Latest / Finding God at Work / 8: Love and Political Power

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8: Love and Political Power · Finding God at Work

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(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Hi, I'm Chris.
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This is Finding God at Work.
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Just a reminder that Finding God at Work
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isn't just a podcast, it's also an online
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course.
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Check it out at FindingGodAtWork.org.
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Our current series is Take a Stand, Faithful
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Political Witness at Work.
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And in this middle part of the series,
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we're exploring that word, politics, right?
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Political.
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How do we understand politics in its relationship
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to the kingdom of God as disciples of
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Jesus?
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And we're using the three theological virtues from
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1 Corinthians 13, faith, hope, and love.
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So a couple episodes ago we did faith,
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and last episode we did hope.
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Now we get to love.
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Hooray, to love.
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Okay, so to get our brain juices flowing,
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I want you to think about a time
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when you were really annoyed by a rule.
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Because I think all of us have had
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that experience of being annoyed by a rule.
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If you have a more serious experience, though,
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a time when you felt hurt by a
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rule, I would go with that.
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So for me, I've lived a pretty protected
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life.
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I haven't faced a lot of injustice personally.
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I thought about this.
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I don't know that I have ever been
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personally hurt by a rule, which is kind
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of amazing.
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When you think about it, when there's so
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many rules that are flawed in the world.
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I've definitely been annoyed by rules before.
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I remember in college I was annoyed by
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the requirements for different types of citation, right?
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Where it's like, this is not the point.
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I read it in the book, I should
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be able to say it was in this
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book, why am I wasting so much time
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trying to cite all of these sources in
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this exact arcane format, as though it's some
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sort of magical mystery to unwra...
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I had a whole argument with one of
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my professors about it.
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It was very funny.
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That was a rule that for me was
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annoying, but it wasn't hurtful.
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But there are many people who have been
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on the wrong end of a truly hurtful
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rule.
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So one example for me that came to
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mind just in US history, because I used
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to work at a mortgage company, is redlining.
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There was racial discrimination in mortgage lending, where
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certain mortgage companies, as a company policy said,
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we will not lend to certain types of
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people.
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We won't lend to black Americans.
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We won't lend to native Americans, etc.
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And that meant that people who had the
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legitimate ability to get a mortgage just as
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much as anybody else were denied that opportunity,
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so they couldn't purchase a home, so they
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couldn't build wealth in their family, so they
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couldn't pass on that wealth to the next
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generation, and so on.
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So there's all these knock-on effects of
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that policy even continuing today.
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That was a bad rule.
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That was a rule that hurt specific groups
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of people in very tangible ways that continue
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generationally.
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Now, there was a, again, not a perfect
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rule, but a helpful rule.
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It was part of beginning to rectify that
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injustice.
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In 1968, when the Civil Rights Act was
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passed, part of that was the Fair Housing
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Act.
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And a good chunk of what that act
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said was basically, you can't do that.
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You can't refuse to lend to certain people
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just because they're of a certain racial or
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ethnic background.
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That's not allowed.
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And so that was good.
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That was a step in the right direction,
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at least, towards greater racial justice in that
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particular industry in our nation.
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Part of a complex and unfolding story, for
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sure.
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Okay.
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So rules really matter.
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Rules can help people.
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Rules can hurt people.
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So that means that politics really matters to
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anybody who cares about people.
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And so we don't really have the option
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to say, oh, you know, politics just isn't
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my thing, right?
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If we care about people, we should care
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about politics.
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Because politics affects people.
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The law of the land, whatever it is,
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the rules that are in place that affect
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people's lives, they matter because those people matter.
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And so I think as we dig into
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Scripture, we'll see that Scripture actually makes this
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connection pretty explicit, too, that politics matters.
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So we'll see that Scripture both draws us
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into politics and moves us beyond politics.
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So I want to look at both sides
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of that.
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How does Scripture draw us into politics, and
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how does it move us beyond politics, and
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what could that mean for our life and
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our conversations with our co-workers?
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Okay, so first, how does Scripture draw us
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into politics?
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Well, one of the ways that Scripture draws
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us into politics is by outlining very clear
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responsibilities for rulers, for people that have political
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authority.
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So a few examples of this from the
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book of Proverbs.
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Proverbs chapter 29, verse 4 says, by justice
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a king gives a country stability, but those
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who are greedy for bribes tear it down.
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Verse 7 says, the righteous care about justice
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for the poor, but the wicked have no
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such concern.
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A little bit further down, verse 14, if
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a king judges the poor with fairness, his
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throne will be established forever.
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So there's this positive vision that God will
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establish the throne of rulers who look out
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for the poor.
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So that's kind of like one of the
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baseline expectations for political authority in the Bible,
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is you're looking out for the rights of
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people who are more likely to be oppressed.
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You're looking out for the poor.
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You're looking out for the widow.
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You're looking out for the fatherless.
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That's what rulers do.
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Okay, now that was in the context of
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ancient Israel, right?
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A more theocratic context where kind of the
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spiritual law and the political law were more
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synced up, but I think we continue to
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see that priority on protecting the vulnerable, in
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accountability for rulers even in the New Testament
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as well.
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Okay, now another Old Testament example of the
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Book of Isaiah, here's a warning, very dramatic
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warning about if rulers do not honor this
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responsibility to protect the poor.
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This is chapter 10, first four verses.
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Woe to those who make unjust laws, to
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those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the
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poor of their rights and withhold justice from
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the oppressed of my people, making widows their
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prey and robbing the fatherless.
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What will you do on the day of
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reckoning when disaster comes from afar?
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To whom will you run for help?
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Where will you leave your riches?
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Nothing will remain but to cringe among the
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captives or fall among the slain.
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Wow.
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So God's saying not only will he establish
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those who honor this responsibility to care for
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the poor, but he will also hold to
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account those that do not honor the poor.
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He will hold to account those who engage
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in oppression, who make unjust laws, who issue
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oppressive decrees.
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This is at the forefront of the prophetic
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imagination, this fact that politics can go bad
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and often it goes bad in a way
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that hurts the vulnerable most of all.
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And God is angry about that and God
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will act against those who abuse power in
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that way.
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Very sobering words.
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Okay, so how does the Bible draw us
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into politics?
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These passages are about the responsibility of rulers,
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of people who have political authority, political influence.
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If you're a resident or a citizen in
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a representative democracy in the 21st century, you
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have political influence, right?
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So if you're a resident, even if you're
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a non-citizen, if you're in a representative
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democracy that has a relative amount of freedom,
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you can organize, you can talk with people,
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you can talk with government representatives, you can
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make your voice heard.
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Those are all options.
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You have political influence, much more political influence
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than many people in many contexts in history.
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And if you're a citizen of a representative
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democracy, then you essentially are a ruler, right?
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Even if you don't hold political office, ultimately
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it's the citizenship that elects people to political
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office.
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It's the citizenry who elect people to wield
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that authority.
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There's this idea of the sovereign citizenship, right?
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That we as the people are the ones
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who, by delegation to our representatives, rule our
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nation.
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So that's true for me here in the
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United States right now.
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That theory versus the reality, you know, there
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can be a bit of a gap there.
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But I think we as citizens, those who
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do have citizenship, should hear these warnings to
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rulers and these responsibilities to rulers as relevant
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words for us.
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So that woe to those who make unjust
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laws and to those who issue oppressive decrees,
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that's not just talking about people in Washington,
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that's talking about you and me.
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Because we have the ability to influence who
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gets to make those decrees in the first
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place.
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Okay, so I think that's the first way
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that scripture draws us into politics is, if
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in our context we have political influence, we
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need to answer to God's expectations for rulers,
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and specifically this expectation that they look out
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for the rights of the vulnerable.
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Okay, a second way that I think scripture
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draws us into politics is its vision of
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ultimate justice.
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So sometimes the word shalom is used, the
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word peace is used.
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We talked in the hope episode about parousia,
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the coming of Jesus someday.
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So just a couple chapters later in Isaiah,
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Isaiah chapter 16 verses 4 and 5, we
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get one of these key messianic texts.
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So let me read those verses.
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The oppressor will come to an end and
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destruction will cease.
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The aggressor will vanish from the land.
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In love a throne will be established.
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In faithfulness a man will sit on it,
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one from the house of David, one who
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in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause
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of righteousness.
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This is a vision of a just ruler,
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somebody who ultimately does what is right consistently,
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faithfully, and we know that this is ultimately
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fulfilled in Jesus as we await his coming
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return.
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When he returns, all oppression will end, all
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destruction will cease, all aggression will vanish from
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the land.
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His throne will be established in love forever.
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That's what we're looking forward to.
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Okay, at the same time, even though, like
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we talked about in the hope episode, that's
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ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, that also affects our
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action in the present.
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So just think about how Jesus taught us
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to pray.
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Your kingdom come.
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So if this is a vision of the
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kingdom when Jesus is king, we're praying your
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kingdom come, your will be done on earth
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as it is in heaven.
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May this happen more now, even now.
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So that means we're praying for things like
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this to happen now.
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We're praying for oppression to come to an
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end now.
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We're praying for destruction to cease now.
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We're praying for aggression to vanish from the
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land now.
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We're praying for those who judge to do
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so with justice now.
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We're praying to speed the cause of righteousness.
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Okay, so we're praying for those things.
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If we want that eschatological future to come
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into the present as much as possible in
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the present, then if we have political influence,
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we will seek to exercise that political influence
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to make that vision more of a reality
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with a very informed sense of how imperfect
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it will be with thought and sinful human
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beings in the mix.
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But that's what we're aiming for, right?
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We'll be aiming for, okay, how in our
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social structures can we see more justice, less
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oppression?
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How can we see more righteousness, less aggression?
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How can we see this kingdom coming on
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earth as it is in heaven?
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Okay, now another key word in that passage
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was love.
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In love, a throne will be established.
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That reminds us of Jesus' commandment to love
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God with all our heart, soul, mind, and
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strength and love our neighbors as ourselves, right?
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So I think, again, as scripture has drawn
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us into politics by way of our responsibility
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as rulers and by way of this vision
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of justice, I think that also scripture motivates
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us into politics by love.
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And there's a thinker who I really respect
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named Michael Ware.
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He has a wonderful book on this subject
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if you wanted to do a deep dive
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on all these ideas called The Spirit of
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Our Politics.
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And one reason I love it is because
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Michael Ware, like me, is deeply influenced by
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Dallas Willard.
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So it's kind of like a political guy
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does Dallas Willard stuff and I'm just like,
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ah, I can't get enough of it.
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Okay, so this is a quote from his
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book.
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It's from the chapter based on Dallas's book,
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The Allure of Gentleness, which is a book
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we've also cited as we talk about political
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and just spiritual witness.
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So here's Michael Ware's line, Christians participate in
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politics, not as an act of imposition, but
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out of a spirit of loving service.
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Christians participate in politics, not as an act
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of imposition, but out of a spirit of
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loving service.
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Politics is an avenue.
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It's an opportunity for us to love our
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neighbor as ourself, for us to promote the
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rules, the policies, the influences in our communities
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that allow people to flourish.
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So that's a really good reason to get
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into politics.
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Okay, but scripture also moves us far beyond
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politics.
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So that love of neighbor, while that will
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motivate us to try and seek political good
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as much as we can, it will also
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move us much further than simply doing political
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things.
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So for this, I want to turn to
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Martin Luther King Jr. So speaking of the
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Civil Rights Act of 1968, this is from
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his final book published during his lifetime in
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1967.
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It's called Where Do We Go From Here?
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And he's talking about what can be enforced
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by law versus what is unenforceable.
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And he says, enforceable obligations, quote, are regulated
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by the codes of society and the vigorous
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implementation of law enforcement agencies.
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Breaking these obligations, spelled out on thousands of
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pages in law books, has filled numberless prisons.
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But unenforceable obligations are beyond the reach of
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the laws of society.
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They concern inner attitudes, expressions of compassion, which
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law books cannot regulate and jails cannot rectify.
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Such obligations are met by one's commitment to
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an inner law, a law written on the
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heart.
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Manmade laws assure justice, but a higher law
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produces love.
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No code of conduct ever compelled a father
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to love his children or a husband to
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show affection to his wife.
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The law court may force him to provide
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bread for the family, but it cannot make
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him provide the bread of love.
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A good father is obedient to the unenforceable.
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The bigger context of what MLK is addressing
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is the question of racial segregation or integration,
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right?
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Kind of like discriminatory housing practices, but also
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in many other facets of life.
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And so he has this final line here,
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true integration will be achieved by men who
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are willingly obedient to unenforceable obligations.
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True integration will be achieved by men who
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are willingly obedient to unenforceable obligations.
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That call to love our neighbor as ourself
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goes way beyond what could ever be passed
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on a law book.
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So while we will seek to use the
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political influence that we have to establish justice,
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as MLK says, we also know that ultimately
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it's the law of God in our hearts
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that will move us to obey unenforceable obligations,
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to obey a higher law, to obey the
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love of God himself.
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And this is also where the Apostle Paul
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goes when he talks about the law.
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So there's a section in Romans chapter 13
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that's often cited where Paul says like, hey,
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follow the law.
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But then sometimes people forget that the very
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next thing Paul says is that love goes
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further, right?
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So this is starting in verse eight of
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Romans chapter 13.
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Paul says, let no debt remain outstanding, except
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the continuing debt to love one another, for
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whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
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The commandments you shall not commit adultery, you
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shall not murder, you shall not steal, you
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shall not covet, and whatever other command there
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may be are summed up in this one
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command, love your neighbor as yourself.
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Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore
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love is the fulfillment of the law.
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So yes, we want to follow the law
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and we want to influence laws to be
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more just, but no matter what, we're always
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loving our neighbor.
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We're always seeking the good of other in
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every way that we have opportunity to do
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that.
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So the good news is even when we
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don't have political power, even when we don't
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have political influence, even when the law is
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terribly unjust, we can still fulfill the most
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important law.
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We can still love others in whatever context
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we're in.
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Okay, so how do we apply this to
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our life in the workplace?
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Well, in our next few episodes, we're going
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to get into that witness side and like,
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how do we actually think about like how
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our jobs themselves might be political, et cetera.
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But for this episode, I just kind of
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want to rest on that idea of the
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word love and how rare it is for
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that to be the word that comes to
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mind in political conversations, right?
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Like when was the last time you had
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a political conversation with someone and I just
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centered about love, right?
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So often we're going to other places, we're
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going to a place of anger and anger
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can be legitimate, but often there's a kind
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of contemptful anger that's harmful.
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We were going to places of rancor, of
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partisan spirit, of condemning other people.
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What if our politics was a politics of
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love?
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And so if you ever are in this
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situation where you're getting into a political conversation
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at work, you know, somehow that's happened and
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you're like, okay, I'm going to be here
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for it.
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Could you have the opportunity to say, you
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know, the way I think about politics is
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what does it mean to love my neighbor,
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right?
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And that's part of my faith.
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That might be a really refreshing and intriguing
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perspective for your coworkers that they might not
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have considered before.
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So just again, one other way that we
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can sort of give but we do it
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out of love for God and love for
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neighbor.
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Jesus, do your work in us as we
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do our work with you.
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Thank you.