Donate

Presence Weekly: Different Methods for Life in the Public Square

1 Peter 2:13-17 (3 of 3) On navigating the power differentials of the public square differently.

Servants and leaders from the U.S. State Department, International Justice Mission, and World Vision following the announcement of a partnership to address child trafficking in Romania. (September 2024, Credit: IJM website)

[First Things]

Please let us know if you are interested in joining an in-person Washington discipleship cohort or reading group, have a pastoral concern, or are interested in our resources for churches.

[The Devo] Employing Different Methods for Navigating the Power Differentials of the Public Square

“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,  or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” 

As we approach the final aspect of navigating the power differentials within the public square, it’s helpful to remember that the resonance of these words comes from the increasing dissonance our culture has with the Christian worldview.

Damaging Methods

Recently, a politically progressive pastor in Chattanooga included the following statement in his sermon, 

“No one likes violence, but sometimes violence is necessary. Elon Musk forces his way into the United States treasury and threatens to steal your personal information and your Social Security check; there is the possibility of violence. Sometimes, the Devil will act so ugly that you have no other choice but to get violent and fight. Well, someone will say, ‘Reverend, you know you shouldn’t be talking about violence; this isn’t the Christian thing to do.’ Well, I say, why not talk this way because Jesus did.”

During this past summer, another pastor said to their politically conservative crowd, 

"You got to get to the point where you realize that when they smack you in the face, you smack them back two times harder," and "the Bible says the violent take it... and we take it by force."

Both these statements made the rounds on social media, gathering millions of views due to the “nut-picking preference” used by Meta, Google, and TikTok to increase their ad revenue. Their algorithms intentionally give preference to “out-of-context,” inflammatory, or just plain “nutty” posts due to their high engagement rates because these companies care about profit, not discipleship.

The struggle of the church with the use of violence to achieve political ends is not new. In the sixties, Christian leaders on both sides of the Civil Rights movement had to acknowledge and deal with the sad reality that “there were bad people on both sides,” advocating for and participating in violence.  Space does not allow for consideration of the many other examples throughout American and world history where Christians have embraced violence as a means of responding to the power differentials that exist within the public square. Yet, there is one more that is helpful, 

So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me, I have lost not one.” Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)  So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” John 18:2–11.

As we have proposed in earlier lessons, despite three years of instruction from Jesus on what it meant to follow him, Peter’s response to the seeming end of “Make Israel Great Again” was to utilize his sword as the way forward in the face of an uneven power differential. Jesus’s response to Peter is critical to understanding how attitudes and motivations direct our choice of methods. 

Discerning Methods 

Adopting an attitude that does not combine the call to “Be subject” with the motivation of doing so “for the Lord’s sake” is likely to result in Peter-like responses to situations that appear to be setbacks, which occur at the direction of human institutions. 

Another area that requires examination is our eschatology (or end game). Readers with some level of theological training anticipate a discussion of the nature of Christ’s second coming and views on the millennium. Subscribing to a premillennial, amillennial, or postmillennial return of Christ is less impactful on methods used in the public square than giving primacy to a particular political eschatology. When we make political visions for the future the central goal of our engagement with the public square, we effectively guarantee that our attitude, motivations, and methods will all be contrary to those that followers of Christ are commanded to embrace. 

Different Methods 

Peter’s methods are straightforward yet complex,

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”

By living “as people who are free,” servants and leaders in the public square reflect the belief that our participation in Christ’s mission of making all things new means that we trust in Christ, not ourselves, to ultimately accomplish his goals. This frees us from panic, confusion, and fear, which can fuel our methods. 

By living as servants of God in the public square, we again ask the Four Questions of Faithful Presence: 

  • What is good that requires encouragement?

  • What is broken that requires restoration?

  • What is missing that awaits creation?

  • What is evil that demands opposition?

With these questions as a guide, servants and leaders in the public square can engage in legislative advocacy, policy-making conversations, regulative implementation, and, yes, even political conversations with their neighbors. They can do so without the methodological hijacking that comes from placing political ideology over the Christian worldview.  They are freed to work at the direction of people at home who do not share a Christian worldview. 

Real-world examples include the work of unheralded Christian servants and leaders opposing discriminatory practices of landlords receiving Federal funding, improving unemployment insurance application and compliance, and protecting investment through issuing patents and copyrights. It also includes the work of churches to coordinate care for the homeless population, a business owner calling their representative to explain the potential unintended consequences of proposed legislation, or just not showing up at a political event that is likely to turn nasty. 

One excellent tool for evaluating our methods is not their success in the political kingdom but the fruit they bear for the Kingdom of God. In his “House Table” treatment of navigating power differentials with the government, Peter envisions not acquiescing to popular political-cultural narratives but offering foretastes of the coming kingdom. Paul gives us a lens through which our methods can be assessed,

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.  Galatians 5:16–26

Finally, as we “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor,” we are simply living out the Levitical instruction on worship given by God through Moses for the people of God just rescued from slavery, “Love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18).” In adopting this approach, we cannot help but notice that the two groups we are eager to honor, love, and fear (respect), are bracketed by the two that we might prefer not to without a policy platform litmus test.

To be sure, the different methods that Peter (and Paul) advocate are not guaranteed to result in positive cultural or public square feedback. To that end, we would do well to recall the crucified and resurrected Jesus’s direction to His disciples, who were scared to death to unlock the doors of the upper room and enter the public square. 

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews {or electorate], Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then, the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” John 20:19-20

Just as Jesus was recalibrating the attitudes, motivations, and methods of Simon the Zealot and Matthew the Corrupt Tax Collector in navigating the power differentials of the public square, so Peter is for the elect Exiles of Asia Minor and us.

Application Questions

In what public square setting are you most likely to adopt damaging methods rather than the different methods encouraged by Peter? What are the implications on others when that happens?

How are you using different methods to encourage the good, repair the broken, create the missing, and oppose evil?

How does the quotation from Leviticus 19:18 impact how you navigate the public square?

[Faithful Prayer] 

  • Cabinet Agency:  The servants and leaders at the Bureau of Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, as they advance American security by promoting respect for human rights, bolstering democratic institutions, empowering civil society, promoting and protecting freedom of expression, and upholding internationally recognized worker rights.

  • Think Tank, Lobby group, NGO: The servants and leaders at the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and their global efforts toward reducing irregular migration, shrinking space for violent extremists and organized criminals to recruit and operate, bridging divides that give rise to armed conflict, and cultivating better partners for American trade and investment.

  • Weekly delegation: The Congressional delegation from the state of Oregon.

  • Agency/Hill News: For the servants and leaders involved in the budget negotiations underway on the Continuing Resolution to extend government funding through September. Many agencies are waiting for the Senate to approve senior-level appointees.

  • Personal requests: A family is dealing with sick children. Someone is working long hours to complete a “mark-up” project due this week. Someone is facing many logistical challenges returning to the office. A couple returning home after a funeral. A couple is expecting their second child soon. Someone is putting together a “listening session” on a policy issue.

[The Page, The Pod & The Stack]

  • → Read this first →   David Fitch has an immensely insightful essay on his Substack, entitled I Prefer Not To,  on resisting the frequently changing yet intensely persuasive cultural demands for conformity, which often negatively impact our participation in Christ’s mission of making all things new. 

  • → Listen to this first → Being Human with Steve Cuss (Christianity Today) has a timely and challenging podcast, USAID’s Demise, Fighting Malaria, and Being the Church with Nathaniel Moller,  that explores the church’s role in matters of foreign and domestic aid. 

  • Desiring God has a brief and encouraging essay from the rural pastor of a small church, Stephen Witmer, Life Will Not Get Easier, intended to provide a proper metric for evaluating our efforts and keeping our expectations in line with the Biblical view of our humanity. 

  • Mere Orthodoxy has a front-lines perspective from Matthew Loftus, who serves as a medical missionary in East Africa, How to Think About Using Government Funds for Christian Charity.

  • Pew Research Center has made details from their Religious Landscape Survey available, complete with chapter headings for essential issues like Americans’ views on the Importance of Religion and the Bible.

[What’s Happening?]

[Two Thumbs Up] Junction Bistro & Bar 238 Massachusetts Ave NE,

Excellent coffee bar - check! Fresh bakery items worth ordering - check! Diverse and chic menu  - check! Happy Hour - check! Convenient venue for Hill staff to meet with policy pros - check!

The Junction Bistro & Bar sits next door to the Heritage Foundation yet offers high-quality food and top-notch service to folks across the political spectrum.  Before lunch, it’s a great place to stop for a pastry and a “Chaka-cano” (Americano with one pump of dark chocolate). The lunch menu features something for every palette, but this time of year, we recommend the tomato soup and chicken salad sandwich. And Happy Hour is usually busy with great drink specials and an extensive bourbon selection. 

[Last Things]

We have three podcasts in post-production discussing: Pope John Paul II, the pro-life advocacy landscape, and the the role of work and faith integration in workplace evangelism. Soon and very soon.

If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it with a friend. If you want to join a Bible study, discipleship cohort, or reading group, please get in touch!

Thanks for reading Faithful Presence! This post is public, so feel free to share it.

Share

Faithful Presence exists to provide whole-life discipleship in the whole of life for the whole of the public square. Join us as we seek renewal in politics and the public square by becoming a Supporting Partner.

Find Us On: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Apple & Spotify