Throughout history, the Church has continued to do its best to reach the lost, serve its flock, and worship God under good governments and bad. Christians are part of both civil society and a holy community of believers. Our behavior in one must be consistent with the other. Christians cannot do evil in one part of their life and excuse it because it’s separate from their faith. It’s not possible or pleasing to God to do so.
Especially as members of a democratic society, we have a greater responsibility to take action when our government does evil. First, we always bear some responsibility because we elect our leaders. Second, we can choose to participate in certain aspects of government, such as joining the military, the Department of Justice, or any number of agencies and branches of government. If we choose to do so, we don’t put our faith aside.
Deitrich Bonhoeffer was a pastor living under Nazi Germany. He famously decided he could no long live in peace with the government, and eventually joined a plot to assassinate Hitler. He was caught, imprisoned, and eventually executed. Was he right? Did the evil that Hitler caused demand violence to end it? That’s not an easy question for Christians to answer.
And what about the varied responses we see to the ICE activity in Minneapolis and elsewhere? The question of a Christian response to this situation took center stage when ICE protestors took their protest into a church during a Sunday service. Some of those protestors were fellow believers who were upset that the head of ICE in Minneapolis was also a pastor at that church, and they couldn’t see how a Christian could participate in the fear tactics and brutality that ICE has met out on the people of Minneapolis. Is there a contradiction or not? Maybe he was doing his best at work to keep people in line and protect people’s rights and property. But if not, that doesn’t seem to line up with his faith.
We do not leave our faith outside when we enter the voting booth. We do not leave our faith outside when we attend a public meeting at City Hall. We don’t even leave our faith outside when we post/tweet/like.
No government is truly “good” or “evil”. All administrations do some good things and some bad. Giving carte blanche to any leader at any level of government is wrong because no one gets a free pass with God. God held his chosen people accountable for their sins in the Old Testament, eventually leading to their mass slaughter and exile. And He loved them! God will hold us accountable for our self-deception when we abide by anything and everything “our side” does in politics.
The most important thing to remember is that we know from Genesis 1:26 that humanity was created in God’s image. God didn’t say this only applies to citizens or those with legal status. Every human being—even criminals—must be treated with basic dignity and respect. At no time do we forfeit that; we can’t. It’s inherent in who we are. Governments that violate this basic tenant of nearly all major religions should be held accountable, especially given that it underpins the rationale for our entire form of government. If we do away with the dignity of mankind, representative democracy cannot stand. As Christians, we have a duty to remind our nation of these things and speak truth to power. If we do not, our nation will no longer be recognizable.
