Robert D. Linder and Richard V. Pierard, Politics: A Case for Christian Action, InterVarsity Press, 1973, 155 pp.
Wesley C. Pippert, Memo for 1976, InterVarsity Press, 1974, 107 pp.
Three books dealing with politics and discipleship have been recently released by authors who have come to be identified with the resurgent interest in social affairs among evangelicals. The writers bring a variety of perspectives to their subject. Linder and Pierard, history professors on state university campuses, have both been involved in politics on the local level, one as a Republican, the other as a Democrat. Mouw teaches philosophy on a Christian college campus. Pippert is with UPI in Washington and was one of their reporters covering the Watergate hearings.
Mouw’s book stands out first of all became of its striking title. Politics and evangelism are not usually directly tied together, even by those with an active Christian social conscience. But Mouw is not attempting to play games with words. He has deliberately chosen to use these terms, and uses them carefully. For Mouw, evangelism is "… concerned to show forth the full glories of the Kingdom of God among men, with an eye to the day when that Kingdom will reign over the entire earth.” (p. 76, see I Peter 2:9) and is “concerned with the proclamation a demonstration of the full gospel, and with bringing that gospel into confrontation with the pervasive power of sin.” With this understanding of evangelism in mind, political evangelism is one aspect of the overall evangelistic task of the church:
To speak of “political evangelism” with these concerns in mind is not a mere rhetorical trick. The expression points to the unity of the mission of the church in the world, a unity that must be stressed if we are to avoid the imbalance and polarization that continually threaten the Christian community. It is simply a fact that those who have seen it as their calling to invite men to make a personal commitment to Jesus Christ have often denigrated working for political change, and vice versa. This need not be. (p. 8)
Two aspects of political evangelism are discussed--building and sustaining the Christian community, and the outreach of that community. It is In seeing that without community no political evangelism can occur that is one of the most helpful parts of Mouw’ analysis. The gathered community is often seen as either a group of individuals gathered for fellowship and upbuilding or a group gathered for active engagement and confrontation in the world. Mouw sees both aspects, properly understood, as necessary for the people of God to fulfill their calling in the world. Political witness cannot be separated from the context in which we operate as the body of Christ. It must be an outgrowth of our life together.
In addition to the building up for the sake of outreach, the community is to function as a model for the rest of the world.
For part of the calling of the people of God is to demonstrate in their life together that it is possible for men to live, cooperate, and make decisions with one another in an atmosphere of trust, openness, mutual service, and hope. (p. 47)
By word and example, the community continually extends the invitation to join the life together of the people of God.
Mouw has very helpful discussions on a number of objections to the political task of the church, such as redemption not hanging on politics, and not identifying specific programs with the will of God. He brings the relevant Biblical material to bear on these questions.
The two books from Inter-Varsity deal more directly with the option of directly involving oneself in the political process. Linder and Pierard, as well as Mouw and Pippert, see historic orthodoxy as foundational to political engagement--with the Lordship of Christ, personal conversion, and the authority of Scripture as the key elements. They begin their discussion by dealing with common objections to social involvement. As in Mouw’s book, the discussion is quite helpful.
Their description of activity in the social realm by evangelicals in the Nineteenth Century and the activities of some evangelical politicians in the face of some of the key issues of our time is quite illuminating, especially for those who have been used to identifying the evangelical community with social passivism. They contrast these commendable efforts with the obscenity (their phrase) of most Christians remaining silent in the face of war, pollution, poverty and racism.
Their discussion of the need for reforms is quite interesting. They talk about the excessive influence of the wealthy in the political process, the need for a complete overhaul of our legislative and judiciary systems, and the need to restore confidence in the political process by identifying and electing representatives with integrity. These issues have reached such crisis proportions, that the band-aid solutions that are usually identified with reform are totally inadequate. While they do not make it explicit, the kind of reforms that Linder and Pierard call for would require a total revamping of the politico-economic system.
Their appeal is primarily to college students, and they give a number of helpful suggestions for getting involved politically on the local level as a beginning. They see the university campus as one of the main critics of society historically, and by implication challenge Christian students to take up that task again today.
Pippert’s Memo for 1976 is in many ways a reflection on a journey to social consciousness, describing the impact of the thought and actions of key men and women on his personal development. He characterizes most Christians as onlookers to the political process, with a few activists. His assessments of life in America show the poverty of the position of the onlooker. He sees helpful patterns for working outside the system in numbers of different types of people, but concentrates on the witness of the Berrigans in the 1960’s. He sees the Berrigans carrying on the confrontation of evil in high places in the tradition of Isaiah and Jeremiah. The life and actions of people carrying out such a witness is a viable form of political involvement for Christians to take.
His own paradigm for involvement is the role of the infiltrator. He correctly sees that Christians will never constitute a voting bloc in this country; consequently, Christians can exert their most effective influence by infiltrating the system, while basing their actions and decisions on an entirely different set of values. Both the political process and non-electoral positions in government are seen as options as well as such work as journalism and lobbying. He gives a number of examples of successful infiltrators. While discussing the necessity of compromise without compromising one’s principles, there is no discussion of how to avoid being co-opted by the system.
As a working journalist, some of his most interesting observations are about journalism. After discussing the reliance of most Americans on television newscasts for knowledge of national affairs--the equivalent of a few paragraphs in a newspaper--Pippert bluntly states “The communications media do not do a good job of informing the public.” Even more blunt is the comment "...throughout the media personnel there is a general lack of excellence." He sees secular journalists as particularly insensitive to spiritual and moral overtones to issues--witness the complete inability of the media to comprehend the phenomena of George McGovern and his moral concerns in the 1972 campaign. It is no wonder that Pippert calls for Christian young people to consider journalism as a field.
In looking at the three together, Political Evangelism is foundational for the other two. Politics and Memo for 1976 do not deal with the Christian community and the people of God as the basis from which political action must take place. The vision inherent in Mouw’s book is wider, for political action outside the formal political process must take place from the same base. All three books have helpful sections on common objections to political engagement--and objections are still frequently encountered among church people. Both Linder and Pierard, and Pippert have good sections for getting involved in politics. Pippert has suggestions that are perhaps better for students, such as internships. Both books emphasize the necessity for commitment and hard work for those engaging in political activity--but this is true of all areas of discipleship.
Mouw’s book is foundational for understanding the role of the gathered people of God in their ministry to the social and political world, and is highly recommended. For those who are considering working directly in ‘politics,’ the books by Pippert, and Linder and Pierard are full of valuable reflections and suggestions for getting started.
Boyd Reese was on the editorial staff of the Post American when this article appeared.
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