Church and Politics: How should Christians engage?

Should Your Faith Shape Your Politics?

It is one of those unwritten rules that most people absorb growing up: never mix religion and politics. Keep them in separate boxes. Church on Sunday, voting booth on Tuesday, and never the two shall meet.

Jenny Mariner, a secondary school history and politics teacher and member of Frontline Church in Liverpool, took that conventional wisdom and turned it on its head during this Crowd Church talk. Her argument, drawn from Mark chapter 12, was both direct and nuanced: your faith should absolutely shape your politics — but perhaps not in the way you might expect.

The Trap That Still Works

The passage Jenny explored is one of the most well-known in the Gospels. Mark 12:13-17 describes a moment where the Pharisees and Herodians — two groups who normally had very little in common — teamed up to catch Jesus out. They approached him with flattery and then dropped their loaded question: "Is it right to pay the imperial taxes to Caesar or not?"

It was a perfect trap. If Jesus said yes, he would alienate the Jewish crowd who resented Roman occupation. If he said no, he could be reported to the Roman authorities for sedition. Either answer would damage him.

Jenny pointed out that this tactic has not gone away. "This is still something that happens to powerful figures today. Think about the US election that we've just had. People are asking questions in interviews, but it's not really about the answers. It's about trying to find ammunition. Can I get that sound bite which makes them look bad?"

Jesus saw through it immediately. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. He cut straight to the heart of their attitude rather than engaging with the surface-level question.

Closed to Conversation

Jenny paused on that moment to make a broader observation about how people engage with political and social issues today. "Unfortunately, I think there are many today, especially online, who are coming from a similar position. We're actually closed to the idea of having a debate."

She highlighted the role of algorithms in reinforcing this. Search engines and social media platforms feed people content that aligns with what they have already shown interest in. The result is an echo chamber where "you hear a lot of the same bias, the same point of view, and you get this idea of everyone agrees with me. I must be right."

This applies to Christians too. "Even if you're a Christian watching this today, you can still fall into this trap of thinking that all other Christians must agree with you. And if they don't agree with you, then you're the one that's right and God's got something he needs to teach them."

The truth, Jenny suggested, is that committed Christians who love Jesus can and do hold different political views, vote for different parties, and prioritise different issues. The first challenge she laid down was simply this: are you open to conversation with people who think differently from you?

Give to Caesar, Give to God

Jesus's answer to the tax question has echoed through two thousand years of political thought. He asked to see a coin, asked whose image was on it, and when they said Caesar's, he replied: "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

Jenny unpacked the layers. On the surface, Jesus was saying pay your taxes. But there is a much bigger principle at work.

"I think he's actually saying we need to honour our government, even if we don't like them," Jenny said. "Do you know, the Roman government was a colonial oppressor. They believed in slavery. They believed in military expansion. They're ruling Israel because they've won wars. They're oppressive. And those taxes the taxes that Jesus is saying should be paid — they're going to fund all of that bad stuff."

Yet Jesus did not say withhold your taxes because the government is unjust. Instead, he drew a line of responsibility: "It's your responsibility to pay a tax. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's. It's his responsibility before God what he then does with that money. That's how it works."

Paul reinforces this in Romans 13:7: "Give to everyone what you owe. If you owe taxes, pay taxes. If revenue, then revenue. If respect, then respect. If honour, then honour."

Jenny acknowledged how difficult this is. "What if I don't like Boris? What if I think he's wrong? What if I think he should be providing more for the people of our city?" The biblical position, she argued, is what she called "radical submission" — respecting the office of leadership even when you disagree with the person holding it. "We are to respect and honour the rank, if not the person."

When Disobedience Is the Right Call

Jenny was careful not to present this as absolute. There are exceptions. "When following the government undermines you fulfilling the core principles of your faith, then I think you can disobey the government."

She pointed to Daniel, who refused to worship the ruler because it violated the commandments, and was thrown to the lions. She pointed to Christians in Nazi Germany who hid Jewish families or smuggled them out of the country, choosing "the higher value of life and protecting life over honouring a government that was clearly going against God's principles."

But she was equally clear that these are exceptions. "We're not facing murderous governments intent on genocide. Most of the time for us, it's more about being personally transformed and seeing the systems changed from within."

What Has God's Image On It?

The second half of Jesus's statement — "give to God what is God's" — is where Jenny landed with the most force. If Caesar's image is on the coin and therefore the coin belongs to Caesar, then what has God's image on it?

"According to Genesis, the first book in the Bible, that is us. We human beings are made in God's image."

So if you must give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God, then Jesus is asking a much bigger question than whether or not to pay taxes. He is asking: is your whole life submitted to God?

"Jesus is saying that religion should absolutely be brought into politics. That you are called to use your body, your voice, your vote, your talents, your skills to stand up for God and his principles. And sometimes that will cause you to stand out from the crowd in an unpleasant way."

Respectful and Radical at the Same Time

Jenny brought the talk home with what she called the most obvious example of this balance: Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

"He was deeply challenging to the government. He caused a change in the laws of the land in which he lived. And yet he always obeyed the laws." In his day-to-day life, King followed the racially segregated Jim Crow laws, even when they were humiliating and dehumanising. But he protested peacefully, persistently, and with enough moral force to reshape an entire nation.

"The point is that you can be respectful and radical at the same time," Jenny concluded.

Four Challenges

Jenny closed with a recap that doubled as a call to action. First, examine your motives. Are you open to respectful conversation with people who disagree with you? Second, identify the biblical principle behind the issues that matter to you. Do not just have an opinion — understand why your faith leads you there. Third, respect and obey the government as a general rule, except in genuinely extreme circumstances. Fourth, if you are a Christian, recognise that your whole life — not just your Sunday mornings — belongs to God, and that includes how you engage with the political world around you.

"So, what is your issue?" Jenny asked. "What is the thing that makes you passionate? Maybe you want the government to do more to protect the environment. Maybe you think that there should be better funding for healthcare for the elderly. Or more support for children who are living in poverty. What's the biblical principle, and how can you use your gifts and talents to bring a change while still showing respect to the government?"

It is a question worth sitting with. What would it look like to be both deeply respectful and deeply challenging in the area that matters most to you?