Being involved in the political process is a requirement. Being a bystander is not an option. It is every Christian's duty to research the issues and candidates, learn where they register in regard to God's Word and vote
The subject of this column may land me in the doghouse with some Christians who consider the concept of a 'political ministry' unsavory, or that there is no such thing. Begging to differ, political ministry has been the focus of personal endeavor for more than two decades. Days before a life changing (or threatening, depending on one's perspective) election is the time to make the case for every Christian's role in politics, how it must be recognized that politics is being driven by secular social and cultural pressure.
To take a biblical stance on what role a believer should have in the world, which includes the political process, is to note that Jesus didn't tell His followers to sit back on their haunches and wait for redemption. He pressed them to be vocal about the Kingdom of God and its manifestation in the spirit despite the opposition coming from both the Roman government and His own people comprising the Judean hierarchy.
Godly transformation of the culture to reflect what is good and wholesome
Jesus sent out his disciples, first by the dozen and then by the seventy, to be His voice, hands and feet (Romans 10:14-16) preparing the way for Him, for truth and justice to speak and be received. (Luke 10:1-20)
He prayed in John 17:15-18: "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world." NKJV
Jesus sent His disciples into the world to do what? To speak the truth that is God's Word. The Word at that time was the Old Testament foretelling the Kingdom. It was the Law that would no longer be a treatise written in stone, but written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33) and understood in the spirit to be followed in the natural. Jesus was directing His disciples (that includes Christians today) to walk in the world speaking, living and sharing the truth that the world may be changed, individual by individual, to inherit the Kingdom.
And that means action, physical interaction with the world to bring about Godly transformation of the culture to reflect what is good and wholesome. (Think about the term 'wholesome' as being literal – becoming whole in being: corporeally, emotionally and spiritually connected to God.) It means not only speaking the truth but actively engaging with the world to see and feel the benefits of living according to the truth.
Each of Jesus' parables has multiple applications for believers to learn what is expected of them in this life. The parable of the Talents is one that theologians have taught on all levels, as an uncomplicated lesson to being complexly dissected. This take is middle-ground.
The seed is the word of God…
First of all, the parable of the Ten Virgins isn't separate from the Talents that follows in Matthew 25. Read this from Young's Literal Translation: 13 'Watch therefore, for ye have not known the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man doth come.
14 'For -- as a man going abroad did call his own servants, and did deliver to them his substance…"
The watchword in Verse 14 is "For" which ties the first tale to the second in that it is a lesson on how believers are to be pro-active in preparing for the coming of the Kingdom and not lax. Not only are believers to make preparations for themselves but they are to increase what they are given, which in the "talents" is to invest what they are given. They are told not to be "unprofitable" or they would suffer "weeping and gnashing of teeth" in their banishment from the King's presence.
But what are the talents? Note the scripture: Matthew 25: 26 'And his lord answering said to him, Evil servant, and slothful, thou hadst known that I reap where I did not sow, and I gather whence I did not scatter! 27 it behoved thee then to put my money to the money-lenders, and having come I had received mine own with increase.'
Where Jesus says that the master reaps where he didn't sow, it refers back to the foundational parable of the sower where he answers the disciples with this, Luke 8:11 'And this is the simile: The seed is the word of God…' YLT
The talents are the seed and God reaps what He does not sow. He gives us the seed, the Word, and sends us forth to sow it that His truth may be increased, the riches of His Word grown by action.
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The seed must be sown into the world and that requires being active in the world and not sitting out the political process
How then is the seed to be sown? The immediate answer most Christians will supply is by preaching the Word. But is there more to it than that? Obviously, my answer that some may dispute comes from having a 'political ministry,' and that is to sow God's Word, the seed (or talents) through taking action to change the culture to closer reflect the Kingdom by involvement in the world and that means – yep, you got it… politics.
Prayer makes a difference by changing the worldly atmosphere to be more receptive to the truth, but that is only the first step. The seed must be sown into the world and that requires being active in the world and not sitting out the political process. If we do sit on the sidelines, then we are being the unprofitable, lazy servant who buried the talent, the seed, the Word, making it unavailable to do what it's meant to do, which is to change hearts which changes culture.
Should believers wish to be greeted with "Well done, good and faithful servant" upon leaving this world and entering the next, we are expected to sow the seed that God may reap the harvest because we have endeavored to influence the world to look more like heaven. Matthew 6:10 "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." KJV
Being involved in the political process is a requirement. Being a bystander is not an option. It is every Christian's duty to research the issues and candidates, learn where they register in regard to God's Word and vote.
Former newspaper publisher, A. Dru Kristenev, grew up in the publishing industry working every angle of a paper, from ad composition and sales, to personnel management, copy writing, and overseeing all editorial content. During her tenure as a news professional, Kristenev traveled internationally as a representative of the paper and, on separate occasions, non-profit organizations. Since 2007, Kristenev has authored five fact-filled political suspense novels, the Baron Series, and two non-fiction books, all available on Amazon. Carrying an M.S. degree and having taught at premier northwest universities, she is the trustee of Scribes’ College of Journalism, which mission is to train a new generation of journalists in biblical standards of reporting. More information about the college and how to support it can be obtained by contacting Kristenev at cw.o@earthlink.net.
ChangingWind (changingwind.org) is a solutions-centered Christian ministry.
