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Christians are called by Christ to live out their faith in every sphere — including the political sphere. Be inspired to Christian political action by these 30 quotes.

“My kingdom is not of this world.”

People commonly quote these words of Jesus (from John 18:36) to argue that Christians should not get entangled in politics. But is that what Jesus had in mind?

Certainly, we are to put our hope in Christ’s eternal kingdom over and above the kingdoms of this world.

Yet Christ did not stay in heaven. He came into our world to transform it. And he has commissioned the church to be agents of change in our world today.

When Christ said His kingdom is not of this world, He meant that His kingdom does not originate in this world or derive its authority from this world. His is a heavenly kingdom. But the goal of Christ’s kingdom is nothing short of world transformation.

Christians throughout history have understood this truth and been used by God to promote human dignity, rewrite laws in accordance with Christian belief, lift people out of bondage, and civilise the nations.

The idea that Christians should disengage from politics is foreign to the Bible (and the people promoting it often misuse the Bible to push their own political agenda in any case).

Consider these 30 quotes to inspire you to Christian political action.

On Christian Engagement in Politics

“I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”

—William Booth (1829–1912), Founder of the Salvation Army

 

“We are not sent to minister to a congregation and be content if we keep things going. We are sent to make war and to stop short of nothing but the subjugation of the world to the sway of the Lord Jesus.”

—William Booth (1829–1912), Founder of the Salvation Army

 

“A private religion of personal salvation that did not challenge the public ideology was perfectly safe under Roman law, as it is safe under ours. On these terms the church of the first three centuries could have flourished under the rule of Caesar precisely as this kind of evangelicalism flourishes under the protection of our kind of society. But the authentic gospel cannot accept this kind of relegation. The sovereign rule of God requires that the state acknowledge its responsibility to reflect in all its ordering of society the justice of God—a justice that is primarily embodied in covenant relationships of mutual responsibility. To make disciples is to call and equip men and women to be signs and agents of God’s justice in all human affairs. An evangelism that invites men and women to accept the name of Christ but fails to call them to this real encounter must be rejected as false.”

—Lesslie Newbigin (1909–1998), British theologian and missionary

 

“The Church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the Church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”

—Martin Luther King Jr (1929–1968), Baptist pastor, civil rights activist

On Christian Nations

“I long for the day when the precepts of the Christian religion shall be the rule among all classes of men, in all transactions! I often hear it said, ‘Do not bring religion into politics.’ This is precisely where it ought to be brought and set there in the face of all men as on a candlestick! I would have the Cabinet and the Members of Parliament do the work of the nation as before the Lord and I would have the nation, either in making war or peace, consider the matter by the light of righteousness. We are to deal with other nations about this or that upon the principles of the New Testament. I thank God that I have lived to see the attempt made in one or two instances and I pray that the principle may become dominant and permanent! We have had enough of clever men without consciences—let us now see what honest, God-fearing men will do!”

—Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892), Baptist preacher

 

“Terms such as ‘a Christian nation,’ ‘a Christian country,’ ‘a Christian society,’ and the like, do not mean that such a nation consists mainly of regenerate Christian persons or that such a society has already been transposed into the kingdom of heaven. No, it means that in such a country special grace in the church and among believers exerted so strong a formative influence on common grace that common grace thereby attained its highest development. The adjective ‘Christian’ therefore says nothing about the spiritual state of the inhabitants of such a country but only witnesses to the fact that public opinion, the general mindset, the ruling ideas, the moral norms, the laws and customs there clearly betoken the influence of the Christian faith. Though this is attributable to special grace, it is manifested on the terrain of common grace, ie, in ordinary civil life.”

—Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920), Dutch theologian and politician

 

“The civil magistrate cannot function without some ethical guidance, without some standard of good and evil. If that standard is not to be the revealed Law of God, then what will it be? In some form or expression, it will have to be the law of man—the standard of self-law or autonomy. And when autonomous laws come to govern a commonwealth, the sword is certainly wielded in vain, for it represents simply the brute force of some men’s will against the will of other men.”

—Greg Bahnsen (1948–1995), American philosopher and apologist

On Silence From the Churches

“I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church.”

—Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892), Baptist preacher

 

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

—Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), German pastor and dissident

 

“Jesus commands us to love our enemies, not adopt their ideologies so that we have no enemies.”

—Chris Centola, American pastor

 

“Christians are far too quiet. Liberals march, write, produce, film, record, speak out, and invade. This nation is dying from a silent church.”

—Dale Partridge, American pastor and theologian

On the Myth of Political Neutrality

“Once you dispense of your fear of being perceived as politically partisan, you can rediscover the prophetic edge you once had.”

—J. Chase Davis, American pastor and theologian

 

“If you’re obsessed with political neutrality, you’re drifting Left. We’re all in a culture that’s a leftward-flowing river. Neutrality is movement.”

—Joel Berry, American commentator and editor

 

“The media judges how Christian a person is by how consistently they agree with atheist Democrats.”

—Allie Beth Stuckey, American author and commentator

 

“John the Baptist lost his head for having a biblical view of marriage.”

—Nate Pickowicz, American pastor and author

On Engaging in the Culture War

“Chastising other Christians for being engaged in the culture war is being engaged in the culture war. You’ve just chosen to lend your services to the enemy.”

—Josh Daws, American commentator

 

“If I profess, with loudest voice and the clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle-field besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches at that one point.”

—Elizabeth Rundle Charles (1828–1896), English writer

 

“You may not be interested in the culture war, but the culture war is definitely interested in you.”

—Rod Dreher, American writer and editor

On the Politicisation of Everything

“In an era where every realm of life has become political, pastors encouraging Christians to be unconcerned with politics is spiritual malpractice. It’s effectively encouraging Christians to compartmentalise their faith. Christ is Lord of everything.”

—Josh Daws, American commentator

 

“Once an element of the church absorbed the idea that the Christian faith had nothing of relevance to say about politics, the Left, seeing their opportunity, labeled everything ‘politics,’ until the church had nothing of relevance to say at all.”

—Larry Taunton, American author and columnist

On Christ in Every Sphere of Life

“‘Making disciples’ is not just the act of evangelism. It is teaching converts how to acknowledge Christ as Lord in every sphere of life. A church that ignores politics, especially in a country with some measure of self government, is neglecting to make disciples in that sphere.”

—Josh Daws, American commentator

 

“Is it not the great end of religion, and, in particular, the glory of Christianity, to extinguish the malignant passions; to curb the violence, to control the appetites, and to smooth the asperities of man; to make us compassionate and kind, and forgiving one to another; to make us good husbands, good fathers, good friends; and to render us active and useful in the discharge of the relative social and civil duties?”

—William Wilberforce (1759–1833), British politician and abolitionist

 

“I understand the desire of some Christians who want to play it safe when it comes to culture to the tune of, ‘I just want to be about Jesus!’ But here’s the reality: your faith in Christ has cultural implications about pretty much everything—marriage, biological sex, matters of religious liberty, stewardship of the natural world, protection of the most vulnerable, etc. Applying biblical truths to these cultural issues is what ‘salt’ (preservation) and ‘light’ (illumination) looks like in [2024]. The world is desperate for the kind of sanity and clarity that your Christ-centred worldview can offer. What’s more, Christians are the very people with the supernatural grit to resist the social and cultural pressure of our age, because we do not live for the praise of men. So, when you are confronted with a cultural falsehood, ask God to help you speak truth gently but firmly. Like your Saviour, you will encounter backlash, but you will also be one of the few forces of illumination and preservation in an increasingly dark and decaying culture.”

—Katy Faust, American author and activist

 

“We shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God’s grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible.”

—Charles H. Spurgeon (1834–1892), Baptist preacher

On the Rival Religion of Marxism

“Jesus called Christians to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. Communist subversion has led them to lose the “wise as serpents” part and keep the “gentle as doves.” The result is putting the church in the junior varsity league, just like Communists need.”

—James Lindsay, American academic and author

 

“There are even some Christians, and amazingly, clergymen, some in high standing, who are sure that while Jesus might have had the right answers about how to get to heaven, Marx had the right answers about how to help the destitute and oppressed on earth.”

—Richard Wurmbrand (1909–2001), Romanian pastor and dissident

 

“Socialism is precisely the religion that must overwhelm Christianity.”

—Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937), Italian Marxist philosopher

On God’s Sovereignty Over the Nations

“The whole system of my politics is summed up in this one verse, ‘The Lord reigns! Let the nations tremble!’ (Psalm 99:1).”

—John Newton (1725–1807), English cleric and abolitionist

 

“In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which Christ, Who alone is sovereign, does not declare, ‘That is Mine!’”

—Abraham Kuyper (1837–1920), Dutch theologian and politician

On Christians as the Light of the World

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

—Jesus Christ

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