Being a Good Citizen Doesn’t Stop After the Election

Can more Christians come to see their citizenship as part of an integral life lived before the face of God? It’s something David T. Koyzis, author of a new book, Citizenship Without Illusions, would love to witness. 

“Too many Christians assume they can separate what they do on Sunday from what they do during the rest of the week,” Koyzis explains. “To be sure, citizenship doesn’t exhaust who we are as human beings created in God’s image. But God has invested us with a multifaceted authority dispersed over the range of activities in his world, and citizenship is one such avenue by which we can live out our gratitude to God for salvation in Jesus Christ.”

Koyzis, who is an author and a scholar with Global Scholars Canada, explores this concept in his new book. He spoke with Common Good about participation in communities and nations, God’s vision for political participation, and the opportunities Christians have to pursue human flourishing.

You write, “As God’s image, we are created for community, and the most significant communities precede us in time, nurturing us toward maturity.” How might this manifest in our political communities?

The vast majority of us are born citizens of one or more countries. Under the dominant liberal paradigm, we are wont to assume that all communities can be reduced to mere voluntary associations, like the amateur baseball team or the chess club. Indeed, such associations are necessary to a healthy social fabric. Nevertheless, the most significant such communities are what we might label institutions, including marriage, family, the gathered church community, and the state. These exist largely apart from our wills, nurturing us and shaping us into the persons we are becoming.

Sometimes we are tempted to think that we owe allegiance only to those communities we have freely chosen to enter. It’s an attractive proposition, and it appeals especially to North Americans whose constitutional documents include a Bill of Rights (U.S.) and a Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Canada). However, this is not a recipe for a healthy society, but for a mere amalgamation of supposedly autonomous egos out to advance their own individual interests. 

As Christians, by contrast, we recognize that we must approach life from a posture of gratitude, especially for those things that we haven’t chosen and which come to us as a gift. I firmly believe citizenship is one of these gifts. If you don’t believe it, just imagine the plight of the millions of refugees and stateless persons who lack legal standing in a functioning political community. They would dearly love to possess the citizenship that others take for granted.

What are some of the particular challenges to embracing our citizenship without illusions in the current moment? 

I think the various political ideologies that have influenced our world since around 1789 pose a significant obstacle to our ability to discharge our responsibilities as citizens. These ideologies, which I analyze in my first book, Political Visions and Illusions, are monistic in that they try to reduce our complex social fabric, which I have labeled pluriformity, to a single principle, whether it be the individual will, the economic class, the nation, or the state itself. Pluriformity, which your spell checks will probably not recognize, is a way of describing the huge variety of social forms in which we are embedded, including our basic institutions, business enterprises, labour unions, professional associations, schools and universities, charitable foundations, print and electronic media, amateur sport teams, and so forth. 

As members of such communities, we bear overlapping authoritative offices that play important roles within them. This includes our membership in our respective political communities. Citizens play a significant if limited role in charting the direction of these communities.

But there is a more recent obstacle which I have labeled the “virtual illusion.” In our era of the internet and social media, we are tempted to invest more of ourselves in online communities centered in ourselves than in the flesh-and-blood communities to which we owe a genuine debt of gratitude. Perhaps we need to pull our heads out of our phones and screens and talk to our neighbours for a change.

In the chapter titled “When Kingdoms Collide,” you explore several biblical and historical examples of God’s commands not aligning with governmental commands. What’s one such example that you find especially instructive for Christians today?

I know many Christians with familial roots in the Netherlands. My good friend and former colleague Al Wolters, author of the classic worldview book, Creation Regained, was born during the German occupation of that country. His parents hid a Jewish family in their home at considerable risk to themselves and their children. They were not alone. Huge numbers of people similarly risked their lives to help the persecuted. 

In 21st-century North America, we may find it difficult to imagine living under such trying circumstances. But many of our brothers and sisters overseas do their best to live lives of grateful obedience to God for their salvation under political regimes hostile to their faith. These include the Rev. Wang Yi, pastor of the Early Rain Church in Chengdu, China, who became a Christian only around 20 years ago and is now sitting in prison due to his courageous witness to the gospel. We should take heart from such believers, redouble our prayers for them, and live for Christ with Spirit-filled courage.

While the right to vote is a strongly held value for a lot of Americans, it’s felt discouraging — or at least quite flawed — to many in recent elections. How would you encourage Christian Americans who are frustrated by the state of our politics?

I would tell them that many of us share their discouragement and wish that the options presented to us at election time were better. But voting is not the most important way to exercise our citizenship, although we might be tempted to think so. As I was writing this book, I found myself focussing more than I had anticipated on local action in our immediate communities. There are ample opportunities to get involved at this level, and we are more likely to see the results of our efforts than if we focus our attention at the national level. My wife has been heavily involved in ministering to the homeless in our city through her church. I’ve been helping her with this, but she’s taken the lead.

To be sure, it’s not the stuff we’ll see emphasized by the national media. It’s not as visible as, say, a summit meeting between two heads of government to settle an international conflict. But the cumulative impact of such local efforts can result in much good. That’s where I would encourage most readers to get involved. Find the needs in your own community, and see what you and others can do to address them.

What are some ways you see Christians engaging in meaningful citizenship that might provide hope or inspiration to believers struggling to participate or mobilize?

There is a charitable organization here in southern Ontario called Indwell, which offers and administers supportive housing for those in need. It’s been around for about 50 years, and it’s made up of Christians with a heart for the vulnerable in our communities. It started here in Hamilton, but it’s spread to other cities as well, with financial subsidies from municipal, provincial, and federal governments. I highlight some of their work in my book. One of the reasons I did so is to encourage readers to consider following its example and to undertake something similar in their own communities.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Citizenship Without Illusions: A Christian Guide to Political Engagement by David T. Koyzis is available from InterVarsity Press.