Ugochukwu Anike
Over the years, there has been an argument as to whether Christians should be involved in politics or not. Why many claim that politics is a dirty game, very few people have drummed their support for Christians joining politics.
In this publication, we are going to weigh whether Christians should be involved in politics or not. Let us first see these Scriptures which would serve as anchors to today’s teaching. First, Prov. 29:2 “when the righteous is in authority the people rejoice”.
From the above Scripture, it is worthy of note to understand that God wants the righteous to be in authority. This is because when the righteous are in authority, they will make policies that would bring transformational changes and thereby bring joy to society.
If you remember the case of Mordecai. There was a decree that God’s people be wiped out. Mordecai and the entire Jewish race prayed that God should intervene. But God intervened by sending Esther to the throne.
As we pray in Church and as Christians, we must also encourage Christians to participate in politics because if we are not involved, we must also not complain about bad leadership. This is because you can only change a system from within the system, not outside the system.
Had Esther not gotten involved in the politics of her day (which came in form of a beauty contest), the entire Jewish race would have been wiped out in her day.
In Esther 4:14, Mordecai told Esther ” For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?
The statement of Mordecai to Esther spurred Esther into making a difference in her own day. We must also not forget that the reason God brings us into great positions is to affect lives positively and not for personal interest and selfishness. There is so much decay in Nigeria and African society today because very few politicians have the interest of the masses at heart while many are so selfish and corrupt.
In Matthew 5:13-16, the Bible calls us the salt and the light of the world. As you know, salt’s value is seen only when it is added. This means that the usefulness of every salt is in adding value.
Also, light is useless if it does not give light.
Salt is a preservative which means as believers we have been raised by God to preserve the societal value and norms of our day. Light brings illumination thereby expelling darkness. So, as believers, we must make a difference when we get elected, appointed, or promoted into high offices
The key point is to realise that we are involved anyway; we have no choice about being political because if we choose not to engage then it is the vote for the status quo- the way things are.
Christians need to be involved in politics because we believe in a God who cares passionately about His world and His creation and consequently how it is run. The Bible is hugely political- in that it is about how God wants people to behave and act toward Him and toward each other. This involves economics and law because these are tools that need to be used to build justice.
As believers in God, we have much to bring to politics- a deeper commitment to justice and compassion which throughout history has made a difference in the political sphere.
Christians should join politics so they can bring righteous public service governance because righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach.
Also, Christians should be involved in politics to correct the wicked errors of our day. When we allow dirty people to play politics, society decays and their evil policies affect us gravely.
So, Jesus is commanding us to be ‘salt’ and ‘light’ in the world, encouraging us to influence our society rather than isolate ourselves from our society.
Let us all rise as believers and get involved directly or indirectly in politics. Directly when we run for political offices and indirectly when we encourage godly people to join politics and also when we go out and fulfill our civic responsibility which is to vote.
The future is in our hands if we all rise and do the needful.
* Anike is the senior pastor of The Censers Church Inc. worldwide
