If we start at creation, from the beginning God has been creator and king. Yet God chooses to create image bearers who are together given dominion on his behalf. This is an egalitarian political system, humanity as God’s ‘parliament’ to work together ruling the world and caring for it. So right from the start, humanity and its life were political.

Tragically, after the Fall, we see the corruption of the world including humanity’s stewardship of the world. We see the emergence of empires like that of Nimrod (Gen 10) which dominate others, subjugating them and ruling with terror and force. God responds and calls Abraham and establishes a nation. They are called to be different and live out the original creation dream as a model to the world. At Sinai, a treaty is signed between God the sovereign and Israel and given instruction. However, Israel, like all the nations, failed, rejecting God as king, preferring their own dominion (Saul), and plunging into decay.

Thankfully, God our King had not finished, and the prophets spoke of a coming day when God the king would reign over his world. Many expected this kingdom to be a directly political empire like the nations, run by God’s and his Messiah’s spiritual and temporal power. The day came, and Jesus came crying, ‘the Kingdom of God is near’ — in Jesus, the king had come. Jesus called people into this kingdom and sent them into the world to engage, to live out their creation mandate to rule and to care for God’s world. Those who accept the call join Jesus as co-heirs with Christ, ‘stewards’ of God’s.

This is the language of joint reign over God’s world, as God always intended. However, this is not a rule patterned on imperial politics of dominion by force, manipulation, greed, wealth, violence and so on. It is a different type of politics; one of love, service, sacrifice, persuasion, humility, compassion, and often, suffering. You see, being Christian is being both apolitical and political. We are apolitical in that there are limits to our engagement — we will not use deception, seek power for power’s sake, use force, dishonesty, intrigue and manipulation. Yet we are political because we are to be engaged in God’s world and its systems, working in God’s way at every level for transformation, renewal and restoration. We work for justice, for goodness, for love.

So when we come to politics and elections we don’t stand off but we get involved. We are praying for the nation, Government, parties and politicians. We are thinking hard about which of our candidates and parties reflect God’s ways and we vote. It is an essential part of our image-bearing that we take seriously our mandate to rule and care. After all, as heirs of the world we really should take care.

Go deeper.  

By Mark Keown , lecturer in New Testament at Laidlaw College

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