Sunday, November 16, 2008
Interfaith Workings
In order to have success in our political climate one needs to build coalitions of various groups. Christians, likewise, have many times had to unite with other faith traditions in order work for the passage of legislation. At what point do we have to form these coalitions in order to fulfill God's call, and at what point are we not adequately separating ourselves from the world?
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I think Christians should in most cases, if not all, work only with Christian groups. I think everything Christians do should be seen as evangelism and spreading the Gospel and acting out the gospel. I think this is best done with other Christians. The problem that I think we run into is that there are two groups, Christians who only want to work with themselves and Christians who are willing to work with anyone who wants to help. The problem is that who only want to work with themselves often then limit it to their denomination or other false boundaries so that the Christians who want to work with any one are forced to look out side the faith to find partnership. There are so many Christians around the world that really we can just work with Christians and have amazing capabalities. And I mean the universal Church from other countries and other denominations. That is a huge resource of people.
On a side note, I think this is related to how Christians work with the government, I think we all agree that the current government is not a Christian entity (no matter how much we like or dislike certain decisions). So how much can Christians get done helping people through the government? This is an interesting side discussion which feeds into this.
I feel as if the question being asked is wether or not the Christian message is hampered by the people that we associate with. This is hard when it comes to politics, as often it is a game of compromises. If you look at the old testament, when the people of Israel associated closley with other people, even to fight God's battles, they were often corrupted by them. I feel as if it is important also to not isolate ourselves as Christians. There are non christian people who have desires and Goals that would align with Christians. The question that needs to be answered is wether of not our joining with people who don't know God will be a stumbling point for our faith. I do not know the answer to this, but mabye someone could give me an example on how this works out in a political situation. peace.
Christian involvement in the public arena necessitates a number of important questions. Not least of which is the topic of how much Believers can work with the world in order to bring about desired political goals. Many initiatives on marriage and the family have only succeeded due to the alliance between Evangelicals and Mormons. Likewise, much of the progress that is being made in regards to the environment would not be happening if it weren’t for Christians working with secular organizations like Green Peace. But as we form coalitions in order to bring about the legislative success that we desire, the nagging question is at what point do we put political outcomes above our primary purpose in life: to share the Good News of the Kingdom.
While the deeper issue behind this question is one of civic engagement (to what extent should Christians be involved in the political process), for the sake of discussion let us proceed with the assumption that Christians should be involved in the political process. That leaves us with two options: work with whoever has similar interests on a particular policy issue, or, work only with Christians no matter what the topic.
Let us first consider the implications of only working with Christians. Despite the massive number of evangelicals in this country, there is not enough participation to enact change unilaterally. For example, even though evangelical turnout was largely credited with giving George W. Bush his victory in 2004, there was no significant legislation that came as a result. However, despite the lack of effectiveness, this position does have its appeals. Most predominately is the fact that by working only with Christians, it would be much easier to appear as salt and light, providing a clear contrast between Believers and the world. In essence, it is easy to give the Church credit for something when they are the only ones working on it.
However, if we are after results, we must lean towards involvement with non-believers as well. In order to pass legislation, you have to spread the tent wide enough for the government to notice. By reaching out to others who have a different religious background than ours we would be able to bring about more legislation that promotes biblical principles.
As with most things in the Christian walk, this issue requires that we hold competing ideas in tension. Yes, we must provide a clear distinction between us and the world, or else we will not be able to model the Gospel. Likewise, passing legislation is also a means of modeling the Gospel and requires us to work with the world. The balance lies in being able to build coalitions, while not betraying the foundation we are working from. That is how we will be able to work within the world of politics, but not be of the world of politics.
WOW...I would love to join in on this, but I will need some thinking time. I enjoyed reading all of your individual thoughts.
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