Politics and Christianity

Most researchers studying the intersecting and influence of Christianity and politics on one another frequently quote Matthew 22, in which Jesus, in response to the Pharisees' question about the legality of paying taxes to Caesar, says, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.” Some Christians cite these words as a warning, even a command that the church should stay out of politics. They contend that the purpose of the state is to govern this world, to tend to our material and physical needs, and the purpose of the church and religion is to tend to our spiritual needs and to prepare us for the world to come.

On the other hand, many Christians interpret these words rather differently. They contend that this trick question from the Pharisees, a question intended to trap Jesus, results in a trick answer, with its meaning hidden in plain sight. These individuals suggest that everything in the world belongs to God, who created everything, even Caesar. So in the end, even Caesar belongs to and is accountable to God.

The first commandment in Exodus 20:3 proclaims, “You shall have no other gods before me,” a priority that the U.S. government officially recognizes; every time Americans say the Pledge of Allegiance, they declare they are “one nation under God.” Religious advocates argue that any attempt to compartmentalize life, to say this belongs to the state and this belongs to God, violates the first commandment. They maintain that since God is Lord of all life, the church should therefore be concerned about and involved in all of life, including politics.

However, real dangers exist in both of these interpretations if taken to the extreme. Believers insist that life cannot be separated neatly into the physical and the spiritual. For instance, many doctors insist that a patient's attitude toward his or her cure is as important as the remedy prescribed for the cure, and they endorse a holistic approach to health care. Just as water is no longer water when separated into hydrogen and oxygen, Christians contend that humans lose their essence of being when separated into the physical and the spiritual. Because they believe in the resurrection of the body as well as the immortality of the soul, Christians maintain that the body and soul cannot be separated; they are one.

In contrast, Karl Marx described religion as the “opiate of the people,” partly because the only religion he was familiar with refused to get involved with the physical needs of the people. As an example, in 1917, when the citizens of Petrograd were starving and rioting in the streets, the Russian Orthodox Church was meeting in that same city debating the length and color of their liturgical vestments.

Many Christian leaders insist that the church must care about people's physical needs as well as their [Page 682]spiritual well-being, and if caring for others involves politics, then so be it. They contend that it is impossible to love one's neighbor in the abstract. When people of faith remain silent and do nothing in the face of evil and injustice, they in effect condone that wrong. This reasoning was behind the Sanctuary movement of the 1980s, when clergy and congregations defied the government and offered aid to Ecuadorian refugees.

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