You've heard statements like:
"Religion and politics don't mix."
"The job of minister is to 'preach the gospel' and not to get concerned about politics."
"Politics is too 'messy' for the Christian."
These statements are dangerous nonsense.
They are nonsense because they ignore the fact that the minute you take "religion" seriously, you've got to be concerned about your fellow men, and in our kind of world concern for fellow men inevitably means concern with the political arena in which men live. Since the "gospel" is concerned not only with individuals, but with individuals in their social relationships, it must be relevant to the way people order their social relationships in politics and government.
They are dangerous, because they mean that religion is irrelevant to one of the most important areas of modern life. The decisions made in Congress, for example, affect the destinies of millions of people across the face of the earth. No Christian has the moral privilege of being unconcerned about that fact, or of claiming that politics is so "messy" that the Christian must not soil his hands by getting too close to it. On the contrary, the Christian must demonstrate that politics can be a "realm of grace," a place where, as least in a roughhewn way, men can attempt to do the will of God.
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