But there is more to it than just that. For what we have said so far might lead someone to say: "I can't be involved in the messy business of government or politics. It's too sordid. I'll say no all the time." And this would be a tragic distortion of Biblical faith. Consequently, another thing the Bible tells us which is relevant to political responsibility is that we must be involved in life about us. We cannot be side-line Christians. The main themes of the Bible all imply this. Look at just a few of them.
The Biblical emphasis on the importance of history stresses this. History is where God works; he is concerned about what happens here. He has placed us in history and given us work to do also right here and now. We repudiate our God-given responsibility if we "take a rain check," or refuse to be involved.
The Creation stories stress this. We are placed here to "till the earth." This is an image from an agricultural society of the necessity of work, of keeping life on earth a going proposition. You don't do that as a bystander.
Jesus tells us, in his model prayer, to pray for "our daily bread." People who think Jesus was just concerned about "spiritual things" ought to ponder that fact. If "man does not live by bread alone," as Jesus also said, it is equally clear that he does not live without bread. Daily bread is important. How we get it is important. That all men have enough of it is important.
All these emphases suggest that how people live together is a religious problem. If people are hungry, that is a religious problem; if people do not have decent housing, that is a religious problem; if people who have dark skins are not allowed to eat in restaurants with people who have light skins, that is a religious problem -- because God loves all of his children, and has given us a large share of responsibility in ordering our social life together.
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