It has been alluded to that faith and government are mutually exclusive.  That is, you have to have one or the other.  Phil Johnson - Executive Director of Grace to You – had the following to say:

Because in order to work in the realm of secular politics, you have to make certain compromises.  Politics is built on compromise.  Anybody who’s involved in politics will affirm that for you.  There are some things you cannot talk about in the political realm and the gospel is one of them.  James Dobson’s political allies in the realm of moral reform include multitudes who would not share his commitment to the gospel of the New Testament (The Foolishness of Preaching the Gospel)

I’m not sure what definition of compromise that Mr. Johnson is using.  However, for a person to compromise is to settle a dispute by accepting “less than they originally wanted.”  So, this means that to compromise in the political process does not mean that a person has to compromise their convictions when working with others – who may or may not be Christians – on any matter.  A person is very well capable of compromising on tactic or policy without having to sell their soul to the Devil. 

Stephen Monsma and Mark Rodgers label such compromises: “half-a-loaf.”  That is, “someone who is working for a certain goal is willing to compromise and accept the partial achievement of that goal on the basis that half a loaf is better than none, as it is often put” (Toward an Evangelical Public Policy, pg. 334). 

For example, “Practical policy making is a craft, and it is more often the art of the possible.  Trade-offs are common.  Should the minimum wage be increased to $10/hour, thereby providing a ‘living wage’ for low-income workers, or will a more modest increase ensure that fewer employees are laid off because they are no longer affordable to business.”  This is just one of many such examples. 

On another note, why does Mr. Johnson believe that a person cannot live thier faith in the political realm and/or share it with others?  Does this just go for government, or does this position include all areas of society?  

Getting back to my point.

Living as a Christian in the world will not naturally make you popular?  (If anything, we’re promised the opposite.  See John 15.19; 17.14).  I imagine the political environment inhabited by William Wilberforce in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, as he and his allies were working towards the abolition of slavery and moral reform, was no less welcoming than politics today.  Wilberforce went on to write a stinging indictment on faith- in Real Christianity, in which he stated in his introduction,

            I would suggest that faith is everyone’s business.  The advance or decline of faith is so     intimately connected to the welfare of a society that it should be of particular interest to a politician (pg. 17).

I will leave the rest of the book for you to read, but I will let you in on the fact that Wilberforce unhesitatingly lived and spoke his faith in Jesus Christ in both word and deed.  This was not done in the privacy of his own home, but rather publicly at the indifference of many.  What Wilberforce exemplified for us is that it is possible for a person to faithfully and wholeheartedly serve God in public affairs without compromising our convictions.

Finally, considering the make-up of our government, why is it wrong for a person to co-labor with others on mutual causes who do not share a mutual faith in Jesus Christ?  Should Christians not have any dealings with non-Christians?  Should Christians refuse to work in the world with non-Christians?  Should we refuse to purchase products or services made and provided by non-Christians?  Should we not invite non-Christians to church related functions until they think, believe, act, and dress the way that we do?   

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Tags: Christianity and Democracy, compromise, grace to you, phil johnson