Evangelicalism and the Temptation of Political Tribalism
Evangelicals have traditionally been socially engaged, in faithfulness to biblical teaching to do justice and to show compassion for those suffering, and as a missional necessity, to demonstrate that we have good works to match our faith. A faith that is lived out, among and for others, is what it means to be a Christian.
Evangelical faith is Christological in that Christ is proclaimed as Savior and we do everything we can to save persons in body, mind, and soul and to bring them into the warm embrace of Christ himself. This is why we do things like advocate for action on climate change, run Alpha courses, support refugees, have a Church Missionary Society, oppose the predatory gambling lobby, fund City Bible Forums, and have Anglican Overseas Aid or Samaritan’s Purse. So, for us evangelicals, our evangelistic energy goes hand in hand with our social concerns, advocacy, and programs.
One problem is the temptation to focus on one or the other. To be an Alpha-Church or a Tear-Fund church. To focus on the evangelistic side or to go all-in on social action. A false dichotomy if you ask me, but the temptation is real for either side.
But even for those of us who believe in a healthy balance, declaring the word of the gospel while donning the apron of a servant, even our social advocacy/action faces the temptation is being politically partisan.
For me, personally, my two social action passion projects are advocacy for destroying the gambling lobby and advocating for religious freedom. The former aligns neatly with the political left and the latter sits more squarely with the political right. It means I get some curious glances from people.
My World Vision friends love my opposition to the gambling barons but look at me with confusion and disgust as if I might be a quasi-fascist if I retweet an Australian Christian Lobby article about religious freedom [NB: the ACL is like the Aussie version of the ERLC]. By the same token, my Australian Christian Lobby friends incorporate my voice into the religious freedom discussions but look at me with suspicion that I might be a Marxist sympathizer if I post on Facebook critical of the Liberal party’s stance on refugees and climate policy.
I think most evangelicals are committed to a program of social action, and we each have our own pet causes, the ones that burn our hearts with righteous rage or fill us with pity for those suffering. The temptation is that our interest in social action is exercised partly as an outworking of Christian faith, but partly as a way of aligning ourselves with particular political tribes. The temptation is then, that our social ethic becomes tied less to Christian mission and more to the political tribes that we belong to.