Should We Expect Politicians to Act Like Christians?

Plus, many politicians profess to be Christians, so we are not holding “pagans” to a Christian standard of conduct. When we “call out” politicians for immoral behavior, we are calling upon them to acknowledge their obligation to live what they profess to believe.

1. Christian does not mean evangelical. It would be very difficult to make the case that America has had very many evangelical (let alone fundamentalist) politician if one relies on any meaningful definition of the term. The main reason is that the expectation that a politician would have to be particularly religious in any sense in order to be an effective leader by governing with a particular set of morals and values is a new innovation and a reaction to the counterculture movements of the 60s and 70s. So the idea that a politician ought to be so much as a regular churchgoer, let alone someone with a conversion experience and a personal commitment to a particular doctrinal system, would have been as foreign as demanding that the president be left-handed in times past. And even a lot of the pious, devout politicians before (and after) the rise of the religious right were far more likely to be adherents to Roman Catholicism, Judaism or non-evangelical Christianity than they were to evangelical or fundamental Christianity.

2. Evangelical does not mean regenerate. Honestly, the only people that we can expect to act as Christians consistently are born again Christians. This is especially so in the case of politics, which is a field that rewards power-hungry dealmakers and people pleasers. Expecting people to make real sacrifices based on or motivated by a faith that they do not have is unrealistic. What would they gain from such sacrifices, in this world or the next?

What do we expect from sinners? Sin. But it is not only reasonable, but helpful to remind those who profess to be Christians that they are violating the basic moral standards of the Christian religion. You don’t have to be evangelical or fundamental to understand that lying, stealing, and adultery are wrong. The Ten Commandments form the basic moral code of Christianity and Judaism.

Since only God can know the condition of the heart, we respond to outward profession. It is entirely appropriate to “call out” those who claim to be Christians when they openly violate Christian morality. If they do not want to be held to a Christian standard, let them renounce their Christian profession. That would be a good first step toward public honesty.