If you ask anyone: “Do Christians have a political calling?” the answer is invariably an unhesitating “yes.” After all, political matters are of vital interest to the responsible citizen. It is part of a citizen's responsibility to contribute some of his time and energy to matters that concern his community, his environment, his country. It follows, then, that a Christian who is no less a citizen than his secular neighbor, has, by virtue of his citizenship, the duty to take on those same responsibilities. Withdrawal from the world as the marketplace of the evil one, is un-Scriptural and therefore sinful. The apostle Paul did not hesitate to claim his rights to due process as a Roman citizen (Acts 22:25).

This, however, does not answer the question how the political calling is to be understood. Does it mean contributing to the local Chamber of Commerce? Participating in municipal debates to find the best solutions for a highway bypass? In the ever-increasing complexity of modern society there is a trend to consult think tanks in order to have proposals properly deliberated before they are subjected to elected councils for formal debate. Participation in such deliberating bodies can very well be seen as a responsibility that anybody, who has an amount of skill and wisdom to contribute, is called to.

The claim is often made that Christians have a calling to become involved in all political activities: in municipal bodies, school boards, provincial and federal parliaments, and advisory councils. Once there, they can, like a huge fifth column, wield an enormous Christian influence. This Christian influence is to be brought into action by applying a few basic rules of thumb. For example, if you have to decide for or against a universal old age pension plan, you ask yourself: “Is it against the promotion of God's Kingdom? Answer: No. Next question: Am I my brother's keeper? Answer: Yes. Conclusion: Note in favor. This example of “Christian politics in the making” was used by a Presbyterian minister in a speech attempting to arouse young people's interest in political life. Such an approach sounds very attractive and even exciting to young Christians. It conjures up the image of a battlefield with strong pockets of Christian influence everywhere. There are victories to be chalked up. Any time a confessing Christian has been moved into a position of importance, another strategic location has been wrested away from Satan's dominion.

However, the advocates of this fifth column approach of Christian involvement have one thing in common: They reject the idea of an identifiable Christian political organization which would have a formula to express its Christian character, probably restrict its membership, and engage in an activity to spell out Scriptural political principles. Some reject this identifiable Christian political effort from the Neo-Barthian contention that it is extremely conceited to lay down political desiderata with – or without – reference to the Bible, and then to say, “Behold, these are Christian political principles.”

Christian Politics⤒🔗

That we do not agree with that contention is clear enough from the articles that follow in this issue. However, when all is said, the question still remains: How do we exercise this political calling in actual practice? In his book, A Christian Political Option, Bob Goudzwaard advances a number of factors for consideration in order to decide whether or not a Christian political party is indeed the most effective instrument. They are:

• The electoral system of a country
  
  ​When a certain country uses a district or riding system and Christians form a minority group, then a splitting off from the existing large parties may sometimes result in isolation and a missed opportunity, to influence these parties.
   
• The character of existing parties
  
  The formation of a Christian party can be an inescapable necessity in a country where the existing “secular” parties demand total loyalty to their own “principles” and “ideology,” while in other countries existing election platform parties might give the Christian room to promote his own conviction.
   
• The knowledge and insight of the Christian community
  
  Christian politics demands both political expertise and a living faith. Either one, or both, could be missing to such a degree among the leaders of Christian political groups, that their public action might breakdown rather than build up the Christian witness. The establishment or maintenance of a party could be irresponsible in such circumstances.

These are very practical factors and they deserve our full attention. We believe that our political activity circles around two poles. One is our Christian political witness. In order to execute that duty properly, a continuous and methodical study of the societal issues confronting us must be made in obedient subjection to the revealed Word of God. The other pole is that we are called to apply this so-acquired body of Christian political principles in every place where the Lord gives us an opportunity. Reflection and action, Goudzwaard would say.

With that in mind, we do find some valuable pointers in Dr. Goudzwaard's listing. Not the least of these is the warning that a lack of political expertise and/or a lack of active faith might break down – rather than build up – the Christian witness.

However, the book, and also this quote, refers all too readily to “the Christian community” as if such a “constituency” existed as a well-oiled machine, ready for action.

We question that. There are many genuine believers all around the world. But do they actively form a community? I know that the accusations of narrowness and even sectarianism begin to fly as soon as that question is raised. That is tradition. Would it not be wise, however, at least to consider seriously whether the question has some merit? Dr. Goudzwaard published his book on the 90th anniversary of the Anti-Revolutionary Party in 1969. Is it not the “broadness” of that party which caused its demise ten years later?

Another objection is that the pros and cons are weighed with effectiveness in mind. Christ has set us on a road, but He never promised us success. Success and blessing are different dimensions. Therefore, if splitting off means isolation, that should not bother us. Such isolation could be fertile soil from which a strong new growth comes forth, with an influence that no one had expected. Faithfulness to Scriptural political principles has given the Reformed community, when it really functioned as a community at one time, far more influence than numerical proportions within the population would entitle them to; the history of the Dutch political past is there to prove it.

Furthermore, the book, written in general terms, does not specifically address the positions of Christians in an Anglo-Saxon surrounding, with its tradition that Christian politics means you vote conservative to preserve these Christian values that are woven into society.

Diagnosis←⤒🔗

A brilliant analysis of this position is given in a recent publication by the Geneva Divinity School in the first issue of its publication, Christianity and Civilization, which contains a symposium on: The Failure of the American Baptist Culture. James B. Jordan, in his introduction as editor, aptly describes the rude awakening of Christians in modern society: “Suddenly aware that our civilization is moving rapidly to sodomy and tyranny, the New Christian Right is trying to mount an offensive to return America to more Christian moorings.” One of the essayists in this symposium, Gary North analyzes what he calls: The intellectual schizophrenia of the New Christian Right. Noticing that the New Christian Right was fused together mainly in reaction to the 1973 legalizing of abortion in the US and that very little else by way of Scriptural principles functions there, he comes to the prediction that “… initial successes will not be translated into a comprehensive program of Christian reconstruction. The present ad-hockery will fail…” I have not had enough time to completely absorb this most interesting publication. However, it seems that this symposium is very strong in its diagnosis, but other than a general reference to a program of “Christian reconstruction” it does not offer very much by way of therapy … at least as yet.

Action Needed←⤒🔗

I believe that indeed it will be wise to prepare ourselves properly, before we act. But such prudence should not become an excuse for inactivity. If there are opportunities, then we must use them. Graham Greene, in his story, The Comedians, introduced a presidential candidate who campaigned on the platform of the vegetarian way of life. As a typical Greene personality, the man in his quaintness takes on heroic proportions. We need not be quaint. We have the greatest of any platforms: The Word of Life! Why, then, should we not show or presence?

If a spoofy group of Canadians can form a “Rhinoceros party”, and even be allotted T.V. time during the election campaign, could Christians, even a few hundred working together, not enter the political arena? A very simple beginning could be a candidacy in municipal election. However, such a candidate should make very clear at the outset that he has an established Christian, Scriptural platform. If that causes his defeat, no loss is suffered. Such a defeat is better than a victory without a prior public announcement of his political stand. The campaign can bring the issues to the public's attention.

It is a little less than thirty years ago that a group of young people delivered pamphlets in the ancient, predominantly Roman Catholic city of Maastricht, The Netherlands. We campaigned for candidate Piet Jongeling: of the Dutch Gereformeerd Politiek Verbond (Reformed Political Party). The text of the pamphlet contained a reference to Isaiah 8:20, “to the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” (NIV) As we delivered our literature (and we did not skip Maastricht's red light district), some of us thought it was a bit of a joke. But when we saw the votes that had been cast in the various electoral districts, there was reason for surprise, although the candidate was then not yet elected. That came several years later.

An exercise in futility, you would say?

That depends on your point of view. If your believe in Him who arose from the grave, and who is to come to judge the living and the dead, there is no such thing as an exercise in futility. Then the apostle Paul comes with this strong reassurance:

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.1 Corinthians 15:58