Should religion and politics be mixed? Should preachers avoid politics altogether in their preaching and teaching? Is it a sin to fail to vote for Trump in the current election? These questions were recently brought up in a comment on this website. This article will address the matter.
Religion and Politics: An Article by Mark Swarbrick
It is a common idea today to believe that religion and politics should not be mixed. That is wrong. When politicians become evil, it is the duty of every Christian to oppose them with their vote. It is not a matter of Democrat versus Republican, it is a matter of good versus evil, for today we have a party which has turned against God, embraced sexual perversion, the murder of babies, the destruction of borders established by God, and the godless philosophy of socialism. Every Christian has a duty to oppose these evils embodied in the Democrat Party.
In the past few days, someone at a Kamala Harris rally shouted “Jesus is Lord.” Kamala quickly responded in the negative, saying that person belongs at a Trump rally, not hers. The same thing was shouted during a speech by JD Vance. He quickly turned toward the person and said, “Yes, He is,” and then went on with his speech. A few short years ago the Democrat Party removed “under God” from the phrase, “one nation under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance. The Democrat Party has rejected God and denies that Jesus is Lord. The contrast between to the two parties could not be more evident.
What the Bible Says about Religion and Politics
Did Christians in the 1st Century avoid politics like many do today? The New Testament shows that Jesus spoke on political matters. One instance is when he declared that He and his followers should be considered exempt from the temple tax. (Matthew 17:24-27)
John the Baptist lost his head (literally) for being openly critical of a political leader when he told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother ‘s wife.”
Jesus forcefully addressed the intersection of sin with public customs when he overturned tables and chased the money changers out of the temple area.
In Acts Chapter 22, we read that the Apostle Paul was not averse to speaking of laws established by politicians when he decried a violation of Roman law. This happened when he was tied and stretched out in preparation to be whipped. Paul asked the centurion near him, “Is it lawful for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned?” (Verse 25). Paul’s appeal to his rights as a Roman citizen prevented the beating from occurring.
In Acts Chapter 16, Paul is in prison, and the officials sent an order for him to be released. But Paul refuses to go without making the point that his political rights had been violated. Paul says, “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.” (Verse 37)
In Acts Chapter 25, Paul is on trial before Festus. The Jews wanted him to be handed over to them for trial. Once again, Paul relied on his rights as a Roman citizen. One of those rights is to ask that his legal case go directly to Caesar. Paul said, “But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.” (Verse 11). Based upon his rights as a Roman, Paul’s appeal saved his life that day, and he was sent to Rome to appear before Caesar.
Religion and Politics in American History
Our founding fathers had no problem mixing up Christianity with their efforts to found this nation. At a Constitutional Convention convened on June 28th, 1787, Benjamin Franklin addressed the gathering with these words:
“In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard and they were graciously answered…and have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or, do we imagine we no longer need his assistance?
“I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that “except the Lord build they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel…
“I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.”
Abraham Lincoln said:
“Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
In other words, fail to let our Christian morals influence our nation and it shall be ourselves and our children’s children who will suffer. We ignore our civic duty at our own peril. As President Ronald Reagan so aptly put it,
“If we ever forget we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
In 1967 President Ronald Reagan said,
“Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again.”
Long ago, Plato said,
“The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”
How true that is. Christians, more than any, should be involved in politics, and the preacher even more so. Ignoring politics is dangerous. To do so it to doom yourself, your family, and your children’s children to suffering. True is the maxim: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
Opposing Evil is Christian Duty
From the very beginning of Christianity, the Church was quite vocal about political decisions and current events. One example from the early days of Christendom is the denunciation of the brutal Roman gladiator games. This was a political hot potato at the time. Christian leaders spoke out sharply against this prevalent practice. Tertullian (160 – 225 A.D.) preached about it. Most Christian pastors actively campaigned against it, and opposed government leaders that promoted the games. They denounced attendance of the games, declaring they were sinful, and admonished Christians to boycott the games. This lone voice of protest from Christians against the carnage of the Roman games resulted in the abolishment of this cruel practice.
Prior to and during the American revolution, pastors taught and spoke from the pulpit on political topics and issues. In her book, The New England Clergy and the American Revolution Alice Baldwin demonstrates that the political activism of Christian pastors and their bold rhetoric from the pulpit is what formed the consensus of American sentiment on freedom and justice and that without their political vocalizations to their congregations, there would have been no American revolution. Her book contains many examples of fiery sermons that touched upon the politics of the time.
As a point of fact, if it were not for a great Christian revival that swept the nation in the early 19th century, the slaves would not have been set free when they were. The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant revival that began around 1790 and continued into the 1830s. Historians believe that ideas put forth during this revival inspired abolitionists to oppose slavery.
Before and during the Civil War, it was from the pulpits, which were anything but silent, that the impetus to free the slaves was heard. Not only was slavery denounced by northern pastors, but preachers openly criticized pro-slavery politicians right from the pulpit. One must ask, how much longer would slavery have continued if preachers of the time had been silent on political matters?
When did all this change? When did Christians adopt the idea that their pastors should be silent, no matter what wickedness politicians cooked up? Today we need, more than ever, fiery and bold sermons against political wickedness. Politicians that promote evil and foolishness should be marked from the pulpit. We had this in the past, and it changed the course of human events for the better. But today our nation is adrift in a storm, yet still we suffer from a silent pulpit. Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste…it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out.” (Matthew 5:13)
Lessons from Nazi Germany
Ignoring politics is what the Christians of 1930 Germany did. If the Church in Germany had protested sooner, things could have been different. The extent of Hitler’s evil was evident in his book Mein Kampf, which was published in 1925. Yes, the knew. Many people in Germany knew of the evil in Hitler’s heart.
But the Christian Church in Germany did not care enough. Preachers did not preach on it. They just wanted to play church and be Christians. They did not really want to be the salt of the earth and have a positive influence on society. They didn’t want to call out sin. It was so much easier to stay in their Christian bubble. Before long it was too dangerous for anyone to say anything without risking torture and death. Pastors were executed if they spoke out. Christians were hauled away by the Gestapo. They waited too long to say or do anything.
Eventually, six million Jews were murdered, German cities were turned into rubble and before it was over, eighty-five million people were dead. If the pulpit has not been silent, if the Christians who lived in the country that launched the reformation had spoken against political evil, things may have been very different.
The Current Situation
We have a political party in America that wants to continue slaughtering babies at the rate of nearly a million a year. They even kill them after they are born. Hear the word of God:
“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?” (Proverbs 24:10-12)
Apathy can be more deadly than a virus. Every Christian must oppose the Democratic party just as every German should have opposed Hitler’s NAZI party. You cannot serve both God and Satan and you cannot be a Christian and support a party that murders the innocent and flaunts vile wickedness. “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” (2 Co 6:17) A Christian who is not an activist for righteousness in some manner has retreated from the battlefield.
Anyone who does not vote against Kamala Harris is promoting the murder of innocent babies. Failing to vote against the Democrat Party is promoting homosexual activity, so-called gay marriage, trangenderism, the kidnapping of children by the government – a government who mutilates the genitals of children against their parents’ wishes.
It is supporting socialism and fascism. It is supporting open borders and the violent crime that comes with it. It is allowing terrorists into the country. It is supporting the sale of young ladies into sex slavery through the human trafficking of girls who come into this country unaware of the danger. The open border has launched the biggest wave of human slavery since before the civil war. It is supporting a hundred thousand deaths from fentanyl. It is support for the Mexican drug cartels. It means supporting Christian persecution and the loss of our freedoms. And God says:
“If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’ does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?”
It is not possible to be a Christian and support murder, slavery, homosexual behavior, and socialism. Anyone who does not vote for Trump, is helping to further those evils. Therefore, anyone who does not vote for Trump is shirking their Christian duty to oppose wickedness. And that is sin. Furthermore, it is the duty of every pastor and Christian leader to make that abundantly clear. If we don’t, millions will suffer the consequences of being ruled by evil men and Ronald Reagan’s warning will become reality. He told us that freedom and righteousness…
“Must be fought for, protected…or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children, what it once was like in the United States when men were free.”
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Other books by Pastor Mark Swarbrick, click the image below…
AMEN!!! 🙏