Political Space (4) - No Retreat

We have a real dilemma, but retreat is not possible. If we believe that God is sovereign over the whole of life, we cannot stay out of the political space. We cannot ignore the political space, because it affects so much of life.

Balmer says that that “religion flourishes best at the margins and not at the centers of power”. That might be true in a culture where Christians are a minority, but as the gospel advances and Christians cease being a minority, Christianity cannot remain on the fringes of life. The influence of the gospel must move towards the centre of life, including the political space.

One pastor said that he never preaches about politics, but this creates a problem for Christians trying to understand the political space. They must learn from those already in it, so they find the truth hard to find. We cannot ignore the political space. Pretending that it is not there does not help, as it leaves a major area of life outside God's scope.