God’s Own Political Ethics For Our Time: by way of the prophets

I’m always surprised with objections to Country Parson’s political columns on the grounds that religion has no business butting into politics – that God is concerned with spiritual things, not the profane stuff of government. It suggests to me that they have spent little time with the prophets. Others are content to pluck obscure pieces of Levitical law as proof texts for single issue demands on government, while simultaneously declaring that the New Testament voids Hebrew scriptures. Jesus fulfilled the law and prophets, building on them, not erasing them. He made them more complete, not less complete. It was politics that led to his crucifixion, so I don’t see how following Jesus can avoid wading into the political arena.

With one exception, holy scripture does not record a preference for one form of government over another. The exception is God’s warning that a king for Israel was not a good idea, but they were determined and ‘he’ relented. Forms of government aside, the more important question is whether God has said anything about social and economic ethical standards to which nations should adhere? Through the voices and pens of the prophets, the answer is yes. Through them God expressed divine anger at quite a list of social, political and economic behaviors. If they’re what makes God angry, the reciprocal should establish a base for what is acceptable. Here is my take on what that might look like for governments and citizenry.

Even for enemies, do not use the food of the people as a weapon

Do not engage in ethnic cleansing

Demonstrate integrity in international dealings

Do not incite civil disorder

Provide for security of persons and possessions

Show respect for legitimate civil authority

Assure economic policies and practices are fair to all

Assure fair and honest dealings in all areas of trade and commerce

Prohibit confiscatory interest rates

Assure equal/equitable justice for all

Have awed respect for God’s holy places

Have holy respect for all acts of intimacy

Encourage sobriety

Do not prohibit God’s servants from speaking as God directs

Show respect for laborers and their work

Respect the dignity of all persons

Be honest and intentional in the worship of God in heart, soul and mind

Eliminate conditions and behavior that oppress others

Assure honest courts and judges

Make taxation fair to all

Adopt policies providing economic well being for all

Demonstrate generosity and compassion

Others might go through the prophets to compile their own lists with slightly different results, but the theme will likely be the same. What corrupts these standards is our skill at interpreting them in ways easily sold to the public as endorsements but produce results that twist and tilt them in systemically prejudicial ways. Israel and its neighbors were guilty of it three thousand years ago, and so are we and our neighbors. I frequently have to remind myself that they are neither liberal nor conservative; they are God’s good counsel for the standards societies are to meet if abundant life is to be shared equitably by all. Failure to take them seriously cannot end well.