{"id":42369,"date":"2025-10-23T14:52:40","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T21:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=42369"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:52:40","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T21:52:40","slug":"when-evangelical-activism-turns-political","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/when-evangelical-activism-turns-political\/","title":{"rendered":"When Evangelical Activism Turns Political"},"content":{"rendered":"

The current entanglement of Christianity and politics in the United States reveals how evangelical activism\u2019s historic impulse toward cultural engagement has, in some circles, been reshaped into the ideology of Christian nationalism. Before beginning this writing, I tried to recall moments when I first became aware of the intersection between Christian faith and political engagement. Aside from the Dole\u2013Kemp and later Bush\u2013Cheney bumper stickers on my parents\u2019 car, such connections were not a significant part of my early awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n

One Sunday after church, however, stands out vividly in my memory. After the service, congregants were encouraged to sign a petition related to California\u2019s Proposition<\/em> 8[1]<\/a>. At the time, I did not fully grasp the details of what it represented. Looking back, I cringe a bit\u2014not necessarily because of the stance itself, but because I added my name without truly understanding the issue. I remember feeling uneasy as the congregation moved toward the tables in the foyer to sign, yet also sensing that I was participating in something meaningful\u2014an expression of faith in action. Although the exact sequence of events is fuzzy, I also recall a church-hosted debate on same-sex marriage and what such legalization would mean constitutionally\u2014questions surrounding how marriage should be defined and protected under state law. There were also citywide Christian prayer gatherings focused on upcoming elections and other similar moments, each embraced as an expression of faith in action.<\/span><\/p>\n

This idea of faith in action<\/em> traces back to what David Bebbington described as \u201ca quadrilateral of priorities that is the basis of Evangelicalism.\u201d[2]<\/a> Among the four defining characteristics he identifies, activism<\/em> stands out\u2014the outward expression of the gospel through intentional effort and engagement with the world.[3]<\/a> During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Bebbington notes, evangelical activism profoundly shaped British society. Its moral and spiritual vitality extended beyond the church, influencing social reform, politics, and even intellectual life. Its impact crossed social boundaries, as evangelicalism\u2019s success in establishing new moral expectations and shaping the moral tone of the nation.[4]<\/a> With Bebbington\u2019s quadrilateral in mind, I see echoes of this same dynamic unfolding in the United States today. Yet I am increasingly concerned about what motivates such activism\u2014whether it stems from a sincere desire to live out the gospel or from the pull of political identity.<\/span><\/p>\n

In examining the relationship between Christianity and political life, N. T. Wright and Michael Bird observe that the establishment of a Christian political order was never the Church\u2019s original purpose; rather, Christendom emerged as a byproduct of the Church\u2019s success in proclaiming God\u2019s kingdom.[5]<\/a> In other words, political influence was not the goal of the gospel but an unintended consequence of its cultural and historical reach. This distinction matters because it challenges contemporary movements that equate spiritual faithfulness with political dominance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Timothy Keller echoes this caution, reminding readers that Christians do not constitute a theocratic nation but a global community living under diverse governments\u2014authorities to be respected, though never granted absolute allegiance.[6]<\/a> For Keller, the mission of the Church is not to reconstruct Israel\u2019s social or legal structures but to embody gospel principles within diverse cultural contexts. While Old Testament laws of justice provide enduring moral insight, he notes they were designed for a covenant people within a theocratic state, not for direct application to pluralistic societies today.[7]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

I have wrestled deeply with whether the American Church today has lost sight of the gospel\u2019s true mission\u2014a tension that raises a sobering question: have we mistaken political dominance for spiritual faithfulness?<\/span><\/p>\n

One moment that still unsettles me occurred during Donald Trump\u2019s first inauguration, when Franklin Graham declared that the rain beginning as Trump took the oath of office was a sign of divine blessing. Graham said, \u201cMr. President, in the Bible, rain is a sign of God\u2019s blessing. And it started to rain, Mr. President, when you came to the platform.\u201d[8]<\/a> To me, that moment revealed the danger of blurring the line between political power and divine favor\u2014the subtle but serious shift from proclaiming Christ as Lord to ascribing sacred meaning to a political leader. This same tendency resurfaced after the more recent attempt on Trump\u2019s life, when some compared the blood on his ear to that of Aaron\u2019s consecration in the Old Testament (Exod. 29:20; Lev. 8:23\u201324).<\/span><\/p>\n

Together, Wright, Bird, and Keller call for discernment\u2014Christian faith inevitably shapes public life, but its ultimate allegiance remains to the kingdom of God rather than to any earthly system of power. Yet much of what fuels the rise of Christian nationalism appears to be less about faith and more about fear\u2014fear of cultural loss, moral decline, or the erosion of religious influence. This, I believe, is where the distortion of evangelical activism becomes most visible. Russell Moore warns that \u201cChristian nationalism cannot turn back secularism, because it is just another form of it. In fact, it is an even more virulent form of secularism because it pronounces as \u2018Christian\u2019 what cannot stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Christian nationalism cannot save the world; it cannot even save you.\u201d[9]<\/a> At its core, Moore argues, such movements are sustained by fear rather than transformed by faith. He continues, \u201cThe first step to becoming a people of truth is to recognize what makes us afraid, and to ask why and who benefits from that fear.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In Scripture, fear and faith often stand side by side. I think of the moment when the disciples panicked in the storm on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus looked at them and asked, \u201cWhy are you afraid, O you of little faith?\u201d (Matt. 8:26<\/em>). His question remains as relevant now as it was then. Fear has a way of clouding faith\u2014of making us grasp for control instead of trusting God\u2019s sovereignty. Wright and Bird write, \u201cIf our hope is in God and God\u2019s kingdom to be on earth as it is in heaven, then we are called to be disciples with a theo-political vision of the gospel, not advocates for a theocratic regime, nor withdrawn to the safety of our cloistered compound.\u201d[11]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Russell Moore offers a striking reflection on the Church today: \u201cThe problem now is not that people think the church\u2019s way of life is too demanding, too morally rigorous, but that they have come to think the church doesn\u2019t believe its own moral teachings.\u201d[12]<\/a> His insight names a reality many of us sense but struggle to articulate. When our activism loses its grounding in faith and becomes driven by fear, we risk becoming a Church more concerned with preserving power than living under the reign of Jesus as King.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe what\u2019s needed most is a recovery of balance within Bebbington\u2019s quadrilateral. Activism on its own can easily drift off course, but when it\u2019s held together with Scripture, centered on the cross, and lived out through transformed hearts, it finds its right place. We need both courage and humility\u2014truth and grace. We don\u2019t have to be afraid. Our calling isn\u2019t to control outcomes but to stay faithful, to live what we believe, and to trust that God\u2019s kingdom will hold, even when everything else feels unsteady.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> California\u2019s Proposition 8 was a 2008 ballot initiative that sought to amend the state constitution to define marriage exclusively as a union between one man and one woman. It was introduced in response to a California Supreme Court decision earlier that year that had legalized same-sex marriage. Voters approved the measure by a narrow margin, effectively banning same-sex marriage in the state. The amendment sparked widespread debate over civil rights, religion, and the role of voter initiatives in shaping constitutional law. After several years of legal challenges, federal courts ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional, and same-sex marriage was reinstated in California in 2013.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> David W. Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s<\/em> (New York: Taylor & Francis, 1989), 2, Kindle edition..<\/span><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain<\/em>, 3, Kindle edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Bebbington, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain<\/em>, 149, Kindle edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2024), 30\u201331, Kindle edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Timothy Keller, Generous Justice: How God\u2019s Grace Maes Us Just<\/em> (New York: Penguin Publishing Group, 2010), 21, Kindle edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Keller, Generous Justice<\/em>, 23, Kindle edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Tim Funk, \u201cIn Prayer, Franklin Graham Sees Rain at Inauguration as Good Omen for Trump,\u201d The Charlotte Observer<\/em>, January 21, 2017, https:\/\/www.charlotteobserver.com\/living\/religion\/article127687134.html<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Russell D. Moore, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America<\/em> (New York: Penguin Publishing Group, 2023), 120, Kindle edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Moore, Losing Our Religion<\/em>, 84, Kindle edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Wright and Bird, Jesus and the Powers<\/em>, 174, Kindle edition.<\/span><\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Moore, Losing Our Religion<\/em>, 44, Kindle edition.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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