LECTURE: On the Early Church & Politics

By Tim Mackie | YouTube | 1h 32m
Published in August of 2017

SUMMARY: What is the foundation that Christians should build from when voting? What does the Bible have to say about government? What does the Bible have to say about authority? Pastor Tim Mackie says that since the start of American politics Christians and non-Christians have cherry-picked verses to support their agenda. This is a two-fold tragedy. First, it removes the verse from its context. Second, it uses the Bible when it is convenient instead of listening to the Bible and patiently working through the entire story.

Mackie’s passion for the Bible bleeds through his lecture as he dives into Genesis 1 as a political theology. He connects the image of God to ruling authority to justice and then to politics. His in-depth theological analysis of the foundation of Christian political engagement is a masterclass on what the Bible says about a Christian’s political involvement.

This is more in-depth than what we usually post, but this is worth the time and effort so you can knowledgably articulate what motivates you to vote as a Christian.

KEY QUOTE: “The Bible doesn’t offer a divine endorsement for any kind of political form of organized government. It gives a very thorough explanation of what political power is, but it doesn’t endorse any particular form of government. Implication–apparently human beings can organize themselves in all kinds of ways to honor God’s purposes–to rule and have authority, to create order out of chaos so that humans can flourish in justice and righteousness. If I am a Christian (I should ground my identity) first and foremost as an image-bearing human and as a child of God. If I am a follower of Jesus my ultimate loyalty is to King Jesus.”

BONUS: Download Mackie’s lecture notes.

BINGE WATCH: Sunday to Saturday has a YouTube page with curated playlists.

DID YOU KNOW? We have distilled the media we have curated into five guided learning paths to help you learn about politics — from a Christian perspective — in your preferred learning style.

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