‘Most of us aren’t tasked with running for government’

Following the death of Charlie Kirk, posts flooded social media of people getting saved after hearing his story. There are also reports from the UK of people walking into churches because they heard about Kirk for the first time.   

Charlie Kirk was as much of a political figure as he was an apologist for the faith. Another consequence of his death is that many Christians are deciding to speak up more about political issues such as abortion and LGBT. Interest in Kirk’s organisation, Turning Point is also growing, at a rapid rate. 

Here in Britain, three days after Charlie Kirk’s death, we had the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally, where people called for more control on immigration, and chanted “Christ is King”. Evangelists who attended the event reported it was a great harvest, ripe for picking. 

A movement is rising, of politics and faith intertwined. Should Christians get involved? And should we be politically active wherever we are on the left/right spectrum?

Being wise as we engage

I do believe we should be actively involved in society, being ‘salt and light’ wherever God calls us to be. There are examples throughout history of Christians making the world a better place. For example, William Wilberforce MP worked hard to abolish the slave trade. Josephine Butler campaigned to raise the age of consent from 13 to 16. 

In the book The Air We Breathe (The Good Book Company), Glen Scrivener discusses how many of the Western values that we take for granted, such as compassion and consent, have their roots in the Jesus story. It makes sense that as Christians we want to make things better, using our faith as a compass. 

Nevertheless, I think we need to have great discernment about the way we express political opinions or get involved. I live in Italy, and on the day after the US election last year I went to a coffee morning with local English speakers, many of whom were disappointed American democrats. One man started complaining about the “fundamentalist Christians in the South”. When politics and faith are so intertwined it might put people off exploring the faith, as they might consider it a ‘right-wing’ thing. 

When Christians strongly express a political opinion it may harm their witness to those who do not share their political beliefs. As someone who has many left-wing friends and family, whenever I talk about Jesus, I don’t want to be political about it.

In the US most Christians tend to vote Republican, whereas in the UK the Christian vote has been more spread between the different political parties. However, with Tommy Robinson’s movement, it looks like something similar to the US’s MAGA movement is sprouting. It can look very appealing to Christians; it offers free speech to share the gospel, and is against the ‘woke’ agenda. 

However, I fear that the enemy is at work in these movements of making our countries ‘Christian again’ through politics. I’m in my mid-40s now, and when I was at school hymns were still sung on a daily basis. It didn’t make me become a Christian – it actually made me want to rebel. Making a country ‘Christian’ through politics and control isn’t a good approach to saving souls, and it can have the opposite effect. 

As an ex-leftie, it wasn’t hearing Christians ‘speak out’ about LGBT and abortion issues that made me change my mind. It was receiving the Holy Spirit, and God renewing my mind.

I think we must also examine the soil of this movement of nationalism and Christianity. In the US, the MAGA movement is strongly associated with an unbiblical form of Christianity known as the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Followers of this movement believe something called the ‘Seven Mountain Mandate’; an idea that in order for Jesus to come back Christians must first take control of seven areas of cultural influence – including media, family, politics and education. 

Part of this doctrine is the belief that during the end times, some people will literally become ‘Manifest Sons of God’ – immortal beings and the literal embodiment of Christ. This idea is dangerous and could result in cult-like thinking; some early followers of this doctrine actually believed they would be tasked with carrying out God’s judgement, and would murder those who did not fall into line with their beliefs. 

It remains to be seen if the New Apostolic Reformation will influence the Christian nationalist movement in the UK, but one speaker at the event spoke about banning Halal food, and the building of mosques. Is this what Jesus would want us to do?  

Jesus’ mandate was very simple: care for the poor, cast out demons, heal the sick and share the gospel. Most of us aren’t tasked with running for government, and the closest thing we’ll get to being political is sharing an opinion on the internet. But before pressing ‘post’ maybe we need to ask ourselves: “What would Jesus do?”