Hi Chris, you ask a super important question to which there is no short answer. The best recent treatment of the topic is Michael Wear's "The Spirit of Our Politics". If you don't have the inclination to read a whole book you can find summaries and reviews online which will give you his main points. From me, in brief: we do not abandon culture/politics--we engage from a distinctly Christlike/kingdom point of view.
Can you think of a good balance for political involvement? If we are pacifists, then it seems we allow evil to pervade society quickly. However, once we engage in politics at all, we can enter an ugly realm. Saul Alinsky advised any Christian to abstain even from regional level administration if they wanted to remain pious. It seems both activism and neutrality have potential for harm.
Hi Chris, you ask a super important question to which there is no short answer. The best recent treatment of the topic is Michael Wear's "The Spirit of Our Politics". If you don't have the inclination to read a whole book you can find summaries and reviews online which will give you his main points. From me, in brief: we do not abandon culture/politics--we engage from a distinctly Christlike/kingdom point of view.
Can you think of a good balance for political involvement? If we are pacifists, then it seems we allow evil to pervade society quickly. However, once we engage in politics at all, we can enter an ugly realm. Saul Alinsky advised any Christian to abstain even from regional level administration if they wanted to remain pious. It seems both activism and neutrality have potential for harm.