Civics & Rights

Some Christians have decided that politics is dirty and that faithful men should stay out of it. This is understandable but wrong. The public square is not optional. It is the arena in which the rules of your life are written — the rules of your business, your church, your school, your family.

If you do not engage, someone else will. And they will write the rules whether you we're paying attention or not.

This does not mean that every Christian man should run for office. It means that every Christian man should be informed, should vote, should be willing to speak when the moment calls for it, and should be willing to serve in whatever local capacity God puts in front of him.

Christians have wrestled for two thousand years with how to relate to earthly government. The clearest formulation comes from Jesus himself, when he was asked whether it was lawful to pay taxes to Caesar:

This is a both/and, not an either/or. There is a civil authority, given by God, that has a legitimate claim on certain things: taxes, public order, defense, the punishment of wrongdoing. And there is a divine authority with a higher claim, which the civil authority can never override.

This is why the apostles could say "we must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29) — not because they rejected civil authority, but because they recognized its limits.

Most of the decisions that affect your daily life are made within a five-mile radius of your house. Not in Washington. Not in your state capital. In your town hall, your school board, your county commission, your zoning board.

If you want to have an effect, this is where to start.

• City Council or Town Board. Local ordinances, budgets, police, roads, utilities. Meetings are usually public. Attend one.
• School Board. Curriculum, hiring, spending, policy on parental rights. In many places, these are the most consequential and least-watched elections in your community.
• County Commission. Roads, jails, courts, tax assessment, public health.
• Zoning and Planning. What can be built where. This determines the character of your neighborhood for decades.
• Sheriff and District Attorney. Law enforcement priorities. Elected in most jurisdictions.

Attend a meeting. Read the agenda. Speak during public comment when something matters. You do not have to be an expert to have an effect. You just have to show up.

The Bill of Rights is not a list of permissions the government grants you. It is a list of limits the Founders placed on the government. Every American man should know them:

• First Amendment. Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
• Second Amendment. The right to keep and bear arms.
• Fourth Amendment. Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
• Fifth Amendment. Protection against self-incrimination, double jeopardy, and deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process.
• Sixth Amendment. Right to a speedy and public trial, to counsel, to confront witnesses.

These rights come with corresponding responsibilities. Freedom of speech means defending the speech of those you disagree with. Freedom of religion means defending the rights of every religious community, not just yours. The Second Amendment implies that you will be a responsible steward of the arms you keep.

• Register to vote if you have not already. And then vote. In every election, not just the presidential ones.
• Learn your representatives. Local, state, and federal. Know their names. Know their records.
• Read the news locally. The national news cycle is designed to outrage you. Local news is where your actual life is affected.
• Serve in some civic capacity. Volunteer fire department, town committee, school board, church outreach. The man who serves is the man whose voice is heard.
• Be sober about politics. Politics is important. It is not ultimate. A man who confuses politics with the kingdom of God has lost his bearings.
• Pray for your leaders. Not because you agree with them. Because the Bible commands it (1 Tim. 2:1-2).