Tag: AND Campaign

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How Can I Keep Faith Above Partisanship? Know About Political Engagement

Interview With Chris Butler

Many people abandon faith values upon entering the political sphere. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Chris Butler, Executive Leader at the AND Campaign and Lead Pastor at Chicago Embassy Church Network, joined Know Why to discuss how Christians can engage in politics without making their party their identity. Listen to hear Chris’s practical tips for faithful, strategic political engagement—including a test to see whether you’ve been “brainwashed” by your party.

From Church to Politics

“So many people walk into politics out of the church,” Chris told Know Why. That’s why the AND Campaign was founded. “Pretty soon people who come out of the church into politics don’t look very much like the church. They just look like the politics,” he added.

“Step by step, working together, we really can make a real difference in the tone and tenor of our politics.”

Chris Butler

It’s possible to engage in politics and even participate in a particular party. Chris said the key is being partisan at the level of your participation, not your identity.

“It is so important for believers to find their indentity in Christ, not in a political party or an ideological affiliation,” he said.

Prepare for the Moment

To help Christians keep their identity in Christ this election year, the AND Campaign launched the Civic Revival Initiative. The initiative offers resources and action items for those who want to engage faithfully and effectively in politics in 2024. One of the exercises the initiative encourages includes listing 10 things your own political “side” is getting wrong.

“If you can’t do that, it’s not because your side is perfect,” Chris told Know Why. “It’s probably because you’ve gone a little bit too deep into it and begun to be a little bit brainwashed.”

Other aspects of the Civic Revival Initiative help Christians prepare their hearts for the political friction and disagreements sure to happen during an election year. It is possible to maintain civility and retain relationships with people who think differently than you, but “we don’t perform well in the moment when we haven’t prepared for the moment,” Chris said.

Ultimately, he encourages young adults to get involved where they can, using their vote “strategically” but also engaging beyond the voting booth.

“Step by step, working together, we really can make a real difference in the tone and tenor of our politics,” Chris said.

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Does God Have a Political Party?

Ft. Interview with Justin Giboney

People of faith are free participate in either political party and advocate their convictions, but Christians often don’t speak out when their party is wrong. That’s what Justin Giboney, attorney, political strategist, and president of the AND Campaign argues in this episode of the Know Why podcast.

The United States has seen dozens of political parties and multiple party systems throughout history. Today, American politics are largely dominated by two major parties, the Democratic and Republican parties.

Unchanging Values

So which party does God belong to? None of them.

According to the Bible, God and his values are eternal and unchanging. By contrast, earthly politics change constantly. Even the platforms of today’s two major parties evolve year by year.

Rather than being bound to earthly politics, the Bible teaches that God is in control of them. “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings,” the Bible states.

Another way we can know that God doesn’t belong to one political party? The Bible teaches believers to submit to their governmental authorities — regardless of who they are. “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

So, people of faith shouldn’t worry when a political party they don’t like prevails, thinking that it interferes with God’s will. The Bible teaches that no purpose of God’s can be thwarted.

‘Be About Righteousness and Justice’

“You got to read the prophets,” Justin told Know Why. “What we know about the government from Genesis on is that it’s God-ordained. However, you got to remember that God is absolutely sovereign, but he also does a lot of his work through us. And so you see Amos, and you see Isaiah, and you see these people [in the Bible] going to government and going to people in power and saying, ‘You’re not doing the right thing.’ So although it’s God-ordained and God is sovereign, he works through us. … He has an expectation that we’ll be about righteousness and justice. In fact, he’s appalled when we’re not doing that work.”

For instance, in the Bible, God repeatedly commands his followers to pursue justice, care for the oppressed and love others.

Many Christians will argue that their favorite political party does these things better than the rest. Who is right? The truth is that different parties, politicians, or policies may reflect different parts of God’s value system at different times.

“We live in a broken world and as part of that the parties that we’re in are broken,” Justin said. “And so I would say that both parties fall well short of where the gospel would have us to be.” He mentions both abortion and racial justice as examples of where Democrats and Republicans have fallen short of biblical values.

That’s why Christians’ main allegiance should be to God, and not one party or person. Earthly political parties are sure to change, but God’s values never will.

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