Politics

I've been reading a new book lately titled unChristian. The author, David Kinnaman, researched the current opinion of Christianity in the eyes of those he calls "outsiders", those outside the church. Specifically, he focuses on outsiders ages 16-29. In the book, Kinnaman reveals that outsiders define Christians as hypocritical, too focused on conversion, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental.

The chapter on politics got me thinking. Kinnaman suggested that Christians need to be involved in politics, but we need to change our methods and attitudes in portraying our political opinions. I'm still trying to figure out why Christians should be involved in politics in the first place. Kinnaman says Christians should be involved in every part of society. I think Jesus shares a similar sentiment when he prays in the garden for his disciples, "My prayer is not that you would take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." (John 17:15) However, something in me rejects the combination of faith and politics. Perhaps I can explain:

I fear imposing Christian morals on a nation not totally made of Christians. Should we hold outsiders to Christian standards? If all they know of Christianity is Christian-based legislation, will they come to see that following Jesus is all about following the rules? How do we engage in political influence without creating a legalistic view of Christianity? If Christians were to get involved politically, how would they propose demonstrating grace when someone has broken the law? Maybe that's already happening, and I'm uninformed.

Secondly, I feel like trying to create a Christianized country through legistration is inauthentic. For example, I had to go to court the other day for the first time in my life. When I was sworn in as a witness, I had to place my hand on a Bible and swear to tell the whole truth, "so help me God". Given the pluralistic nature of our country, I was baffled. I thought the courts would have done away with that years ago. What happens if you aren't a Christian and you swear on the Bible? It seems contradictory to me. . . . Another example, on our money it says, "In God We Trust." No we don't. If our nation trusted God, I don't think we'd have as many moral and justice issues in our society. God would begin to change our hearts and enable us to change our actions to conform to his standard. I just feel like trying to claim we are a Christian nation when we aren't one is a lie.

But perhaps politics is one of the few ways we can make significant social change to end big problems such as poverty, human trafficking, and civil rights. I'm just not sure what the balance is of being too political and being ignorant. Any thoughts?