When I sat in Erik Thoennes’ Theology I class as a student, he encouraged us to be "culture critics." Not critics in the sense that we stood on social sidelines and condemned, but rather critics in the sense that we could observe what was happening in our world, understand it and bring a Christian perspective to it.
Over the course of this semester, your peers will write a series of articles evaluating the pros and cons of major political issues for the purpose of facilitating awareness and discussion. I hope you read this space regularly during that time and engage with your classmates in constructive discourse on the issues addressed. In doing so, you will be engaging in a grand tradition of Christian discourse that has seen great saints explore the meaning of Christian ambassadorship in the context of political thought.
The Christian tradition of social-political discourse is rooted in the ministry of Jesus. In many of his discussions with the religious leaders of ancient Judaism, Jesus was often asked to render decisions on issues surrounding the law and Jewish relationships with Gentiles. Jesus was not being asked to give his understanding on spiritual matters only, but on matters that were very close to the daily lives of his listeners. No more poignant example can be had than when the Pharisees challenged Jesus on the issue of taxes. Jesus' famous reply to "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's" is among the first areas we see the nascent faith of Christianity constructively engaging its political context. Later, we see Peter and John tried before the Sanhedrin for preaching Christ and boldly claiming that it is more important to obey the laws of God rather than the laws of men, touching off a discourse on civil disobedience that runs throughout church history.
The apostles did this because they recognized they were ambassadors, and effective ambassadors engage their context. They knew the needs of the society they inhabited and understood how to communicate effectively using the issues of the day as a doorway to access deeper issues, as Paul's sermon on Mars Hill demonstrates. However, we must not ignore the fact that good ambassadors are trained ambassadors. In order to effectively engage with society, we have to be training, and in some small way I hope this space allows for that training to happen.
Christian political discourse has fallen on hard times of late as studies by the Barna Group indicate an increasingly negative view of Christianity's relationship to politics in America. My own observations indicate to me that this negative view builds cynicism regarding politics in the minds of many young Christians. Desiring to leave a positive impact on their society, they see only negative role models in the political sphere and so conclude that it is better to ignore the political r ealm. This column is intended to assist you in the process of positively engaging with the political and cultural issues of our day in a way that glorifies God and exhorts your fellow brothers and sisters.
