Aliens and Citizens
From Jordan Hylden’s article Aliens and Citizens
Hauerwas really did say it best: “The first responsibility of the church is to be the church.” It’s only when we learn to live first and truly as the body of Christ that our politics can be a witness to the city of man; it’s only when we set our eyes on the New Jerusalem that our life in Babylon can shine like a “city on a hill.”
The paradox of it can’t be let go—if for the sake of political witness or “relevance” we immerse ourselves in the politics of the world, we will wind up having nothing to say that the world has not already heard. But if our witness truly does flow out of the gospel politics of the church, we will begin to find that our words have surprising freshness and power—because finally, they will be telling the city of man about what it most needs to hear, which is the peace of the city of God.
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But while it’s absolutely correct that the church’s gospel politics needs to come first, we should remember that the church nevertheless is the “already” in what is mostly still a “not yet” world. Paul argued that although the new age opened up by Christ’s resurrection does indeed take priority over the old age, it’s not quite right to say that the old age is simply over and done with. Paul thought that secular governments are used by God to govern the world, and that they can be a force for good, even in their coercive roles. Theologians such as Augustine, Luther, and Bonhoeffer took up Paul’s line of thought, reasoning that because God providentially works through governments, jobs, and families, Christians can and should participate in them.
It’s no compromise to believe that Christians are called to act like Christians in the many places in the world that are not the church—in our jobs, schools, communities, and governments. Involvement in secular institutions is no substitute for the gospel, of course. But it would be a small gospel indeed that could have no effect on the way they are run. As William Wilberforce showed, such involvement can make a real difference in the world and can itself be a witness to the gospel. Wilberforce would argue that it’s by no means less than Christian to “seek the good” of the Babylons where we live by participating in secular politics, as did Daniel and the rest of the exiled Israelites.
The trick is never forgetting where we come from, where our true homeland lies, and which Sovereign we ultimately serve. The second-century Letter to Diognetus described the Christian life in the world this way: “They live in their own countries, but only as aliens; they have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. … They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven.”
It’s not a bad way to put it. “In this world we have no abiding city,” as Scripture tells us—but so long as we are here, our call is to work and pray that our Father’s will be done “on earth as it is in heaven.” That’s gospel politics.