Any time we take part in politics, Christians need to show our hearts are focused on a kingdom to come. Being Christian is not ubiquitous with being republican or being anti-democratic. I think for many of us, we allow our politics to have the same influence on us as Jesus does, if not more. That is blatant idolatry and distrust in God. Just because we have abused something, does not mean that we should completely abstain from it though. We can be part of the political system—whether that is political office, or a simple vote. Any action we take needs to ultimately reveal that our focuses are eternal in nature. It should show that we are sojourners looking to a kingdom to come. We should not expect or have a faith that our politics can fix every issue we face. We trust in Jesus for that. As Christians, we are not going to find a political system that fixes every issue in this life. As a pastor explained to me, no system is going to carry Christian values perfectly. One political party may support the right to life while the other party carries the Christian desire to care for the poor. Often, neither party will approach the issues Christians have with the answers that are right. We shouldn’t expect that any governmental system on this side of eternity will have it right. When we do vote or support a candidate for valuing a Christian issue, we should not remain silent as they ignore other Christian values; or worse, defend those candidates. When the outside world sees us treating the political system like it has all the answers we need, or see us blindly endorsing a candidate who does not have Christian responses to our issues, the outside world sees us being hypocritical. They do not see us looking to Jesus, but to ourselves for answers.

Politics are not necessarily commanded, you can be political or not. It is going to be preferential. Paul used the laws to his advantage, but he preached the Gospel, not Roman Republicanism. You're not a bad Christian for not being involved in politics, you're a bad Christian when you don’t carry the gospel.

“Attempting to reform society without Jesus is like rearranging furniture in a burning house.” - Jeff Durbin