IN THE NORTHWEST WHERE I LIVE the mayoral and school board races are dominated by liberals. Why is this the case? Where are the conservatives? Why are so few politically engaged? The answer lies in the Christian worldview. Our hope is not in this world. It is in the world to come.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
2 Peter 3:10-13
Most conservatives are Christians, or at least share a Christian worldview. In the Christian worldview, the world to come is ultimate. This present world is not. It is penultimate. This world is fallen. It is under God’s curse. Humanity cannot perfect it. Only God can do that. Therefore, most conservatives are “waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God,” fixing their spiritual eyes on the world to come. Their orientation is heavenly. They are otherworldly.
Liberals
Liberals or progressives are just the opposite. Their hope is in this life. They have no other. For them, all hope ends with death. If there is going to be a heaven, then, it must be in this world. Politics is their religion.
This problem is compounded by pride. They have no concept of Original Sin, so they believe that both people and the world in which we live are perfectible. Remember, atheistic Communism promised both Russia and China a “workers paradise.” To get there, however, a bit of social engineering was required. Mao justified it this way. “To make an omelet you need to break a few eggs.” The omelet was the worker’s paradise. The broken eggs were the lives of the eighty million Chinese who objected to Mao’s paradise.
Here is the lesson. Every attempt to create heaven on earth has inadvertently created hell instead. Only the Christian worldview produces political happiness. It works because it is in contact with reality. The Christian worldview accepts the limitations caused by sin in a broken world. It doesn’t pursue perfection. Instead, it seeks to limit the effects of sin by bringing happiness to the greatest number of people, realizing that in Jesus’ words, “the poor you will always have with you.” This is the genius of capitalism. It accepts the world as it is. The results are never perfect, but it harnesses human greed and acquisitiveness to bring the most good to the most people.
America’s progressives share Mao’s idealism. If they get their way, the end result will be hell on earth—Orwell’s Brave New World—the collapse of freedom and poverty for the masses. As Margaret Thatcher famously said, “Socialism works until it runs out of other people’s money.” What then? Poverty for the people but massive wealth for the elites.
How Should We Respond?
What can conservative Believers do? First, understand what motivates liberals. Politics is their religion. This world is their heaven. They are fundamentally utopian. You are not, and that is a Grand Canyon divide over which no one can leap. Those worldviews cannot be reconciled. It explains the liberal energy and fervor that has gained control of our universities, the press, Hollywood, the media, and our corporate boardrooms. Exhorted by Italian Communist, Antonio Gramsci, they have successfully made a “long march through our institutions.”
Second, even as you reject liberal utopian ideals, get politically involved. We will not win without a renewed effort. That begins by understanding our enemy. Despite its fallen condition, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” He wants the best for the most people. Some Christians have a political calling. Is that you? God has called some Believers to run for mayor, the local school board, and Congress. If that is you embrace your gift and calling. Exercise it for the good of mankind and the glory of God. If this is not you, it is no excuse for political illiteracy or apathy. Get educated. Read the news. Pray. Get involved in the political process.
In conclusion, although this world is penultimate for Believers, it would be a massive mistake to surrender it to liberals because the political process is their religion.
Most of us memorized the Lord’s Prayer when we were kids. Somehow, the part that says, “… Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” escapes us until we really think about what it means. The Lord wants His will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven. I talk to a lot of people who think that God has conceded the world to the devil. They think we should just face up to that fact that Satan is in charge and, somehow, we just have to make the best of it. This doctrine leads to a low-grade, underlying despair and sense of defeatism. It doesn’t really believe that Jesus won the battle between good and evil at the cross, and is ruling and reigning now. It presents Jesus as only ruling in heaven, waiting for the world to become irredeemably corrupt. When it gets bad enough, Jesus will finally return to rapture HIs church out of a hell on earth. Meanwhile, Christians should evangelize as many as possible. This will add to heaven’s numbers, and we’ll gain more jewels in our crowns when the rapture finally occurs. But don’t bother discipling people for joyous life on earth. What a depressing legacy to pass on to our kids! Jesus said, in this life we will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world! The world!!! Christians need to act on what Jesus said: be of good cheer and walk in His victory, on earth, as we will in heaven.
Paula: Well stated. Thanks for reading the blog. You are right. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. God is very interested in this temporal, material planet. This is the situs of his kingdom. He is ruling from heaven, but what he rules is our temporal time and space.
Your two points of exhortation are on the money: 1.) Understand what motivates liberals; and 2.) Get politically involved.
For the first point, I recommend your readers engage with the book, Strange New World by Carl Trueman. Of course, Trueman’s work focuses solely on the LGBT ideology that has overrun our culture and society. That said, Trueman does an excellent job highlighting why the gap between the liberal-progressivist worldview is so far away from the Christian one. It truly is a Grand Canyon-sized chasm.
When it comes to your second point, I believe that your readers can make excellent use of Al Mohler’s podcast, The Briefing, the blogs First Things and Blog & Mablog, which is curated by Doug Wilson. One disclaimer about Wilson — I don’t embrace his some of his theological views such as infant baptism and paedocommunion. When I recommend Wilson’s blog, I do so in no way as an endorsement of his views.
Finally, I do recommend the work of Tim Pool, who is an independent journalist on YouTube. Again, I don’t endorse his classical liberalism or his mild form of libertarianism. That said, Pool’s insights on current events are much more sound and forthright than anything Christians will find on Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, Relevant, Julie Roys, and the like. Pool used to be a video journalist for Vice and similar news outlets before growing disenchanted with their ethics and politics.
Anyway, keep writing on this topic because it’s important for Christians to hear a biblical approach to political engagement.
Matthew. Thanks for reading the blog and commenting. I listen to “The Briefing” almost daily. I also listen to Wilson’s blog on a regular basis. Have never heard of Tim Pool. I will give him a try.