Why does an evangelist like myself spend so much time talking about politics on his blog and on his radio show? This question was put to me last week while I was a guest on The Rick Amato Show (KCBQ San Diego).

Actually, it’s a great question and I do have an answer. As an evangelist, nothing is more important to me than the gospel of Jesus Christ. But Evangelicals tend to stress one side of this gospel to the neglect of the other side.

Part of the gospel (the most familiar part) is that Jesus came to forgive us and deliver us from the sins we commit. But there’s another side of the gospel, that Jesus also wants to deliver us from the effects of other people’s sins on our lives, be it the psychological effects of a dysfunctional family or the spiritual/ physical effects of a demon, or the cruelty of an unjust government.  The ancient Jewish understanding of Messiah was that of a man who would deliver God’s people from her oppressive enemies. One of the problems Israel had with Jesus, is that He did not free the Jews from the Romans. Scripture does teach that with Jesus’ second coming, He will do exactly this, rescue Israel from surrounding, attacking nations and rule the entire world benevolently, with Jerusalem as the capital. In the meantime, Jesus asks us to spread His kingdom as best we can.  True, the promise of the kingdom will never be completely fulfilled until He returns, but there are many injustices that God wants to intervene with in the meantime. One who truly loves God, loves people. If we love people, we must protest when they are mistreated.

This means that part of the gospel is speaking out against evil. Abolitionists used Christianity to condemn slavery. Martin Luther King used Christianity to condemn segregation. Deitrick Bonhoffer was a Lutheran pastor who lived in Germany under the Nazis, so for him, part of the gospel was to speak against Hitler. And that’s why, when I speak about what’s going on in the world, I do not believe it involves Christianity any less.

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