Christians and Politics

The confirmation debate over the two vacancies on the Supreme Court is intense—and Christians are very much involved.

Why are we? When I took part in Justice Sunday II, a simulcast to churches across America in August, the secular press, and many in the Senate, denounced our efforts. What business did the Church have speaking about the confirmation of judges? The answer is simple. We care about justice because our God cares about justice. And if we truly see Christianity as a worldview that affects all areas of life, then we have to be actively engaged in issues that deal with maintaining justice in society.

This is something about which I feel passionately. Having worked in prisons for the last thirty years, I've seen the abuses that take place when the justice system looks the other way. I know firsthand how vitally important the rule of law is. Justices of the Supreme Court make the ultimate decisions about justice and the rule of law.

As I told the Justice Sunday II gathering, the words of Amos are engraved in our conscience: "Hate evil. Love good. Maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. … Let justice roll on like a river; righteousness like a never failing stream." So, of course, we care about confirming justices to the Court.

Now, this is not the first time that those words have appeared in public debate. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the 1960s, repeatedly quoted these verses from Amos in calling this country to account for its failure to accord equal rights regardless of race, color, or creed. All we're doing today is echoing that challenge that King laid down. He was right to do so then. We are right to do so now.

Isn't it ironic, however, that the same people who applauded when King used those words accuse us of trying to impose our will on others when we use them. But it's the same Bible, and the same standard of justice—justice for everyone, not simply special-interest groups.

Now when we are confronted with the kind of double standard we are in public life today, it makes you mad, doesn't it? It does me. But resist the temptation.

A great friend of mine, an ex-offender, is now a pastor in Wisconsin. One night his service was broken into by gay activists who threw condoms on the altar. He just smiled throughout. The press came to him afterwards and said, "Why aren't you angry?" His answer was, "I have no more reason to be mad at them than I would a blind man stepping on my foot."

To cite King again, one of his maxims was, "He whom you would change you must first love." The Bible is so clear on this. We are not to lash back angrily at our critics, though at times I'll admit it's tempting. Instead, we are to love our opponents and our enemies. We are to overcome evil with good.

There are two great lessons that come out of this important debate over judges. First, every Christian is called to care deeply about justice. Second, we fight our cause not with anger, but with love, that those with whom we engage in this battle might see the true source of both justice and love, the God who reigns now and forever.

Copyright (c) 2005 Prison Fellowship Ministries