Jesus is Involved in Politics

In my last post I shared what I felt was “the root” problem of our nation’s demise – me, and my lack of education. I shared how my failure to apply biblical principles to the God ordained institution of civil government made me and others like me, culpable for much of the suffering and poverty we face today. Our lawmakers are merely “branches” and we are the “root” that allows them to grow. But enough about the problem, everyone can see a problem exists – what is the solution?

In this post, I share the critical role of the church and especially our pastors.
• The problem is best fixed by the church
• The battle can be won without having to convince a single non-Christian
• Jesus was involved in politics and therefore so must our pastors.

The Problem is best fixed by the church
While there are a number of moral people who are not Christian, our dilemma at its core is a spiritual one. Sin is not our problem. Our desire to create unjust laws and use politics to live off the labor of our neighbor is simply a product of our sinful nature. If I am correct in this assertion then only Christ and the church hold the solution. John Adams shared . . .


Government can only rule in the physical realm it cannot rule in the spiritual realm. Contrary to public opinion, government laws cannot change a man's heart, only Christ can rule there. We should pity the man or government who dare intrude in Christ’s jurisdiction. This has been the failure of governments throughout history when they attempt to replace Christ as head of the church (See King George III and the American Revolution).

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” - John Adams message to Officers of the First Brigade of the Massachusetts….

Only in Christ can man find victory over his sin nature and only in scripture do we find the guidelines and principles for how this entity, called “the state”, is to operate. Some of my friends will challenge me on this point stating that they do not need to be Christians to believe these truths. While I agree one doesn’t have to be a Christian to be moral, these truths find their origins in the scriptures and as such they carry Christ’s authority. To disconnect the King from his principles is to remove from them his authority. When we remove Christ as the source and authority of our view of civil government, our opinions are reduced to mere opinions.  They carry no more weight than that of the non-believer.

The battle can be won without having to convince a single non-Christian
We need not look outside the church to put our nation on back on track. My wife gave me a wonderful book this week, Jesus Is Involved in Politics by Neil Mammen. Mammen says,

“The battle for American can be won without ever having to convince a single non-Christian or non-Conservative about anything. The battle for America begins and ends with Christians and Conservatives.”

and . . .

“… There are more than 60 million evangelical Christians of voting age in America. Some 24 million of them are not even registered to vote. Of the 36 million who are registered to vote, not all do.” – David Barton

Christians are not participating in the political process. A football team with six of its twelve players stuck in the locker room cannot win on the field. While we are sitting on the sidelines, presidential and senate seats are being won and lost by a few hundred thousand votes, or as in Florida in 2000, by 200 votes. The battles for who leads our nation and writes our laws are being won and lost while our churches and pulpits are silent. Perhaps the suffering we face today is God’s judgment for “voting for the lesser of two evils”. Perhaps the suffering we face today is due to our failure to come out of the salt shaker properly influencing civil government for good. Many are saying that church and politics don’t mix. I say we should have nothing to do with the immoral practices of lawmaking, but everything to do with the activity of writing just laws and punishing evil.


Jesus was involved in politics and therefore so must our pastors
Many in the church today believe Jesus never got involved in politics. Mammen addresses this issue as well. Who were the politicians of Jesus day? Were they only those senators to the north in Rome? While the Empire was ruled from Rome and had its seat of government there, Rome gave a great deal of autonomy to Judah. Despite being an occupied territory, Judah enjoyed a greater level of self governance than most. Judeans in 33 A.D., had a fully functioning political system that included their own executive, legislative and judicial powers. They had their own police officers and public jails.


Was Jesus involved in interacting with the Roman Senate? No. He was not a Roman citizen and he was 1,422 miles away. He could not influence them any more than a citizen of occupied Iraq could influence our lawmakers in Washington. However, being a Jew and living in Judah, he could and did influence his own lawmakers, the Sanhedrin.


The Sanhedrin combined the legislative branch and judicial branch into one entity. But who were these guys? Do we ever read about them in the bible? Did Jesus ever talk about them or with them? Did he stay far removed from them and remain silent?


The lawmakers and politicians of Jesus day that made up the membership of the Sanhedrin were the Pharisees and Sadducees. Did Jesus interact with them? You bet he did. He warned them about corrupt laws and twisted interpretations of their original law. Jesus was so involved with his lawmakers one can’t speak about him without including his interaction with them.


One may complain, “The Sanhedrin was only in charge of religious laws.” Mammen says this is false. Jewish historian Reifmann tells us:

“All religious matters and all civil matters not claimed by Roman authority were within the Sanhedrin’s attributions; and the decisions issued by its judges were to be held inviolable.” – Reifmann, Sanhedrin, Heb. (Berdichef, 1888) xi 2-4.

Jesus talked with the various members of the Sanhedrin, trying to influence them, calling them to account, showing them that many of their laws, both civil and religious, were wrong and overly numerous. (See the unjust application of law as it applied to the woman caught in adultery). Jesus also used civil disobedience to show the injustice and bankruptcy of various laws when he and the Apostles picked and husked wheat on the Sabbath and later when they healed on the Sabbath.


Jesus even insulted his chief political leader by calling him a “fox”, Luke 13:31. He called his Senators “hypocrites” and “slimy snakes", Mathew 23:27, 33. He was confrontational. This is the negative side of politics that we must speak against.


Was Jesus only addressing their mistakes in theology? Although, he was concerned about their spiritual condition, he also cared about their physical condition. He demonstrated concern for such issues as oppression and social justice. Unjust laws and immoral politics have a negative effect on the innocent. Jesus addressed the legal basis for divorce and the legality of paying taxes to Caesar. These issues, coupled with the woman caught in adultery, were civil, not religious.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the most important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness.” - Mt 23:23.

Jesus cared about the suffering of the poor, widowed and orphaned. Politics is religious at its base because our laws come from our morals and morals come from religion. (Note: The atheist has a religion and morals as well) Does it seem reasonable to you that lawmakers such as Joseph or Nicodemus who respected Jesus's wisdom, when meeting with him, would not seek his opinion on the challenging issues of thier day? Do you think that Jesus was silent and unresponsive?


It just goes to show how far we have gotten off message. Our pastors are key.  If they will jump onto the field, the body will as well. What do you think?


I am gleaning a number of fresh, new insights from Mammen’s book, Jesus Is Involved in Politics. I encourage you to pick up two copies. Once for yourself, and one for your pastor or elder.

Jesus was Involved in Politics