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*This blog post has been updated and revised from its original 2016 version, 3 Simple Truths to Help You Navigate Faith and Politics.

No topic has caused me more grief, confusion, and internal struggle than trying to figure out how to live faithfully as a follower of Jesus at the intersection of faith and politics. I’ve also made more mistakes in this area than any other, but I’m grateful for the way God has corrected me and matured me. My guess is you’ve had a similar experience.

Over the two parts of this blog, I want to share some tips from the Bible to help you and I engage politics well as followers of Jesus. We need to need avoid compromise in our Christian mission, worldview, hope, unity, and witness.

1. Don’t compromise your Christian mission.

In my opinion, the extremes of unbridled zeal or total indifference Christians sometimes have toward the impact of politics come from not understanding how God uses the government and the Church, respectively, for His purposes in the world and how to manage our expectations in light of that. So, let’s look at what the Bible has to say about this.

Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 teach us that the institution of government is designed by God. Those who work in government roles are servants of God for our good and they will be held accountable to God. As Christians, we’re commanded by God to respect and pray for our governing authorities. (1 Timothy 2:1-4 ) We’re called to submit to and obey them unless they directly command us to disobey God’s Word. (Acts 5:29 // Titus 3:1-2) The principle in Jeremiah 29:7 teaches us that God’s people should work for the peace and prosperity of the nation where He has allowed us to live and pray to God for its welfare.

God’s role of government is to govern the affairs of the state and to help manage the symptoms of humanity’s sin and the impact of that sin on ourselves and others through the rule of law. When it functions correctly, government serves as a temporary buffer, encouraging good and restraining evil on the earth until Jesus establishes His own perfect and righteous government for eternity at His return.

There is coming a day when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ (Revelation 11:15). However, on this side of Jesus’ return, the kingdoms of the world and the Kingdom of God are separate kingdoms. As Dr. Michael Brown explains in his book, The Political Seduction of the Church, Christians can end up in a confusing and damaging place when we get this confused.

Government can’t change the hearts of people; only Jesus can do that. Government can’t preach the gospel or make disciples of Jesus; that’s the God-given responsibility of the Church.

Jesus makes this clear in what’s often referred to as The Great Commission, found in Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-16. The Church, empowered by the Holy Spirit, is called to make disciples by preaching the gospel to every person and teaching those who believe to obey the commands of Jesus. This is God’s primary assignment for the Church in the world and this is the primary way God transforms people and the world (not political power or process). This is where the Church’s primary passion and effort should lie (not political engagement). And I don’t just mean Church the institution, I mean Church the individual people that make it up. That’s you and me.

2. Don’t compromise your Christian worldview.

Now, none of this means we should shun political involvement or abandon our Christian faith and biblical worldview when we step into political conversations and decisions.

You might have noticed there are some cultural/political issues that seem especially important to Christians and wondered why. More than mere political issues for Christians, those issues also have biblical/theological and moral implications because they intersect with teachings of Christian belief and God’s design for how the world can best function for good. (Allie Beth Stuckey explains in this podcast episode)

For example, the Bible speaks about the sanctity of human life inside and outside the womb, God’s design for gender, sexuality, and marriage, what biblical racial reconciliation and justice should look like, personal responsibility and work, generosity and caring for those who are vulnerable or in need, the role of governing authorities and how Christians should relate to them, etc.

On topics where the Bible has a clear teaching, as Christians we must agree with God on that issue in personal belief and practice as individuals, and in what we teach others about God’s Word as we share the gospel with those who don’t yet believe and disciple Christians. We have to be careful not to let cultural/political issues shape our theology, and instead let our theology shape how we view issues in the world around us. (Colossians 2:6-8; Ephesians 4:14-15; Romans 12:1-2)

From that foundation, each of us can then pray about how the Bible’s teaching should guide us in our political views and decisions. It’s also helpful to seek the counsel of godly community and leadership as we process through these issues. But the most important thing every Christian can do is learn to prayerfully read and study the Bible for yourself in vibrant personal relationship with Jesus. You can’t weigh all the cultural ideas and opinions being thrown at you against the truth of God’s Word unless you know what God’s Word says.

Some caveats: Scripture doesn’t guarantee that the laws of the land will match the values and principles of God all the time. Bringing a biblical worldview to political engagement doesn’t mean we’re trying to legislate the entire Bible into secular law; that would be unbiblical (for reasons I unpack in this blog on legislating morality). And we should never treat Jesus like he’s a mere mascot for a man-made political party or agenda.

But if we’re humble and guided by Scripture, God, in His mercy, might use our participation in politics for the common good of society. And we leave the results up God and trust Him no matter what.

Recommended Resources

If you want some tools to process how these ideas come to bear on real life or to think through political issues from a biblical perspective, these are godly voices I trust and respect and they’ve helped me a ton.

• #STRask Podcast: How Can We Determine Which Christian Moral Principles Should Be Made Into Laws?
• Dr. Michael Brown interview on Christian values and legislation
• Sermon by Greg Laurie: Hot Button Issues
• How Should Christians Vote by Dr. Tony Evans
• Before You Vote by David Platt
• Jesus Outside The Lines by Scott Sauls
• The Political Seduction of the Church by Dr. Michael Brown

Let’s Talk: How does this discussion impact your understanding of how your Christian faith applies to politics? Discuss this post in the comments below.