Politics = Faith, or Faith = Politics?

I think this is a very consequential topic today! To slightly restate my question here, do you think people choose their “religion” (i.e. belief methodology) based on their political views or do their political views arise as a product of their faith? Following is my take on this and my personal preference.

First, I would say that both of these approaches are fairly common but I think that the one which is taking a much greater hold in America right now is the former (religious choice based on politics). So let’s dive deeper into both of these positions. I’ll use Christianity in this discussion but of course it could apply to other faiths as well.

Christianity based on Politics

Many people today choose to become active members of a particular brand of Christianity, or one of its myriad denominations, to sort of retro-fit God into their socio-political ideology. Politically-minded people, both conservative and liberal, seek out a church whose precepts align with their political and social values. Some churches, while they believe in all of the essential attributes of Christianity, create additional rules and regulations, and require specific behaviors or characteristics of their congregants. This is called Legalism. Other churches may accept some–but not all–of the critical components of what constitutes true Christianity. They may also reject specific chapters or verses in the Bible that don’t fit with their personal values or with current social norms that are largely accepted in the secular world. This is called Liberalism. Note: Liberalism, in this sense, is not meant as a reference to political viewpoints.

For me, I think that religious beliefs which flow downstream from one’s political or social views, whether conservative or liberal, are focused more on subjective “truth” than objective Truth. “Subjective truth” strikes me as merely a self-affirming way to say “it works for me”, i.e. “it’s my truth”. I believe that real Truth must be objective. Ironically, this view this may prompt some people to say “well, that is simply “your truth”.

Politics Driven from Christian Faith

Building on my premise that Truth is objective (again, realizing I’ll have disagreement here), I think that an important aspect of developing one’s faith is to learn and understand what the Truth really is. Christianity is based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, who is proclaimed throughout the Bible to be Divine, The Son of God, The Word of God, God Himself. That’s a hard pill to swallow for so many of us because, In order to live out that belief, we need to know what Jesus says about all kinds of issues. Moreover, our hearts should be convicted, and we must desire to align ourselves with those Truths. Sadly though, we all miss the mark (multiple times per day) and are unable to fully adapt and execute God’s law of what is right and wrong. That’s because we prefer to do things our own way and decide what is “true” (or what works) for us. If what is true for us conflicts sharply with what is true for someone else (and it often does), then we could have serious interpersonal problems with each other. Going a step further, if our individual truths conflicts with God’s Truth then we have an even bigger problem (and we definitely do)!

But if we look further and begin to comprehend who God (and Christ) really is, and what he did for us, then we’ll see that we don’t have to be doomed by the countless missteps we take in life (hint hint…read the Bible).

Summary

I just know (while not always acting on it) that if we authentically believe in God and Jesus (truly one and the same, from a Christian standpoint) then we’ll study the whole Bible and we’ll pray to Him for guidance in everything we do. In part, studying and believing the Bible means understanding it in context (reading more than a few verses here and there) and implementing it; neither adding anything to it, nor substituting our “truth” for His. Praying for guidance means asking Him to give us knowledge of the Truth and then trying our best to put that Truth into action, even if it doesn’t measure up to the latest “expert” analysis, or agree with what is said to be the “prevailing consensus” on any given topic.

Doing this will reveal to ourselves and others what our positions on politics and social issues will be, regardless of whether we consider ourselves to be conservative or liberal, “on the left” or “on the right”.

John 8:31-32

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”