“We need more Christians in politics.” As someone whose life has largely revolved around two pillars – politics and the Church, I have heard this phrase endlessly. For a long time I didn’t question its basic sense – Christianity is, after all, not about pious churchiness but building the kingdom of God. As Isaiah prophesied “He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.” Establishing justice and God’s law inevitably means dealing with the rulers of the world, and that means dealing in politics.
Yet, in recent years, Palm Sunday has made me ask whether we actually do need more Christians in politics. I’m not, for a second, suggesting that Christians should actively avoid politics – I have met politicians for whom that profession was clearly God’s calling to them. But I can no longer accept the simple equation that more Christians in politics equals a more Christian politics, or that building a more Christlike society will necessarily flow from having more Christians in positions of temporal power. Indeed, the often lamentable and bloody records of states run by Christians should tell us that. Scripture tells us the same thing, in those familiar Holy Week stories.
As we are called to pattern our lives on Christ’s, let us look at how Christ behaved when presented with a golden opportunity to take on political power on that first Palm Sunday.
