No Grounds for Divorce

Art Simon is a Lutheran pastor whose church in New York operated a thriving food pantry throughout the 60’s and 70’s.  As the people continued to line up at their door for food, Simon started to wonder why so many people were hungry, and why their need seemed to be increasing instead of decreasing.  So in 1974, Art Simon founded Bread for the World, an advocacy group for Christians who wanted to both feed immediate hunger AND fight to remove the systemic causes of hunger in the long term – in other words, provide relief AND change public policy, both out of their faith convictions.  

One of my favorite quotes by Simon is below, and it illuminates his fundamental belief that faith and politics go together. It’s been a useful quote for me when visiting/preaching in multiple churches, schools, and community groups when I try to answer the fears some have about faith and politics, and to articulate how faith should influence political decisions. Some words for thought:  

“The separation of church and state, properly understood, is a principle of fundamental importance to the nation… It is a vital principle which guarantees the free exercise of religion and protects citizens from the imposition of religious beliefs or practices by the state…  The separation of religion from life is pure heresy. It is false because it contradicts the biblical witness and therefore the Christian understanding of faith. To take major areas of life, those having to do with social and economic decisions that vitally affect all of us, and put them into a compartment carefully separated from faith is to turn much of life over to the devil. It is another way of making Christianity into a one-hour on Sunday religion, or perhaps a faith that has to do with one’s personal moral values, but not, say, with one’s business career or professional career and certainly – God forbid – with politics.  It is the opposite of confessing Jesus as Lord of all of life.
Let me be clear. The church relates to society primarily through the conversion of people and their nurture in faith. Changed lives make a lasting impact on society, and this is by far the most important way in which the church contributes to the wholeness of the world. My thinking is in harmony with this reality, not in competition with it. Service to Christ through citizenship falls within the mission of the church to help people grow in discipleship… A congregation that avoids engagement with public policy matters (leads) Christians to believe that a vast region of life, though it vitally affects the well-being of others, is of no particular concern to God. The love and lordship of Christ are viewed in a way that fails to encompass the whole of life. By choosing to ‘not get involved’ in public policy issues, a congregation short-changes its members regarding their ministry and stewardship.” 
 (Christian Faith and Public Policy” No Grounds for Divorce, 1987, p.71)