Christ and Civic Engagement

We all have hopes and concerns for our city, state, and nation. We thank God for countless freedoms we enjoy and want them to continue. We pray for various concerns. We lament the evils our state sanctions.

We all engage in civic life. It is unavoidable. At gatherings like sporting events and concerts, a pledge of allegiance is taken. We all say together, “one nation under God.”

Civic life involves political engagement, communicating with our elected and non-elected government officials. It involves compliance with laws and statutes of the city and state. It may involve protests. The question is: How do Christians engage in civic life?

This summer, Faith Bible Church is using an adult Sunday school format to address topics Christians are debating that relate to civic life. For example:

• Forms of Christian nationalism have been put forward as a path for civic engagement. What is or is not biblical about Christian nationalism?
• Information sources are varied and biased. How do Christians navigate this?
• There is a call from some Christian sectors to repeal the 19th amendment under a so-called biblical patriarchy.
• How do we think about immigration in light of the Great Commission and the Bible’s commands for compassion on the sojourner?

The issues are broad and often multifaceted. We are excited to summarize and evaluate them in light of Scripture.

As we do this, we know that there are different viewpoints and strong passions within our congregation. There is a risk of division. Maybe there should be a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for the church so we don’t rock the boat. Perhaps we should just talk about Jesus and don’t worry about the rest.

Jesus is calling us to remain unified in doctrine, while we may apply the doctrines differently.

The elders don’t think that’s a good idea. We all will engage in civic life; will we do it as biblically informed Christians? Jesus is calling us to remain unified in doctrine, while we may apply the doctrines differently. Your role, your background, your particular interests might lead to different applications, but we can still agree on biblical principles.

To make this series successful, we need four things.

1. We need to submit together under the authority of Scripture. Where Scripture speaks, we must seek a common understanding. Where Scripture does not speak, we must not demand conformity.
2. We need to pray for humility, unity and biblical understanding.
3. We need to ask questions to understand, more than we make statements to make a point. The injunction to “be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger” (James 1:19) will serve us well.
4. We need to recognize that we have a variety of convictions and conscience issues, informed by Scripture but not mandated by Scripture. These require patience and thoughtfulness.

As elders, we hold some biblical convictions that will provide guardrails for the series.

Our heavenly citizenship

Christians live as dual citizens: Our primary citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Our secondary citizenship is of a nation (Acts 21:39). We are called by Jesus to preach the gospel and live Christlike while citizens of a city, state, and nation.

Our first mark of unity is not our nation or nationality. It is our adoption into the family of God. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are now fellow citizens in the household of God. “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” says Ephesians 2:19.

For now, we may have differing understandings or perspectives on political or civic affairs. But we are brothers and sisters in Christ with genuine love for each other. We will spend eternity together. We are not guaranteed full unity until Christ returns to rule the nations.

Proclaiming Christ

Proclaiming Christ and His gospel is always the Christian’s primary task. “Make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) is not a direct mandate to implement moral and policy decisions over the state. The parallel passage in Luke gives us a fairly simple description:

“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.” —Luke 24:46–48

Proclaiming Christ is civic engagement. Making disciples is speaking the gospel, seeing the Holy Spirit work in giving new birth, and equipping new followers of Jesus Christ to fully obey Him. Christians will be transformed, and that will change how they engage in civic and political life.

One of the clearest commands of Christians toward government is to pray for its leaders (1 Timothy 2:1–4). We do that in seeking their salvation, and to allow the further spread of the gospel. By adhering to Jesus’ teaching as His disciples, converted rulers will govern with Christ’s eternal Word in mind.

The Bible gives general commands and guiding principles more than it gives specific details for civic life.

In the New Testament, many officials heard the gospel and were saved: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were both members of the Jewish council (Luke 23:50–51); Sergius Paulus, a Roman proconsul, and Dionysis the Areopagite were converted (Acts 13:4–12, 17:31–34).

But there is something noteworthy: Many civic officials became Christians, but there is no record of a change in government policy, structure, or political philosophy. In fact, Paul referred to pre-existing Roman and Jewish laws in his various defenses (Acts 21-28). The large number of converts in the Roman empire did not bring new and improved governance; in fact, Christians suffered widespread persecution.

At the same time, there are many instances in history where Christians implemented radical reforms through civic institutions for the benefit of the vulnerable and oppressed. Christian influences have improved civic life for many nations.

Commands or convictions

Scripture is our only sure and steady foundation. The truth of God’s Word is what brings unity and clarity about our civic involvement. But, the Bible gives general commands and guiding principles more than it gives specific details for civic life. That is ultimately good. There were many different forms of government and laws throughout the biblical record, and the democratic republic in America looks very different from anything in biblical history.

It is helpful to delineate two categories for Christians: “must do” and “might do.”

Must do: We must regard the Scriptures as our highest authority. There is surprisingly specific biblical teaching about the governance of the church and life in the church (Matthew 18:14–18, 1 Timothy 2–3, Titus 1). Among other biblical commands, we must love God over our government (Matthew 22:37–38). We must love our neighbor as ourselves. We must remain in subjection to our rulers so long as those rulers exercise their authority within their God-ordained limits. We must seek to do good for all (1 Peter 2:15). We must pray for our governing officials (1 Timothy 2:1–4). We must do all of this with Christlike character and filled with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:19–23).

Might do: There are convictions a Christian may have that are permitted but not required in the Bible. We may share a conviction that the best government and policy adheres to the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2, Romans 13:8–13), but we may disagree about how to implement forms of government, laws and policies. There are also conscience issues, where what the government asks might violate one Christian’s conscience and not another’s. Some may only have bandwidth in their lives to deal with family, sickness, or church matters. Often, we need to respect others’ convictions and not “cancel” them because they reason or prioritize differently.

Our unity is under the Lordship of Christ and His Word. Jesus has and will keep making a difference in our world. His gospel will continue forward. We as a church must be faithful and faithfully represent Him in our civic life.

Dan Jarms

Dr. Dan Jarms is lead pastor at Faith Bible Church in Spokane Washington, as well as associate dean at The Master's Seminary in Spokane. He has been married for over 30 years to Linda, and has three adult children. He earned his B.A. in English at the Master’s College, B.Ed. at Eastern Washington University, M.Div and D.Min in Expository Preaching at The Master’s Seminary. His other interests include NCAA basketball, woodworking, and art.

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