Leeman Speaks on Why Your Christianity is a Political Threat
Posted Mar 14, 2022
This afternoon, Jonathan Leeman of 9 Marks Ministries spoke on Union's Campus on "Why Your Chrisitianity is a Political Threat." While the Center for Politics and Religion and School of Theology and Missions sponsored the event today, the event was possible by the Institute for Religion and Democracy.
Leeman began with a meditation on the idea that "Jesus is Lord and has been given authority in everything in Heaven and Earth." Because Jesus is Lord, our faith is a political threat because it influences how we think and behave. However, we should think of this as Christians being culture warriors but ambassadors for Christ.
Beginning with Acts 19, he shows that Christianity is a threat to religion and economics as Demetrius opposed Paul's teaching because it undermined his religion and livelihood as one who made idols for those who worship at the Temple of Artemis. Freeman argues that everyone worships something whether God, money, sex, politics, etc. and that worship will influence all of our decisions. Since everyone brings their gods into the public square, our faith should be a threat to other idols.
On the other hand, Acts 24 shows that Paul was not an insurrectionist who is a threat to the state per se because Christianity does not encourage insurrection. Instead, we live in the in-between on not a threat to the state but a threat to political idols. This threat is more like a virus or termie that eats or affects the idols that we worship whether it is a political regime, market, etc. In fact, if you live a biblical life, one should expect to be persecuted.
Leeman then listed four ways that Christianity is a political threat. First, your faith is a political threat because you believe Jesus is King, and every nation conspires against Jesus. He takes this idea from Psalm 2 which says, "Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, 3 “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” Since Christianity affects all ways of life, it is a challenge to politicians, regimes, parties, nations, and more.
Second, your faith is a political threat because your gospel confronts every form of self-justification, and people love to justify themselves and their own rule. Too often, we try to justify ourselves and our way of life which is really another way of saying I want to rule my life. History is strewn with examples of people justifying why they should rule. We need to move away from a politics of self-righteousness that seeks to justify ourselves and instead be justified by our faith.
Third, your faith is a political threat because it binds you to a new people, creating relational priorities they don’t understand. Our identity should be as Christians and this is a threat to every family, groups, and nation. If you become a Christian, those in your groups will not understand that it causes you to live a different life and challenge ideas that you previously held. Moreover, your local church should be a model of a better justice in the world which will challenge both left and right.
Fourth, your faith is a political threat because it yields a new kind of life, one that simultaneously repels and attracts. Leeman discussed Rosario Butterfield and her family seeking to befriend a neighbor who most in the neighborhood thought was strange. It took time but they became friends. Then the friend was arrested for having a meth lab in his basement. The neighbors were repelled by their association with the individual but also attracted to them because they continued a relationship with him in prison and eventually converted him which led neighbors to want to learn more about this faith.
In conclusion, he argued that your faith should be a threat because it is a new identity that challenges all others and this faith should both repel and compel people by one's examples. He then talked about how churches should be concerned about politics as people in the congregation should take the lead in promoting ideas they believe such as welfare, tax, racism, etc. We can do this by caring for people in and outside our congregation.
During question time, he answered a question about how to care for families (church and blood) that are divided by politics. Leeman argued for a renewal of Romans 14 and Christian freedom. He says that there is a difference between straight line and jagged line issues. Straight line issues are those that come straight from the biblical text or implied by necessary consequence. He used abortion as an example of this from the command to not kill. These issues are the ones that the church should stand up for. Jagged line issues are those where we have to make inferences because the text is not explicit and we should be flexible on these issues. Mature Christians should be able to look at facts from jagged line issues and realize that people can come to different conclusions and that is OK.
Another question asked how Christians can come to decisions of an example of a Christian church in China were the elders were arrested because their church was too large. They had to decide whether to continue to meet and face imprisonment or break up the church in smaller numbers. Leeman argued we need to learn wisdom. Ecclesiastes 3 says that there is a time for everything and so we need to learn what time it is so we can make the correct decision. We get this wisdom by asking God to give us the wisdom so we can do justice (I Kings 3:28).