I love Dr. Greg Boyd. He is a brilliant teacher, a lover of God, a scholar, a successful author and the pastor of Woodland Hills Church in St. Paul, MN. For many years I have also loved his teachings on a wide variety of topics, and it is always encouraging to me to read or hear from his vast store of knowledge and godly wisdom. I agree with him on some topics that are a perfect fit for Dangerous Heretics.
However, there are a few primary disagreements I have with Dr. Boyd regarding his stance on how involved Christians ought to be in American politics, a topic that I think is particularly relevant to all Christians, and even more so now, as we are only weeks away from the 2020 elections. My goal is not to bash or criticize Greg Boyd, but more to use his viewpoints as an example of what I have come to see as a common Christian paradigm.
I have known of Greg’s stance on this topic for years, but never before deemed our differences worthy of discussion. “In essentials, unity…in doubtful matters, liberty…in all things, charity.” But in today’s acidic and divisive political climate, in which even followers of Jesus can be bitterly divided on many political topics, it seems relevant to me to not only discuss politics, but for our spiritual leaders to provide guidance on these rough waters.
Dr. Boyd refuses to do so. His church does not discuss politics, he does not discuss political candidates, his church does not celebrate the Fourth of July. He truly is a separatist when it comes to the relationship between church and politics.
This is where Dr. Boyd and I part ways. I believe that being a citizen of America provides huge and copious opportunities to live out our kingdom life. This is true of any citizen in any nation in the world. Politics is a big part of our lives, and the Bible is clear that we ought to take the light of the gospel into every corner and aspect of our lives. “Go into ALL the world and preach the gospel…”
Therefore, with the political climate in this country heated up as never before, I believe the time has come to discuss some of these differences. Who am I to take on the brilliant Dr. Boyd? I’m just a guy with different ideas. Well, I’m not about to accuse him of any wrong doing. He loves Jesus, and I know that. I will, however, say that I disagree with his approach. Above all, I will continue to listen to his teaching, and grow closer to Jesus as a result, because he is a brilliant teacher who loves Jesus and wants, to the best of his ability, to serve the God of creation and bring Him the glory and credit He deserves.
So, first of all, I trust that I am correctly presenting Dr. Boyd’s ideology by providing quotes below from his book The Myth of a Christian Nation to represent his views. Second, I am providing my comments on why I disagree, sometimes strongly, with his approach to politics, and the purpose and history of America.
- I understand that Boyd believes that because Jesus never talked about politics, then neither should we. From his book:
“Consider these questions: Did Jesus ever suggest by word or by example that we should aspire to acquire, let alone take over, the power of Caesar? Did Jesus spend any time and energy trying to improve, let alone dominate, the reigning government of his day? Did he ever work to pass laws against the sinners he hung out with and ministered to? Did he worry at all about ensuring that his rights and the religious rights of his followers were protected? Does any author in the New Testament remotely hint that engaging in this sort of activity has anything to do with the kingdom of God? The answer to all these questions is, of course, no. And since Jesus is our example and the New Testament our constitution, does this not tell us that however we, as American citizens, might personally decide to weigh in on these issues politically, we should not attach the label Christian to this activity? You may or may not think it good for the country to outlaw gay marriage or keep the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, for example; but isn’t the lack of precedent in Jesus’ ministry or the rest of the New Testament enough to demonstrate that your views on these matters, as right (or wrong) as they may be, are not part of your distinctive kingdom-of-God calling?”
(Boyd, Gregory A.. The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church (pp. 92-93). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)
Here, Boyd is basically arguing that because Jesus never addressed politics, neither should we. In fact he believes that to do so is to put the kingdom of this world ahead of God’s kingdom in our lives.
So this is my first disagreement: to argue that we should not be involved in politics because Jesus wasn’t contains a logical fallacy, namely, the Appeal To Ignorance: The Bible did not record everything Jesus did and said, therefore we cannot definitively say that he wants us to avoid politics. John makes it clear in John 21:25 all the things Jesus did and said could not be contained in all the books in the world. No one can honestly say whether he had any words about the way the government was being run, therefore, we simply don’t know his stance on government or what should be our involvement in politics.
Jesus also never specifically discussed abortion or homosexuality. How should that fact inform our stance on those two issues? According to my understanding of Boyd, I would assume that because Jesus never mentioned it, Boyd believes neither should we. Indeed, many make the argument that because Jesus never specifically said anything about homosexuality, therefore he sees nothing wrong with it. But when we want to identify godly, biblical principles, we ought to take the whole weight of scripture and apply it to the issue. We don’t consider only the words of Jesus, or only the words of Paul, or only the Old Testament, or only the New Testament.
What we do know is that (a) our country, our states, our cities, and our school districts need leaders and workers, which include many Christians, and (b) the Bible tells that whatever we do, we are to do it as unto the Lord, to the best of our ability. It is not feasible to live in this country and be 100% isolated from politics. My conclusion is the exact opposite of Boyd’s: because we live in this world, and we are called to be lights in this world, we are to be active in the places where the light is needed. The political arena is one of these places.
One more comment on this topic: Jesus lived in a culture where voting was not an option. He was living in Roman-occupied Israel, and the Romans ruled with an iron fist. While the Jews were looking for a Messiah that would free them from political bondage, Jesus came to introduce the world to an invisible kingdom where God’s will reigned supreme. The citizens of Israel could do little to change the course of their political situation, so any talk of changing the political culture would have been a moot point. This, I believe, is why Jesus did not address this topic in any depth. It was a non-issue for Him and for the Jews of the day.
- Boyd seems to teach that “If it doesn’t look like Jesus, it’s not for us.”
Boyd writes “Once again, this is the kingdom of God: It looks and acts like Jesus Christ. It looks and acts like Calvary. It looks and acts like God’s eternal, triune love. It consists of people graciously embracing others and sacrificing themselves in service to others.” (Boyd, Gregory A., The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church (p. 46). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)
Although I agree 100% with it, Boyd uses this argument a lot in his political agenda. In general terms, it says that everything we do must look like Jesus in order to be from Jesus. America’s sins in the past do not look like Jesus, therefore, America was never a Christian nation. He also extrapolates from this that Christians should not be so deeply involved in politics because it’s a different kingdom than the kingdom of Jesus, and acting inside of this worldly kingdom is not being like Jesus. In everything we do, say, and think, we need to be like Jesus.
What I find inconsistent with Boyd’s line of reasoning is that, while we are indeed called to be like Jesus in character, in love, and in the gifts and fruits of the Spirit, our mission on the earth is not the same as that of Jesus. Therefore we cannot always do everything Jesus did or be like Him in every way.
We are told to do some specific things He commanded, and to emulate and to emulate tain of his behaviors, for example, love others, cast out demons, heal people, and preach the gospel. But our mission is not the same as the mission of Jesus when he walked the earth in the flesh. This is important to realize: Jesus strove to walk the fine line of loving and healing the people, and yet He needed them to kill him so He could save all of mankind. That is not our commandment. The mission of Jesus was unique in the universe, and we are not called to the same goal He was. We are instead called to mimic His character and His relationship with the Father. We are not called to become the Savior of the world. Lights, yes, but not Saviors. That means our activities will not always look just like those of Jesus.
Boyd also writes:
“A person may win by kingdom-of-the-world standards but lose by the standards that eternally count—the standards of the kingdom of God. We can possess all the right kingdom-of-the-world opinions on the planet and stand for all the right kingdom-of-the-world causes, but if we don’t look like Jesus Christ carrying his cross to Golgotha—sacrificing our time, energy, and resources for others—our rightness is merely religious noise.”
(Boyd, Gregory A.. The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church (p. 50). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)
Has America not done such things in her past, things that looked like Jesus? I would say yes, many times. Jesus taught that some of the most important things in God’s sight were to give food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, help to those in need. America has done that A LOT!
Regarding politics, we probably ought to fashion our lives more after Paul, who said “Do as I do, because I am doing what Christ did” (1 Cor. 11:1). Paul did not shy away from talking about the government. He taught us the purpose of government (Romans 13) and even went so far as to say “leaders are servants of God” (v. 6).
- My third disagreement is that in all of the teachings I’ve heard from Dr. Boyd on this topic, he has, in some shape or form, set up a choice that we must make between serving the kingdom of God and serving some “kingdom” (government) that is of this world. He seems to treat these two choices as if they are mutually exclusive. I believe they are not.
I believe that a pastor can easily, without compromising any heavenly kingdom principles, say from the pulpit, “The Democratic National Platform pushes the abortion agenda to its furthermost possible limits. This is an evil that ought to and can be stopped, and voting is one way to fight it.” This is a fact about life in the United States.
Invoking politics as a viable tool in our arsenal is not anti-kingdom-of-Jesus talk, it’s exactly the opposite. Abortion is warfare that our spiritual enemy wants to foist upon the lives of innocent babies. Of course we must talk about such things! The Apostle Paul’s teachings were chock full of exhortations to change evil behavior into godly behavior. Every epistle he wrote had numerous encouragements to lay down this or that evil practice and take up this or that godly practice instead. Why suddenly do we think we can no longer talk about societal ills and how to solve them in church? We must!
Boyd said in an interview that he participated in a Black Lives Matter march. Please believe me when I say I am not in any way condemning or judging him for this, but that activity was, in and of itself, a strong political statement. When the pastor of a church, who urges us to always do everything the way Jesus himself would do it, and for that reason refuses to talk about politics from the pulpit, but then marches in a highly political protest which includes Black Lives Matter (an openly and self-proclaimed Marxist group whose leaders are anti-Christian, who burn Bibles, who are anti-Jew and who are against the concept of the nuclear family), then he has displayed behavior that is in direct conflict with his desire to keep his kingdom life strictly separated from his political life.
- Boyd writes:
“If we are to take America back for God, it must have once belonged to God, but it’s not at all clear when this golden Christian age was. Were these God-glorifying years before, during, or after Europeans “discovered” America and carried out the doctrine of “manifest destiny”—the belief that God (or, for some, nature) had destined white Christians to conquer the native inhabitants and steal their land? Were the God-glorifying years the ones in which whites massacred these natives by the millions, broke just about every covenant they ever made with them, and then forced survivors onto isolated reservations? Was the golden age before, during, or after white Christians loaded five to six million Africans on cargo ships to bring them to their newfound country, enslaving the three million or so who actually survived the brutal trip? Was it during the two centuries when Americans acquired remarkable wealth by the sweat and blood of their slaves? Was this the time when we were truly “one nation under God,” the blessed time that so many evangelicals seem to want to take our nation back to? Maybe someone would suggest that the golden age occurred after the Civil War, when blacks were finally freed. That doesn’t quite work either, however, for the virtual apartheid that followed under Jim Crow laws—along with the ongoing violence, injustices, and dishonesty toward Native Americans and other nonwhites up into the early twentieth century—was hardly “God-glorifying.” (In this light, it should come as no surprise to find that few Christian Native Americans, African-Americans, or other nonwhites join in the chorus that we need to “Take America Back for God.”)
(Boyd, Gregory A.. The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church (pp. 98-99). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.)
In short, Boyd rejects the idea that America ever was a Christian nation because of the past sins committed by Americans. The implication is that America has never done anything righteous or correct in the sight of God. Of course there have been some horrendous things done by the American government and American individuals. But where does this argument lead?
Let’s apply that same criteria to other entities, like people. Like Greg Boyd. If we could see inside his mind and heart, and publicly see all the sins he has ever committed, especially since he became a Christian, then we might make the same argument he is making. Greg Boyd has committed this following list of sins, therefore when was he ever a “Christian” person? Of course, we would not and should not agree with such a line of reasoning, because that’s not the gospel of Jesus.
When was America ever a Christian nation? Could it be that we are not to judge America by a list of mistakes and atrocities, but by the good she has accomplished in the world, the missionaries sent out, all the philanthropic endeavors, all the billions and billions of dollars provided to those in need around the entire globe, all the Christian publishing, church plants, short term missions, and other good the church itself has done worldwide?
It could be argued that these good deeds were primarily done by the church, not the nation, but the laws and lifestyle provided by the Constitution have made it possible to do these good deeds around the globe. No matter how you slice it, America has, along with the mistakes, been a force for good in the world, by the very definition that Jesus uses to define good works: feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, meeting the needs of those less fortunate than ourselves.
One other point that needs to be mentioned is that many of America’s atrocious policies Boyd mentions were/are often decided and enforced by a small minority of elites who do not have the will of the populace in mind. Boyd admits that the majority of Americans do not agree with current abortion laws. I believe that this is true, so it begs the question, do we judge whether America is a Christian nation by certain unjust actions of an elite minority making laws that stand against the majority of American citizens, or do we judge America by the collective will and conscience of the majority of her citizens?
I don’t have a good answer for this, and I don’t know all the statistics on, for example, how many in America were for or against Jim Crow laws, but the fact remains that very often (as in the case of abortion), the majority of Americans are for righteousness while a minority are not. What exactly does this say about the heart and soul of a nation?
Boyd talks of the time when many in his congregation were asking him to give them guidance on an upcoming election (I believe it was George Bush in 2004). He preached a sermon (with his board’s approval) wherein he informed them that there would be no such teaching in this church. He would not (and they should not) discuss such things in church because this is God’s kingdom and all of that other stuff is the kingdom of the world.
One thousand people (about 25% of the congregation) left his church as a result. These, obviously, were the people who wanted the pastor to give some guidance in the political realm of society.
This is not a criticism. It’s his church. He’s the leader, and I’m sure he acted in faith believing that this sermon was God’s will for him that Sunday. However, I believe that if he had simply talked briefly about what each political party believed and how it may apply to our understanding of living Christ-like lives being in this world (but not of it), he would not have lost anyone. It’s very unlikely that there were 1000 people in his congregation who would have been so put out about political talk that they would quit the church.
This story is not going to prove or disprove anything about the rightness of his actions, it’s only to point out that 1000 people might still be sitting under Greg Boyd’s excellent biblical teaching and encouragement right now, had he simply stated the party platforms, as written, and preached the Bible, as written, not neglecting one or the other but giving the whole truth. He is a gifted teacher who loves Jesus and wants us to love him, too.
This article may not change anyone’s mind, because we are certainly creatures of habit. It’s very difficult to change certain ways of thinking, and I am subject to these same limitations. However, I want to encourage anyone reading this that politics, like the other spheres of influence in our culture (education, family, religion, arts and entertainment, media, and business) are the places where we live our lives as Christians. As representatives of Jesus, we ought to be acutely aware that every one of these areas of society needs the light of Jesus. I believe that it is careless and dangerous to single out any one of these areas and declare that this is ground where the Church dare not tread.
No, the Bible is clear that we are to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ into ALL the world, and ALL means ALL, the political arena included. This has nothing to do, as Greg Boyd seems to believe, with compromising our devotion to the kingdom of God, but it is actually perfectly in line with the prayer that Jesus taught us, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
We are lights. Lights are to be put on the lampstand. We are cities on a hill, seen by everyone from all angles. Let us not shirk our responsibilities as representative of Jesus by avoiding any arena, let alone the political arena, an area of our culture that has much potential for turning America either toward or away from God and His principles.
By no means do I want to discourage people from seeking out Boyd’s excellent teaching. He is a godly teacher and he challenges me in many areas of Christian thought and faith. Please support his ministry, at least by tuning in to his church services or his excellent blog: