Ask the Pastor 79

Should the Church be involved in politics?

“All that is necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing”. This is a quote that is often referred to in connection with the Church being involved in politics, it was first said by Edmund Burke (1729-1797) in the British Parliament while he argued on behalf of the American Colonies. The quote is often paraphrased and reduced down a bit, but the meaning is clear, good men need to be involved to keep evil from prevailing. This brings us to the point of what is the role of the Church in this or any other day and age. Our Lord summed things up pretty well when just before His ascension He stated, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” (Matthew 28:19). The first priority of the Church is to preach the Gospel and make disciples. So, will this have an effect on society in and of itself? The answer of course, is yes it most definitely will, as a Christian society is a more moral and civil society than any other kind. Simply put, when a person is changed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit, that person will be a better person and a collection of those kind of people will make a better society. The Church may petition a government to do what is right but if those of government are not right themselves, they will not understand what the Church is even saying, let alone, actually do what is right. Those things that come from the Spirit of God can only be understood by those who actually have the Spirit of God within them (I Corinthians 2:10-14). Theoretically, in a representative democracy the elected representative will pass laws etc., that are in keeping with the will of his/her voting constituency. We say theoretically, because we know that there are many forces at work which can and do manipulate the system. Nevertheless, the more there are who are believers and who vote consistently within the parameters of the Word of God, the better our society will be. Therefore, for the Church to be an influence on government and society is best done through the preaching of the gospel.

Have questions about the Bible? Send them to Dr. Greg Koehn at gak4850@gmail.com and read the answer here in this article.