Jesus and Political Participation

There is a scene in Matthew 17 where collectors of the temple tax approach Peter and asked him if Jesus pays his taxes? Peter responds with “yes he does.” When Peter gets back to Jesus, Jesus first questions him about who the rulers of the earth require to pay taxes. Peter’s answer indicates that the Jews should be exempt from the taxes. Jesus then responds to Peter that he is right but adds, “so that we do not give an offense, go to the sea and cast a hook; take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a coin; take that and give it to them for you and me.”

There is another scene recorded in both Matthew and Mark where Jesus thwarts the Pharisees attempt to embroil him in a conflict with Rome and Caesar by saying to them, “render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s.”

I lift these two examples up to illustrate how Jesus actually addresses politics and the political reality in a practical but subversive and revolutionary way.

Biblical education in America has mostly been predicated on “separation of church and state” which is actually phrased differently in the first amendment. The phrase “separation of church and state,” comes from Thomas Jefferson‘s framing of the thought.

Biblical education has taught that worship and church endeavors should not be politically partisan or address political situations from the pulpit.

These are theological errors. They are false interpretations given by those who are in power in order to maintain their power and wealth.

Jesus addressed politics and political situations more than he talked about heaven. Yet Jesus addressed the political landscape in a way that did not validate violent responses to political oppression but did undermine the stronghold of oppressors in subversive ways.

When Jesus told Peter to get the coin out of a random fish‘s mouth to pay the taxes for he and Peter Jesus demonstrated that oppressed people should pay their taxes even under oppressive circumstances but that God is the provider of the resources.

In his response to the Pharisees Jesus words were subtly subversive indicating that Caesar may control the flow of money right now but God controls the person which then numbers Caesar’s reign on the earth.

Therefore, in this election season it is imperative that people of faith know that voting and more importantly a participatory democracy is a theological and biblical responsibility.

In the case of voting in this election there is too much at state for people to either sit out or throw their vote away voting for a third-party candidate.

Third-party candidates only make sense when that third party has garnered local support first, then regional support and then leading to national elections. It is arrogant and ignorant for anyone to run for the highest office without first starting local.

For Black people it is also imperative that the story gets told often and consistently about how much Black people sacrificed to vote and the strategies Black people employed in order to gain the vote.

The late theologian James Melvin Washington once stated that Black people are the only people to not teach the values of their revolution. The French taught to their progeny the values of their revolution; The Russians taught to their descendants the values of their revolution and even Americans taught the values, albeit false values but they made sure their dependents knew the values of their revolution.

Far too many Black people want to forget what happened on the Edmund Pettis bridge and far too many don’t know the organizations or the strategies that went into organizing that march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery. I recently saw in a social media post that said, “A Vote is not a valentine; you are not confessing your love for a candidate. It‘s a chess move for the world you want to live in.”

Those who marched across the Edmund Pettis Bridge for the right to vote and have that vote protected did not have the best and most appealing choices to vote for but their protest, their marching and their strategy was a chess move not a personal relationship. It was a strategy to get the issues of people of justice and righteousness closer to the goal.

Voting for the candidate that we can best influence, voting for the personality that is most persuadable to the values of healthcare for all, a living wage, justice in policing, and the candidate who will not first seek to reward wealthy billionaires but will target economic incentives for the poor and working class is the objective.

Voting for the candidate that will listen and be impacted by the pleas for a safe ecosystem and who will hold corporations accountable for polluting the environment is the objective.

All votes are essential. All votes matter. All votes are necessary.

Finally, it is important to understand that a certain group always seeks to limit how many people can cast a vote because they can only win when large numbers of people don’t vote.

It is a sure sign that your vote matters more than you realize. It is a biblical, theological and political responsibility of living in a participatory democracy. Vote and agitate others to vote!

Uhuru Sassa!

Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.