Politics III - Power and Democracy ...

Wednesday, Jan 27, 2010. Politics is about power. Who is determining the path of society? Who is making the decisions. Which group in society can push the whole community into a particular direction? Who has to pay more, who gets more? The balance of power has always been one of the primary questions of politics.

Is Christian faith a faith which leads to democracy? Is it a revolutionary faith? Or does it not touch the political system, is it purely a private matter what you believe? The question has many consequences! What about Christianity in countries like China or Russia, which has dictatorial features and suppresses opposition? What is the idea of the bible itself about the political system?

The question of power has been discussed among the disciples themselves and with Jesus. The disciples were aware of the question of power. They were concerned about their own position in Jesus' kingdom. So Jesus discussed the issue with them:

42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43

Not so with you.

Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10: 42-45)

We know that Paul later made a distinction between the political system of “the world” and the relationships between Christians. Also, Jesus at other occasions accepted the political system and told his disciples to pay taxes, even though this system was not at all a just system or a democracy, but a dictatorship. Paul even told the slaves to stay in service as slaves, if they could not become free by just means.

On the other hand we find these clear commands to serve, to treat the others as the superior persons, to change the relationships towards the others. Jesus wants a different type of community for Christians. In his kingdom we are all brothers and sisters. The well-known hierarchies are different in his kingdom. The person who wants to be better, has to serve better. The person who wants to be higher has to be lower.

Jesus' teaching is not democracy. Clearly democracy has some features which fit well to the Christian teaching. But his commands go far beyond our democratic traditions, where power is managed by parties and elections, by the public contests and debates. I love democracy, since it gives everyone some kind of a chance and provides a balance of power. But we need to see that Jesus' ideas about our community are much deeper and wider than what we live today. ... more texts