The 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses are now only days away, ushering in a new United States presidential primary season. This noteworthy contest can indicate how a presidential candidate will do later in the primary season. However, the question is: how interested will voters be this election year? More specifically, how will Christians view their roles in public life and American politics?
I’ve reflected several times over the last few months how thankful I am for my college and seminary education. Welch College and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) have shaped me in ways I’m only now fully realizing. Back in the spring of 2017 I registered to take Theology and Culture with Dr. Bruce Ashford, Provost at SEBTS. Coming off the 2016 presidential election, this course was like a balm in a dry desert. Shortly after graduating from SEBTS, I noticed Dr. Ashford published a book called Letters to an American Christian.[1] I knew then that I needed to purchase the book, and I recently reread it for the second time.
Ashford begins his book by carefully explaining the connection between our private self and our public self. The two are inseparable. This encouragement is needed for believers because some may feel it necessary (and easier!) not to mix politics and religion. Seeing the need to contribute to the common good, believers’ actions should then be characterized by truth and grace. This will certainly not be easy. However, Ashford admonishes, “the times when we are the most disillusioned may turn out to be the times when it is most important for us to stay engaged.”[2]
A Christian View of Politics and Public Life
It is one effort to make the argument for Christians to engage in politics, and it is entirely different to argue for how Christians should engage in politics. Perhaps the misunderstanding, or work required, of the latter is why many Christians don’t even consider the former. Whatever the case, Ashford offers guidance and good reasons for Christians to participate in government and politics.
I appreciate the “four acts” from the Biblical narrative that he encourages the reader to consider when understanding the groundwork for participation in politics. These four acts include creation, fall, redemption, and consummation. Ashford works through each act to describe how each one relates to politics. Beginning with creation, God tasked Adam and Eve with “a cultural task that involves bringing out the hidden potentials of God’s creation.”[3] By extension, part of culture includes government and politics.
Moving forward with the second act, Adam and Eve wanted to be rulers of themselves and rebelled against God’s sovereign authority. The effects of the fall continue today. Ashford carefully explains, “After the fall, the world remained structurally good but became directionally corrupt.”[4] This corruption has certainly found its way into politics because “it is populated by people who are constantly tempted to direct their efforts toward wrong and selfish ends.”[5]
A weary world rejoices at the third act in this Biblical narrative. God promised to send a Savior and provide a way of redemption from this curse (Gen. 3:15). This redemption “will affect your whole life in its personal, social, cultural, and political dimensions.”[6] Putting aside selfish ambitions, this new way of living will focus on God’s peace and love, as well as human flourishing.
The final act helps give context and hope to the Christian involved in politics. Just as the Bible promised that Jesus would be born, it also promises that He will return again one day “to establish himself as King and will rule over a one-world government characterized by justice, peace, order, and love (Rev. 21–22).”[7]
This fourfold foundation that Ashford offers is helpful for Christians seeking to understand how they should participate in politics. Building upon this framework, Ashford offers three helpful questions for the Christian to ask in any cultural spheres. The questions include (1) What is God’s creational design for this particular sphere? (2) How have God’s designs been misdirected and corrupted by our sin? and (3) In what ways can we redirect this sphere toward Christ’s intentions for it? Answering these questions will not be easy, but it will be helpful for the policeman, painter, and politician.
A Christian Hope for American Politics
One strength of the book is the way that Ashford consistently makes the case for Christian engagement in American politics. Believers may be weary from this work, but Ashford continually reminds the reader to show people “a vision of conservative politics that lifts people up, enriches their lives, and strengthens our society.”[8]
I particularly enjoyed the last two chapters of the book as Ashford makes his final argument for Christian engagement in the public square. He encourages those on this journey to use the model of Christian missionaries. Ashford explains, “The missionary’s goal is to minister to the people group’s needs and to persuade them to consider the claims of Jesus Christ. His tactics are something like the polar opposite of many conservatives today. He didn’t caricature the people group’s religion, mock their culture, or impugn their motives.”[9]
Ashford then explains three ways missionaries behave that serve as models for Christian political engagement: (1) A good Christian missionary exhibits genuine concern; (2) good missionaries work hard to find “common ground” with their conversation partners; and (3) missionaries take the long view. These three models help to guide Christians in the public square.
Lastly, I appreciate the way Ashford reminds Christians just how prophetic their witness can be from the margins. We need to look no further than our Lord, who ministered from a position of weakness, who “didn’t have social, cultural, or political power.”[10] Furthermore, Jesus’ disciples were not in positions of power either. In fact, “they were hunted down and killed almost as soon as the movement got started.”[11]
Once we accept this position of weakness as prophetic, we then look for opportunities to witness. Here Ashford offers four opportunities for Christian engagement from a position of weakness: (1) We need to introduce God to the public imagination; (2) we need to decenter ourselves in our political endeavors; (3) we need to reframe public issues in light of the gospel; and (4) we must revitalize cultural institutions.[12]
Conclusion
Readers will find Letters to an American Christian engaging. The format Ashford employs evokes the spirit of C. S. Lewis’s Letters to Malcolm and The Screwtape Letters. The experience leaves the reader thinking that he or she is part of the discussion. Personally, I felt like many of the letters were written for and to me.
Certain parts of the book left me wanting more, especially in sections where he evaluates a Christian view on hot-button issues. For instance, I appreciate how Ashford carefully explains eight sociological reasons that elective abortion hurts all of us. Each of the reasons he offers deserve attention, but I would have liked to have seen a little more focus on how to help the many men and women who have walked through abortion. Furthermore, how should we think through tough cases where the life of the mother is at risk?
With the 2020 presidential elections quickly approaching, Christians are
tasked once more with thinking through how their faith informs their actions in
the public arena. Sure, it’s easy to see the whole realm as foul and beyond
repair. But elections also present opportunities to minister as witnesses on
margins. For this reason, I’m grateful for Dr. Bruce Ashford’s contribution in Letters to an American Christian.
[1]Bruce Riley Ashford, Letters to an American Christian (Nashville: B&H, 2018), 227 pages.
[2]Ibid., 8.
[3]Ibid., 12
[4]Ibid., 14.
[5]Ibid.
[6]Ibid., 15.
[7]Ibid., 15–16.
[8]Ibid., 217
[9]Ibid., 214–15.
[10]Ibid., 221.
[11]Ibid.
[12]Ibid., 223–24.
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