“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:7, NRSV)

It increasingly feels like we are living right in the midst of a historically fraught moment, a period of time that will be studied by our great-grandchildren in their history textbook. This moment feels bigger than mere words can describe, even though certainly, many will try to do just that (Hand raised!). While so much of our political discourse far too frequently rings hollow given the daily struggles of our normal lives, the past few weeks beg careful attention and deeper reflection. 

As we barrel past 102 days and counting until Tuesday, November 5th, the date of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, the following politically notable events, surely not an exhaustive list, have happened in the last four weeks alone: 

1. An incumbent President stumbles badly in a debate, raising serious questions about physical fitness and cognitive ability for another term in office as the oldest presidential candidate in history. Contentious dialogue ensues.
2. An assassination attempt on the opposing party’s nominee is scarily close to seriously injuring, or worse, said candidate. Amongst frightening questions of potential security lapses, this galvanizes the party’s base and creates controversial new political narratives. Contentious dialogue is elevated.
3. A national convention showcasing this party takes center stage, feeling like a coronation of sorts. Contentious dialogue becomes more focused, almost impossible to ignore.
4. Just as momentum feels solidified in one direction, the incumbent President stuns the nation (and his own re-election team!) by announcing his intention to not stand for re-election. Contentious dialogue begins anew, somehow more frenetic than ever.
5. Within a half day, on a Sunday in mid-summer no less, $60 million dollars (!) is raised for the sitting Vice-President as the newly presumptive presidential nominee, and the presidential race is thrown into chaotic uncertainty once again. Contentious dialogue TBD, but not looking promising.

We are here, somewhere just past point 5, and it’s Thursday. It feels like we are living in a late-season episode of The West Wing, House of Cards, Designated Survivor, or [insert your political drama of choice]. 

It increasingly feels like we are living right in the midst of a historically fraught moment, a period of time that will be studied by our great-grandchildren in their history textbook. This moment feels bigger than words can convey. Share on X

An important question rises with clarity to the surface of my mind, this one perhaps prompted by the Holy Spirit within my unsettled soul: How are we to respond as Christ-followers in these moments?

Sitting in the midst of the political chaos of the past month, increasingly repeating this question as a form of prayer, several subsequent questions spring to mind that need thoughtful consideration and sustained conviction as a Christ-follower. Namely: 

1. What is the cultural mandate for the Christ-follower given these gigantic political events? How do we remain faithful to God, deeply committed to the love of our neighbors, and engaged in the ‘already present but not fully yet here’ Kingdom of God when political history is unfolding rapidly, largely absent of discerned wisdom, all around us? 
2. Why should the Christ-follower pay attention with eyes wide open to the political maneuvering all around us, often by people with far more power, money, and invested interests in the preservation of the systems of power that define America, for good or for ill?
3. Brusquely stated, what do we do to engage but not be swallowed whole by the political machine all around us?

My initial response is to advocate that these questions move away from the theoretical to the pragmatic, from macro-level philosophic musings to actual, real human need in our relational orbit. Real lives are affected each time an election season is contested, most often focusing unjustly on the most deeply vulnerable amongst us. The fall-out lingers well-beyond the end of the election cycle each year. There is much we can do, and we must start somewhere.

Real lives are affected each time an election season is contested, most often focusing unjustly on the most deeply vulnerable amongst us. The fall-out lingers well-beyond the end of the election cycle each year. There is much to do. Share on X

To address each question more deeply, a few preliminary conclusions:

1. Every Christ-follower lives within a particular social location. 

You and I both live in a dwelling that resides on a particular street that forms a portion of a neighborhood. This neighborhood is nestled within the confines of a city, town, village, or unincorporated area that forms a larger county within your home state. Your home state has borders connecting it to a geographic region within the United States that has social customs, values, and needs that are simultaneously unique and universal to most Americans. To say that I am to remain above the political fray as a Christian is to advocate that my social location doesn’t matter – that the injustices and broken social systems within my city are not my ultimate concern.

Jesus has much to say about this line of thinking, and his response begins with a well-known parable that answers the question, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29, NIV). Jesus acknowledges the political, cultural, and social realities we all live within, and invites us to incarnate mercy and loving care towards all people, regardless of our neighbor’s political convictions (Luke 10:36-38). 

2. Our most vulnerable neighbors are more adversely affected, often by violence, suffering, suppression of economic stability, or loss of personal identity, by the systemic struggle for power in our political systems.

Christ-followers are to be known for their care of the least among us. We willingly give up our seat at the head of the table to those who are hungry, take off our coat to warm someone who is cold, or seek to elevate someone else at our own expense. We don’t do this to amass crowns in heaven, or to be seen as the most generous amongst our friends. Rather, we seek to humanize everyone in our midst, realizing that every person bears the Image of God in a manner unique to their personhood. Our political systems are designed to de-humanize this foundational truth. We must work to reverse this tendency and to see the good in our neighbors, particularly those least shielded from the injustices that our political systems create (or tolerate).

To say that I am to remain above the political fray as a Christian is to advocate that my social location doesn’t matter – that the injustices and broken social systems within my city are not my ultimate concern. (1/2) Share on X

Jesus acknowledges the political, cultural, and social realities we all live within, and invites us to incarnate mercy and loving care towards all people, regardless of our neighbor's political convictions. (2/2) Share on X

3. We must ‘seek the welfare of the city’ where we live, knowing that God has rooted us in a particular place to help co-create a new reality in our world.

I have been unable to dislodge this phrase from Jeremiah 29:7 from my mind and heart for the past several years, and I am increasingly grateful to God that I am unable to do so! A mere four verses before the future oriented, hope-filled, yet oft-misquoted Jeremiah 29:11, verse 7 is starkly different in tone and focus: “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:7, NIV). 

Jeremiah 29 is the record of an epistle (letter) that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving Jewish elders, priests, and prophets that Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile in Babylon. Unbeknownst to this Jewish remnant at the time, this exile was to be long – “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise” (Jeremiah 29:10a) – and it was to be semi-permanent in nature. The majority of the initial portion of Jeremiah’s letter is filled with exhortations to settle into life under Babylonian captivity, and to pursue flourishing even in the midst of great political upheaval. This counter-cultural, prophetic wisdom builds throughout Jeremiah 29, crescendoing in verse 7, which commands this Jewish remnant to pursue the welfare of the city to which they have been carried.

Christians seek to humanize everyone in our midst, realizing that every person bears the Image of God in a manner unique to their personhood. Our political systems are designed to de-humanize this foundational truth.(1/2) Share on X

We must work to reverse this tendency and to see the good in our neighbors, particularly those least shielded from the injustices that our political systems create (or tolerate). (2/2) Share on X

Other translations of verse 7 expand Jeremiah’s contextual desire for Jewish shalom within Babylonian borders:

• “Work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile” (NLT).
• “Promote the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile” (CEB).
• “Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive” (NKJV). 
• “Work for the good of the city to which I have exiled you” (TPT).
• “Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare” (MSG). 

My personal favorite translation of this verse, however, is found in the New Revised Standard Version:

• “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (NRSV).

Seeking the welfare of the city where God has called me to be rooted? This is engaging in politics at its most fundamental level. Polis, the Greek word for city, carries in its root meaning the concept of healthy political engagement itself. Politics can be defined as “the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area” (Oxford Dictionary, 2019 MacBook Air). In other words, seeking the welfare of the city where God has called me to be rooted, living for the common good, in a manner that is consistent with the biblical ethic to love God and neighbor above all other things. 

This season has been, and will no doubt continue to be, deeply contentious. It is logical as a result that we feel such profound weariness in our bones. How do we remain resilient and faithful as Christ-followers in this cultural moment? How do we continue to reframe our approach to politics in general, and our personal political engagement in particular, in this way?

What if we continued to seek the welfare of our cities, not for our own benefit, but for the flourishing of those in greatest need within our midst? What if we remembered once again that our civic engagement was connected to human flourishing, and the Kingdom of God was birthed in the midst of this shared other-centeredness? What could change?

In a word, everything.

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Seeking the welfare of the city where God has called me to be rooted engages politics at its most fundamental level. It involves living for the common good, in a manner that is consistent with the biblical ethic to love God and… Share on X