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Faith and Politics | Lutheran Life Summer 2020

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Lutheran Life 3 "There are three things I've learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin," declares the character Linus van Pelt in the famous 1966 Peanuts movie It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. While it's rather easy to avoid discussing the Great Pumpkin, a make-believe Halloween character creat- ed for a cartoon world, getting around the topics of religion and politics isn't quite as simple. While this well-intentioned advice is meant to skirt around heated conversations at social gatherings, I'm not convinced it is the counsel we should heed. Certainly, we need to consider how we discuss such topics, and more important, how we respectfully listen to others during such conversations. But to avoid them altogether is to ignore the proverbial elephant in the room. Jesus makes it clear that Christians are not off the hook from giving civic leaders the respect that is due to them. When cornered by religious leaders questioning who they should give allegiance to, Jesus wisely coun- sels, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21; Luke 20:25; Mark 12:17). Martin Luther explains that Christians live in two king- doms: the kingdom of the right and the left. While God presides as King over all of creation, He has established order and purpose for all life through these kingdoms. The right-hand kingdom, the kingdom of grace, is made known through the Church. Forgiveness is her currency, as we receive mercy from God and exchange it with one another. From these gifts of faith and forgiveness flow a life of love lived out among those around us in the left- hand kingdom. This kingdom, also called the kingdom of power, is ordered and run by the civil government. Governmental structure, laws, and the enforcement of those laws provide the foundation for this kingdom as God works through it to provide security and peace throughout the land. The purpose of the government is to create and main- tain a society where people are safe to carry out their various vocations of love and service to their neighbor. In the vocation issue of Lutheran Life, we discussed the various opportunities we have to care for others as we consider our vocations, or callings, through which we serve others. Luther explains, "A Christian lives not in himself, but in Christ and in his neighbor. Otherwise he is not a Christian. He lives in Christ through faith and in his neighbor through love" (Luther's Works, volume 31, p. 371). The government helps provide the system- atized structure through which we interact with and care for our neighbor in this land. While it's critically important to keep the roles of the left- and right-hand kingdoms well defined, we must be careful not to put them in two separate boxes that don't touch. Life is much more interconnected than an either-or stance. But before we think the right-hand kingdom is where we do the "spiritual stuff" and the left-hand kingdom is where we do the "earthly stuff," we must remember the interplay between faith and works. We receive faith in Jesus and nurture it through our lives in the right-hand kingdom as members of the Body of Christ. However, it is in the left-hand kingdom where good works take place as our faith bears the fruit of love. The two kingdoms go hand in hand. Recognizing the distinct yet connected relationship we have between both kingdoms can help direct us as we navigate topics of religion and politics. Among other things, "The doctrine of the two kingdoms allows for Christians to embrace their lives in the world in all of its secularity because God reigns here too," say authors Veith and Sutton in Authentic Christianity (p. 181). God's sovereignty over both church and state, as well as our purposed existence within each kingdom, gives us all the more reason to discuss faith and government rather than hide under the table. The elephant in the room isn't going anywhere, and neither is God's truth. So pull up a chair and breathe in deeply. It's time to put aside the rules of etiquette and dive into the reality of life where faith and government intersect. w Learn about what it means to be Lutheran, both as a new believer or long time Lutheran, with easy to understand explanations and graphics that tackle big theological concepts. Find this title and others from this magazine at cph.org/llresources. LUTHERANISM 101

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