m CHRISTIAN AND POLITICS/ * 7 WalterJudd I n t h e c h u r c h to which I belong in Minneapolis, there is a wonderful stained glass window through which the sun shines during the morning service. On it there is a quotation from the Old Testament: “Of His govern ment and peace there shall be no end.” Everybody forgets about “ of His government” — they just want peace, but peace is the result of His government. have to be base to be in politics. Nor are all people in pulpits necessarily saints. In the end it’s what you are doing in the place where you find yourself that determines the measure of your Christian service and the effective ness of your Christian witness.
If you want to be effective in politics, you have to join a party. Why? Because outside the party you can’t do anything about selecting good candidates. Once in a while you find somebody who says, “ I don’t vote for par ties. I vote for the man.” This may sound convincing, but it really isn’t. What man does he vote for? He doesn’t have a chance to vote for anyone except the ones the parties choose. The consequence is that he who won’t work in the political parties doesn’t help them choose good men. He has to vote for whichever of the candidates makes him hold only one side of his nose instead of both. And the old parties that he won’t help clean up, choose the candidates that he has to choose between. That isn’t much independence. So if you really want to be effective, you must go into politics. Join the party you think is nearest right on the most important issues and then try to make it better. I don’t agree with everything in my party and all of the people in it don’t agree with me. You don’t have to agree with everything because your choice is not between this party and a perfect one, but between this party and the other one. And sometimes that’s worse. A second thing is to help the party select good can didates. Otherwise you may have to vote in terms of which of the candidates outrages your views the least. If you don’t vote for him, then you help the other one. This is not compromising principles, but simply a way to move ahead effectively. To do nothing is to paralyze yourself and abandon politics and government to the worst elements in the country. Select Good Candidates The third thing is to help elect your party’s good candidates. If you choose a good man, you want him to win. To put him in the winning column you have to get a lot of people to vote for him. In politics decisions are not made on the basis of how handsome the nose is, but on how many noses there are. You win only if you get enough people to the polls. Once your man is elected, you have to keep his feet to the fire. Ideas come up, issues and questions arise that are worth careful consideration. Don’t write him saying, “ I demand this . . .” because he’ll throw that letter into the wastebasket. Rather, you should tell him what you are concerned about and why. This is some thing every congressman welcomes because the person who knows what he is talking about is most helpful. I need assistance and guidance from those who really know what they are talking about in the various fields of legislative interest. Above all, you should be willing to be a candidate for political office. If you don’t like what your congress man does, don’t just write him — run for Congress! Rim for alderman. Run for the city council. Get into the stream and be a candidate. —Abridged from UNITED EVANGELICAL ACTION
As Christians, what should we be doing to influence' government through politics? The first task of the church is to discover and declare the mind and will of God. God is not at sea about our world. He is not lost. He knows the way. We don’t find it because we don’t bother to consult the chart by which we might plot our course. Basic Biblical Principles What are the eternal principles? They are in the Book and you can’t be a good Christian if you haven’t spent time with the Textbook. That Textbook lays down basic principles which, if followed, will give you certain results. The church’s task is to discover from the Book what is God’s will. Second, the church’s task is to recruit into its fellow ship ii|dividuals and train them in the Textbook, as well as inspire and challenge them. The third task of the church is to get these principles down into life and practice. So first, we have God’s principles put into God’s person who will translate them into God’s program. The challenge is to take these principles into public life, into politics and put them into practice. This is the way to influence government. You aren’t going to be effective in politics if you just go around repeating slo gans. You have to study what the real issues are and learn how to meet them. Translate Ideas Into Action The second rule of making your Christian influence effective in politics is to have some ideas that are worth discussing. Take your worthy ideas out of the jars on the shelf and put them into the soil of discussion. This way they can germinate and become productive. But even discussion isn’t enough. The fact is that you will have to get into a political party if you are going to do something. Many Christians will protest, “ But the parties are dirty.” They can be dirty and they can be no ble. I have seen some fine exhibitions of courage and self- sacrifice in public life. I have also seen some sordid things in politics — as I did on the mission field. You don’t
About the author:
Dr. Walter Judd served many years in China as a medical mis sionary. He is now Congressman for the Fifth District, Minnesota, in the United States House of Representatives.
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