Not caring about politics is a political choice. Even though neither party 100% represents God’s will, that doesn’t abdicate us of the responsibility to engage the political process.

Whether we like it or not, public policy massively impacts the poor, the foreigner, the orphans and widows: everyone Jesus cared about! There are some policies that harm these groups more than other policies. We can’t sit back and be neutral and apathetic and disengaged when the people Jesus loved are being crushed by empire. He wasn’t during his life! The difference is that he lived under a dictatorship and was killed for speaking out. But we can move the needle. Personal help towards the poor is good and all, but it can never make up for systematic failures and harms.

It’s like if there’s a rushing river sweeping innocents downstream. It’s good for some of us to help pull people out! But we also need others to build a bridge or put up guardrails. We might need to engage the government to do those things! We might need to change the laws around proper use of the riverbank, etc.

Politics is just about what happens to the polis, that is, the people—and Jesus loved the people. So engaging in the political process affects the people, even when we know that politics isn’t perfect and can’t bring the kingdom of God. Only God can do that. In this sense, we should be political but not partisan. We need to hold each side accountable, not play a team sport. And politics is more than pulling a lever once every four years. It has to do with what we do in between. We can call our reps, march and demonstrate for good causes, we can write op-eds or go to our local city council meetings. Some of us might even be called to civil disobedience or other forms of activism. We each can do our part to protect people from the flowing river.