Poltical Influence

I really appreciate many of Greg Boyd’s insights. His exposure of Christian blessing of military power is excellent.

Boyd suggests that the “Church does best when it is a persecuted minority”. The problem with this is that when it “does best”, it grows and often becomes a majority. The issue that he does not really deal with is that once, Christian increase to a majority, they must start having an influence in the political sphere.

The problem is that most Christians think that “having and influence” means moving into halls of government and wielding the power that was previously held by others, and using it to impose Christian values. Jim Wallis would use this power to establish social justice. The moral majority would use it to prevent abortion. Both are wrong, because the kingdom of God is not established by political power.

We need a totally different vision based on voluntary authority, in which as the gospel is successful, the political sphere is turned upside down and mostly shrinks away. This will not happen if Christians leave the political sphere alone.

We must create a new society and a new culture based on voluntary authority, that does not need political power.

Greg Boyd and Philosophy

For those of you with a philosophical bent, Greg Boyd has some interesting posts on the influence of the Plutarch’s warfare worldview.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
He shows how this influence led to a false understanding of God's nature and confusion about the cause of evil in the world.

Clear Thinking

We do need hope and we do need a savior. Yet, when this natural longing for hope and salvation is directed toward anything or anyone other than God, the Bible calls it idolatry. Our hope is not to be placed in the eloquence of Obama or the heroism of McCain but in the loving self-sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary. We’re never to put “Country First” but are rather to “seek first the Kingdom of God” (Greg Boyd).

I hope in the power of the gospel that flows from God’s good graces toward us humans. I hope in the God who designs that gospel; I hope in the Christ who embodies that gospel; and I hope in the Spirit who empowers that gospel. And I hope also in the Church whose task it is daily to live out the gospel and draw all into its saving graces. I don’t hope in the next President. I think that is idolatrous. In fact, hoping in the next President is the first step toward idolizing empire (Scot McKnight).

Greg Boyd - Power Under Justice

Greg Boyd's second fundamental point is that the Polis is dominated “power over” methods. I agree that this is true of the modern polis. I also agree that “power over” methods do not belong in the Kingdom of God. My difference with Greg is that I believe we can have a system of justice that is based on the “power under” principle.

The system of justice established in the Old Testament was a “power under” system. God gave his law. He demonstrated his power on the mountain, but he invited the people to accept the law. Anyone who did not want to remain in the Israelite community and live under God’s law was free to go back to Egypt. The people were free to reject God’s law and often did. God gave his law in a “power under” way.

God raised up wise judges to apply the law. They did not have a police force to enforce their decisions. All they could do was listen to the testimonies of the people before them and give their verdict. They could announce the amount of restitution that should be made when a crime had occurred. They had no power to enforce their decisions.

Every person belonged to a family and tribe. They had agreed to submit to the leaders of their family. Wise family leaders would compel the guilty person to comply with the judge’s decision, for the sake of justice. They would realise that the shoe might be on the other foot in the future and they might be the ones seeking justice.

However, if the criminal’s family did not support his verdict, the judge would be powerless to do anything. The criminal could escape justice and nothing could be done. This is justice by “power under”, because it is justice that only works if innocent and guilty people freely submit to it.

This is just a brief sketch of “power under” justice. Elsewhere, I have described a voluntary system of defence. My point here is to show that these things are possible. Much of the work is still to be done, but I believe that we can develop a process for justice that is consistent with the Kingdom of God.

I agree that most of the modern Polis cannot be part of the Kingdom of God. I believe that as the Kingdom of God advances in its beautiful way, God will sweep much of the Polis away (the book of Revelation is describes this). That does not mean that there will be no law and no justice. No! God will raise up his perfect civil law and justice and teach us to function live under it in a “power under” way. God has provided a system of voluntary justice. I cannot understand why we are so reluctant to live under it.

Greg Boyd - Polis and Opinion

Greg Boyd's first fundamental idea about the Polis is that it is dominated by opinion.

I do not believe that what should happen in the Polis is just a matter of opinion. I cannot believe that God does not a have a view about what are good laws and bad laws. Laws are enforced morality. A righteous God must have a view on what morality should be enforced and how and when it can be enforced. The indication from the scriptures is that God is quite serious about laws.

Greg is right about modern politics. It is totally controlled by opinion, but that does not mean that is the way that it should be. If sincere Christians disagree over a political issue, there are two possibilities. One could be wrong and the other might be right. What is more likely is that both are wrong, because their opinions are shaped by the Polis and not by the standards of God.

The fact that Christians disagree does not prove that God does not have an opinion about a just system of laws. I take the intense disagreement between Christians over political issues as a sign that most Christians are stuck in a wrong paradigm. When we get the paradigm right, we see a convergence of opinion.

It is true that Jesus did not attempt to articulate a system of just laws. He did not need to because his Father had already given one. All he had to do was tweak this system a little.

This is the key to our problem. God’s just laws are found in the Torah. Most Christians hate God’s law. This cuts them off from God’s law, so they are stuck with human opinion.

At a meeting at which Greg and a colleague dealt with questions about the Myth of Christian Nation, they were asked this question. “Don’t we want Christian laws for our land?” Greg answered by saying that the problem is that the only laws we have are in the Old Testament and we do not want to go there. He and his colleague mocked the law by saying we do want laws that require men without beards to be stoned (although this is not in the Old Testament).

This is typical of modern Christians. They do not take God’s law seriously. They just ignore it, because they do not like it, despite Jesus saying that it still stands and Paul saying that it is perfect. It is true that the Torah contains a lot of stuff, including instructions for the tabernacle and sacrifices, that were fulfilled in Jesus. It also includes instructions specifically for Israel that are no longer relevant. That does not mean that it does not contain the laws needed to allow a human society to function peaceably.

We should be wise enough to find the parts of the Torah that are needed for the functioning of civil society in the modern world. We cannot say that God’s law is no good until we have done the work to determine which of his laws still apply. Just rejecting God’s law and making up our own law is laziness. If we hate God’s law, we will be stuck with opinion.

I agree that the modern Polis is stuck in opinion and compromise. However it does not have to be that way. I believe that God has revealed laws that will make a society function better. They will not make people good. Only the gospel and the Spirit can do that. However, they could restrain the worst of evil, and that is all that law can do. That should not be our primary goal, but it worth doing.

I also believe that, if we were to pull out the three laws of God that are still relevant, the people of our pluralistic and secular world would recognize their goodness. The world hates Christian politics, because they see us trying to impose our opinions on them. On the hand, if we discarded opinions and presented God’s law, they would see its goodness (Deut 4:6,8).

Greg Boyd - Kingdom or Polis

The problem that I have with Greg Boyd's teaching is his understanding of the political system. He contrasts the Kingdom of God with the “Polis” or the political system. His aim is to keep the two separate. This is not necessarily a physical separation, but a moral separation. Everything in the Kingdom of God must be Christ-like. The Polis involves law, force and punishment. Law cannot be Christ-like, so the Polis can never be part of the kingdom.

The political arena uses law and force to change behaviour. “Power over” does not belong in the Kingdom of God

Greg seems to be ambivalent about Christian involvement in the Polis. On the one hand he says that the Polis is the domain of the evil one. On the other he says that Christians should vote if they are asked to vote and should participate in politics, if they feel that is right for them. What they must not do is label their policies as Christian, because there are no political solutions that are uniquely Christian. The only Christian way of bring change to society is the Kingdom way.

He says that sincere Christians can have different opinions about political issues. One will vote Republican another will vote democrat. Those who are not Christians may have different opinions. Politics is the art of bring a variety of opinions together to obtain a compromise. We should not label our policies as Christian. Our opinions about what are good and just laws are no better than those of others involved in the Polis.

The fundamental points in his arguments are the following.

1. The Polis is dominated by opinion.
2. The Polis is dominated by “power over” methods.

I believe that both these points are partly right and partly wrong. I will explain why tomorrow

Greg Boyd - The Myth of A Christian Nation

I have not read Greg Boyd’s book, the Myth of a Christian Nation. However, I have listened to the series of sermons called the Cross and the Sword on which this book was based. In these messages, he very clearly describes the kingdom way and warns of the dangers of using political power to accomplish God’s purpose.

His core message is that political systems use “power over” to achieve their purposes. Jesus way is “power under”. He demonstrated this by willingly submitting to the cross. He has called us to follow his example. We must change peoples hearts, not regulate their behaviour. If the church starts using “power over” to do good, it distorts the gospel. When we use the power of the state to make society good, we ultimately harm our cause. Political power is destructive to the church. I would recommend these talks for all Christians.

Greg's claim that the United States is not God’s gift to humanity is obvious to many people living outside America, but it is encouraging that an American can see it too.

I recently listened to his message called Being Beautiful. This is an eloquent description of how we can advance the Kingdom of God by living like Jesus.

I will describe the weakness I see in his views tomorrow.