Join us for part two of our three-part series on politics and government! In our previous episode, we explored key biblical principles for thinking Christianly about these topics, laying the foundation for today's discussion. Today, we examine the different postures Christians have taken to connect biblical principles with our modern political context, highlighting four primary approaches from James Davidson Hunter's influential book, To Change the World. Don't miss this insightful conversation!

Quotes

"If God's called you, go out there and be present in governmental or public political callings."

— Tom Nelson 

 "The primary role is to shepherd the congregation God's entrusted them to. It's a shepherding teaching role, number 1. But there's also a prophetic aspect to being a pastor. It's not maybe the same as the old testament prophet, thus saith the Lord, but it is truth telling truth to power, telling truth to culture, telling being a truth teller to our congregation, and all 3 of those are different."

— Tom Nelson 

"Wrap around your heart Micah 6:8. Because that is true in the workplace, at home, the school, your business, if you're in the wonderful calling in government or political activism in some way, to do justice, right? To but to love kindness and to walk humbly with God."

— Tom Nelson

3 Main Takeaways

1. Active Engagement and Faithful Presence in Public Life: Encouraging Christians to be actively present in governmental or public political callings rather than hiding away. This active engagement is not only about institutional roles but also about equipping individuals within the church to engage in their everyday "Monday worlds" with a focus on justice, kindness, and humility. 

2. Institutional and Individual Dynamics: The conversation explores deep into the roles of both institutional churches and individual believers in public engagement. While Christ Community, adopts a nonpartisan stance and provides guidance through biblical principles, it also focuses on empowering its members to speak into their spheres of influence on issues like sanctity of life, racial justice, and Christian sexual ethic. The role of pastors in providing a moral, prophetic voice in broader culture, characterized by discernment, prayer, and consultative leadership, is highlighted.

3. Approaches to Cultural Engagement: Different approaches to engaging culture are examined, including accommodating, separation, and incarnational approaches. The podcast particularly emphasizes the "faithful presence" model, which integrates biblical faithfulness and cultural competency. While this model aims to be deeply rooted in faith while effectively engaging with culture, potential pitfalls, such as the risk of being too patient in responding to injustices or fostering self-righteousness, are also discussed. The ultimate goal is to balance influence and purity while being a tangible, incarnational presence like Jesus in diverse cultural contexts.

Resources

Books & Articles

- Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work - Timothy Keller

- The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction - Justin Whitmel Earley

- To Change the World - James Davison Hunter

- Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony - Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon

- The Political Disciple: A Theology of Public Life - Vincent E. Bacote

Podcasts

- Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues - The Gospel Coalition Podcast Series

- Faithful Presence and Public Witness - Timothy Keller Podcast

Films

- Amazing Grace (2006) - Film detailing the life of William Wilberforce and his efforts to end the British transatlantic slave trade.

Timestamps:

00:00 Duality of citizenship, diversity of followers, exile.

04:31 Ancient governmental structures, biblical principles, and cultural adaptation.

07:18 Navigating cultural context as faithful Jesus followers.

13:11 Seeing threads of faithful presence through Scripture.

15:32 Jesus embodies humility, gentleness, and non-anxious presence.

18:32 Love and concern motivate seeking justice and accommodation.

22:12 Potential weaknesses of purity and distance approach.

24:30 Faithful Presence addresses culture, lacks prophetic edge.

28:22 Consider pitfalls and haste in faithful presence.

32:41 Institution promotes civic engagement while avoiding partisanship.

35:34 Pastors teach truth and guide congregation's obedience.

38:36 Empower individuals to engage in difficult conversations.

41:24 Encourage doing justice with kindness and humility.

Hashtags:

#FaithfulPresence #PublicEngagement #ChristianResponsibility #BiblicalPrinciples #CulturalContext #PropheticVoice #NonpartisanFaith #ChristCommunity #DualCitizenship #JesusModel

Keywords:

Christianity, public engagement, biblical principles, dual citizenship, Jesus's followers, faithful presence, cultural contextualization, diversity in Christianity, political involvement, Tom Nelson, social issues, governmental callings, church responsibility, congregation leaders, sanctity of life, racial justice, Christian sexual ethic, spheres of influence, spiritual habits, cultural moment, nonpartisan stance, moral issues, prophetic voice, community setting, humility, gentleness, accommodating posture, separation model, incarnational presence, cultural navigation