There are those who got "thrown" into being a Christian politician by the waves of history (or the nudge of God, depending on perspective). But some clarity on vocation would help.
Unless one takes a truly separatist view of the Christian life and wants to preclude anybody with political influence from being a member of the church, then one has to grant that some Christians have the specific vocation of working out the details of seeking justice in political life. This is not the only task of the Christian life, nor is it the primary task of the church. But it is a genuine vocation for Christians, one just as worthy as farming or schoolteaching. If we are clear about the distinct vocations to which Christians are called, there is no reason for Christians to fast from politics or apologize for their involvement in it.
The Politics of God and the Politics of Man by Jacques Ellul (Free online book)
Second Kings the most political book in Scripture? 🙂
We believe that every book of Scripture should be taken for what it purports to be. This is the first principle of interpretation. In any biblical writing we can readily see other things than what it seems to be, but these ought to be secondary and relatively unimportant compared to what the writing itself says it is and seeks to be. For it is perhaps there that we shall find the meaning that God intends us to see in this work. Or, very explicitly, this Second Book of Kings describes for us God’s interventions in a period in the history of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel.
It seems to me, then, that this Second Book of Kings is characterized by two aspects of revelation. The first is political in the narrow sense; the problems in most of the texts are political. The problem is Israel’s situation as regards political power in relation to the Syrians, the Assyrians, the Edomites, and the Egyptians. It is Israel’s decadence as a kingdom. And we shall see directly the place, the presence, and the action of God in this area of human life.
A Christian Perspective on Political Thought
A comment cut through in our conversations on Monday. We need a introductory course for Christians in Malaysia on the political process that we are involved in. We live in an environment of "power" – whether it’s "power-sharing" or "power-play" – the question remains what does all this mean for us? And how shall we play a role in this?
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