to begin all his lectures with ‘Heil Hitler!’ was asked
how he could pray for rulers when Hitler was that ruler. ‘That’s exacly when we most need to pray for
them’ was his response. The commission
after the baptism of adults asks the newly baptised ‘Will you acknowledge
Christ’s authority over human society by prayer for the world and its leaders ?’ Praying for our rulers reminds us and them
that they are subject to God. But it
also reflects the fact that they do difficult jobs and make hard decisions and
need our care and our prayers. We should
pray for them, and do so regularly.
So we are to pray for our rulers. Second, we are to care for the poor. Those who lack the basic requirements of
life, food, shelter, clean water, education.
These are the people that need our care, because they are those who are
failed by the politicians in power. This
is not a party political statement.
Governments of all colours have left people in poverty. Governments of all colours have tried to life
people out of poverty. But Christians
have found themselves in conflict with governments of all colours because they
have pointed to the failure of government to care for the poor. We best point to such failings by caring for
them ourselves.
Prayer for our rulers and care for the poor. These are the two basic Christian political
practices that will lead us into other places and more difficult
territory. But if we are not praying for
those in authority, and caring for those who have the least, then we will not
be doing God in the world of politics.
First given at Derby Cathedral 17.3.16.
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