Taking the liberty of cross-posting the below from my own blog. At the suggestion of our pastor, some brothers from church and I went through a book study of Ellul’s The False Presence of the Kingdom several months back, and the below were some of the most striking and helpful statements in the book. Maybe others will find it helpful. Ellul was committed to both political involvement and activism, which makes his words all the more remarkable.
In his 1962 book The False Presence of the Kingdom, The late Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) starts by stipulating that while the Great Commission requires that Christians bring the gospel to every human institution, involvement does not equal gospel witness, and that it’s easy to fool ourselves into thinking we’re doing evangelistic work when we are actually being conformed to the world and muting our gospel witness for the sake of maintaining a seat at the table.
Ellul warns most about thinking political action (lobbying, activism) is somehow required for Christians. Ellul makes these observations about the biblical teaching (or near silence) on how to be involved politically:
But in the [biblical] passages relating to the attitude of Christians we find only exhortations to obedience, to respect for the authorities, to prayer for the powers, to recognition of the honor due the king, and especially the exhortation to do good, since the ruler is there to protect the good. That is all there is…
In all scripture, political action is either absent, or is made to appear secondary. If we leave to one side the politics of the State of Israel, which is important only because the Chosen People are both State and Church, we see supreme indifference on the part of Jesus, and the greatest discretion in the epistles. One hesitates to bring up the obvious fact, which nevertheless is generally forgotten, that Jesus paid no attention to problems of politics. He definitely refuses to take the lead in the Jewish nationalist movement. He recognizes the authority of the invader. He advises the normal payment of taxes (which was then a burning issue with the Jews). He displays an indifference toward the question of taxes, showing its unimportance by the story of the fish (Matthew 17:24ff.). He welcomes “collaborators” and traitors, and at no time does he take a stand against the numerous political scandals which were rampant in Judea. Jesus says nothing against Roman torture, or against crucifixion…or against extortion. The only political statement to be reckoned with is in the exchange with Pilate, and we should note two things about that: the declaration that, when all is said and done, the power exists only because God gives it; and Jesus’ indifference with regard to the power itself, which he does not contest (“My kingship is not of this world”). When we recall the extreme political agitation in all Jewish circles at that time, the popular excitement, the political parties which divided public opinion, the rebellions, the nationalist feeling, the evocation of the glorious history of the Jews in the demand for independence, etc., we are forced to acknowledge that, for Jesus, none of these things made any sense nor had any value, nor was the Roman authority any better or more legitimate in his eyes. It was simply there, and because it was there, one had to grant it a certain validity and see behind it a decision of God. “There is no authority except from God” (Romans 13:1). But that does not imply that one is to attribute a supereminent value to that authority. It can change tomorrow, and perhaps be just as good. But it was not the business of Jesus, or of the Christians, to change the authority…
Do we see in the epistles of Paul or of Peter the slightest allusion to these various assemblies, elections, and deliberations?…all we can say is that, here again, there is a great indifference with regard to politics, and there is no encouragement to take part in them…
“Whereas everyone votes, proposes laws, looks for ways to overthrow governors, attempts revolts, draws up petitions, watches over finances, etc., you Christians have something different to do. You are to be scrupulously loyal, you are to accept the decisions of the power (even unjust ones), you are to pray, you are to reject only the demonizing of the authorities, etc. That is indeed a basic task which no one is bothering to perform, and which will not be shown forth by attendance at assemblies, nor by votes and petitions.”
–Ellul, Jacques. False Presence of the Kingdom. Translated by C. Edward Hopkin. The Seabury Press, 1972. pp. 110, 113-114,116,117