For seven years Kosisochukwu and Bilal had shared an office at a construction consultancy in Abuja. Kosisochukwu was a structural engineer and a deacon in his church. Bilal was a quantity surveyor from Kano who prayed in the small room at the end of the corridor at the appointed times. They ate lunch together most days, usually rice from the same canteen, and argued cheerfully about football. When Kosisochukwu’s father died, Bilal drove with him to the village in Anambra for the burial. Every Sallah, Bilal’s wife sent a share of meat to Kosisochukwu’s house. Every Christmas, Kosisochukwu’s wife sent jollof rice and chicken back.
Then came an election season. Kosisochukwu became convinced that one particular candidate was the person the country needed. He was not foolish about it. He had read the manifestos and listened to the debates, and he had good reasons for his choice. But over the months his conviction grew into something hotter. He spent his evenings in political groups online. He began to speak of the election as a battle between light and darkness. In his church’s men’s fellowship group, he wrote that any believer who supported the other main candidate “cannot be a serious Christian.” An older brother who had discipled him as a young man, and who had quietly made a different choice, left the group the next day without saying anything.
Two weeks before the vote, late one night, Kosisochukwu forwarded a picture into the office group. It mocked the people of the region the other candidate came from. It used an old insult. He laughed when he first saw it, and he sent it without thinking.
The next day at lunch, Bilal did not eat. He sat with his plate in front of him for a long time. Then he said quietly, “Kosi, is that what you think of my people? Of my mother?”
Kosisochukwu said, “Ah, Bilal, it’s just politics.”
PunchlineBilal shook his head. “It was not about politics,” he said. “It was about us.”
Citizens of heaven, living in Philippi
How should a Christian take part in the political life of his nation? Some believers say politics is dirty and Christians should stay out of it entirely. Others throw themselves in so completely that their political loyalty becomes the loudest thing about them. Scripture offers a better way than either, and it begins with a question of citizenship.
Paul wrote to the church in Philippi, a city with a particular status. Luke tells us it was “a colony” (Acts 16:12), meaning a Roman colony. Many of its citizens held Roman citizenship, with all the privileges that brought, even though they lived far from Rome. They followed Roman law, wore Roman dress and were proud of their connection to the capital. Paul himself had appealed to his Roman citizenship in that very city when he was beaten and imprisoned without trial (Acts 16:37).
So when Paul wrote these words to the Philippians, they would have understood the image at once:
For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
“For our conversation is in heaven.” The Greek word translated conversation is politeuma, from which we get words like politics. It means citizenship, commonwealth, the state to which one belongs. Paul is saying, “Your true citizenship is in heaven. You are a colony of heaven living on earth.” Earlier in the letter he used a related verb: “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). Literally, live as citizens in a manner worthy of the gospel.
This is the foundation for everything else. The Christian’s first allegiance belongs to Christ. Before you are a member of a party, a supporter of a candidate, or a citizen of Nigeria or any other nation, you belong to the kingdom of God. “From whence also we look for the Saviour.” Our final hope is not in any election. It is in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will one day “subdue all things unto himself.”
But notice that heavenly citizenship did not lead Paul to withdraw from earthly citizenship. He used his Roman rights when they served justice and the gospel. A colony of heaven does not ignore the city it lives in. It lives there differently.
Seek the peace of the city
Six centuries before Paul, the prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. They had been carried away from Jerusalem by a pagan empire. False prophets were telling them that the exile would end quickly and they would soon go home. Jeremiah told them something very different. Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens. Marry and have children. Settle down, because you will be here for a long time (Jeremiah 29:5-6). And then he gave the most surprising instruction of all:
And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
Babylon was not their kingdom. It was the empire that had destroyed their temple. Yet God told them to seek its peace and to pray for it. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, a rich word that includes safety, health, justice and the flourishing of the whole community. God’s people were to work for the good of the city where they lived, even though it was not their final home. “For in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.” Their well-being was tied to the well-being of their neighbours.
That is a charter for Christian citizenship. Believers are called to seek the good of the nation where God has placed them. That includes ordinary civic duties that are easy to neglect. Register to vote, and vote. Pay your taxes. Obey just laws. Take part in your community association. Serve on committees, volunteer as an election official, report wrongdoing, write to your representatives about matters that affect the poor. Some believers are called to stand for office or work in government, and they should do so as servants of the common good.
It also means refusing to corrupt the process. Vote-buying is a familiar temptation in many places. A few thousand naira, a bag of rice or a promise of a job is offered for a vote. Proverbs says, “A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment” (Proverbs 17:23). A vote is a small share of the judgement of a nation. To sell it is to pervert that judgement. A believer should neither sell his vote nor buy anyone else’s, whichever side is offering.
Seeking the peace of the city also means caring about how the process is conducted. Elections that are peaceful, honest and fair are part of the city’s shalom. Christians should be among those who insist on honest counting, peaceful conduct and respect for the outcome lawfully reached.
And the peace of the city is not sought only once every four years. Much of what shapes ordinary life is decided between elections: the local council’s budget, the state of the primary school down the road, the drainage that floods every rainy season, the clinic that has no drugs. Believers can attend community meetings, ask representatives what was done with public funds, support honest officials and help neighbours understand their rights. Jeremiah’s exiles were told to build, plant and pray for Babylon year after year, not merely on one appointed day.
First of all, pray
When Paul wrote to Timothy about the life of the church, he gave a priority that surprises many believers:
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
“First of all.” Before anything else in the church’s public life, Paul puts prayer. “Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks.” Four words, covering every kind of prayer, from urgent requests to grateful praise. And they are to be made “for all men,” and specifically “for kings, and for all that are in authority.”
Remember who held authority when Paul wrote. The rulers of the Roman Empire were pagans. Many of them were cruel. Some persecuted Christians. Paul does not tell Timothy to pray only for rulers who share the church’s faith, or who support the church’s interests. He tells him to pray for all of them.
That has a direct application at election time. Pray for the candidates you support. Pray just as faithfully for the candidates you oppose. And when the election is over, pray for those who won, whoever they are. It is very difficult to hate someone you are sincerely praying for. Prayer reminds you that the person on the other side of the contest is a human being whom God sees and loves.
Paul gives two reasons for this prayer. The first: “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” Good government allows people to live in peace and to practise their faith without fear. The second is even more striking: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” God’s purposes are bigger than any election. He wants all people to be saved, including the politicians we like least and their supporters. That means our political conduct should never make it harder for anyone to hear the gospel from us.
Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?
Just before the battle of Jericho, Joshua had an encounter that every politically passionate believer should ponder:
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?
Joshua sees an armed man and asks the obvious question. Whose side are you on? Ours or theirs? It is the question every partisan instinctively asks. And the answer he receives is astonishing: “Nay.” Neither. “But as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.”
The captain of the Lord’s host does not join Joshua’s side. He calls Joshua to join the Lord’s side. And Joshua, rightly, falls on his face and worships. “What saith my lord unto his servant?”
That is a vital correction for Christians in politics. God is not a member of any party. No candidate, however upright, is His anointed messiah. No party manifesto is the gospel. When we treat a political cause as the kingdom of God, we have made an idol of it. We begin to excuse in our own side what we condemn in the other. We read every event through the lens of the campaign. We stop asking, “What does the Lord say?” and start asking only, “Is he for us or for our adversaries?”
The psalmist warns, “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help” (Psalm 146:3). Leaders are mortal. Their plans fail. Even the best of them will disappoint. Jesus Himself said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). His kingdom does not advance by winning elections, and it is not threatened by losing them. That truth frees us to take part in politics wholeheartedly without putting our ultimate hope in it.
NuggetNo party or candidate is the kingdom of God. Take part in the life of your nation with conviction, but keep your allegiance where it belongs: with Christ, who is not on anyone’s side but calls everyone to His.
Render unto Caesar
One of the most famous exchanges in the Gospels began as a political trap. Matthew tells us that the Pharisees “took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk” (Matthew 22:15), and they sent their disciples together with the Herodians. That is remarkable in itself. The Pharisees resented Roman rule. The Herodians supported the Herod family, who governed with Rome’s backing. They were political opponents. Yet they united to trap Jesus with a question:
Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
The trap was clever. If Jesus said yes, pay the tax, the crowds who hated Rome would turn against Him. If He said no, the Herodians could report Him to the Romans as a rebel. Either answer would place Him firmly in one political camp.
Jesus refused to be captured by either side. He asked for a coin and asked whose image was on it. Caesar’s. “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.” There are things that rightly belong to the governing authorities: taxes, lawful obedience, respect for their office. Christians should give them gladly.
But there is a second half to the answer, and it is greater than the first. If the coin bears Caesar’s image and belongs to Caesar, what bears God’s image? You do. Every human being is made in the image of God. Caesar can have the coin. He cannot have the person. The state is owed many things, but it is never owed the worship, the conscience or the ultimate loyalty of anyone. When the authorities in Jerusalem commanded the apostles to stop preaching, Peter answered, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Long before Peter, two Hebrew midwives in Egypt faced the same choice. Pharaoh ordered them to kill the Hebrew baby boys at birth. Exodus records simply that “the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them” (Exodus 1:17). They did not lead a rebellion or take up arms. They quietly refused to do evil, and God honoured them for it. Most believers will never face a command so stark. But a civil servant may be told to falsify a result, a police officer may be pressed to harass a citizen for his political views, or an election official may be offered money to alter a sheet. In such moments the midwives show the way: respect for authority stops where obedience would mean sinning against God and harming a neighbour.
That leaves a Christian free to be a good citizen and a free conscience at the same time. He pays his taxes and obeys the law, but he does not bow to any political power as though it were God. And he does not allow any party, his own included, to claim the allegiance that belongs to Christ alone.
Conscience and honest disagreement
Look at the list of the twelve apostles. Among them was “Matthew the publican” (Matthew 10:3), a tax collector who had worked for the Roman system. And among them was a man Luke calls “Simon called Zelotes” (Luke 6:15), the Zealot. Many understand this to mean that Simon had belonged to, or sympathised with, those who wanted Rome resisted and its collaborators punished. Before they met Jesus, these two men stood on opposite sides of the sharpest political divide of their day. Jesus called them both. They walked the same roads, ate the same bread and learned from the same Master.
That gives us a picture of the church. Believers who love the same Lord and read the same Bible will sometimes reach different political conclusions. One sister weighs the economy most heavily. One brother is most concerned about security in his state. Another is moved by a candidate’s record on corruption, or by his promises for the poor. These are matters of prudential judgement: how best to apply shared convictions to complex situations. Sincere believers will weigh them differently.
There are moral convictions that Scripture states plainly. God hates injustice, oppression of the poor, bribery and the shedding of innocent blood. He calls for honesty in public life and protection for the vulnerable. Christians should speak clearly about these things, whoever is in power and whichever party is involved. But when it comes to choosing among imperfect candidates and complex policies, Paul’s principle from a different context offers wisdom: “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5). Form your conscience carefully before God. Vote according to it. And allow your brother the same freedom.
That has consequences for how we speak. It is one thing to say, “I believe this candidate would serve the country better, and here is why.” It is quite another to say, “No real Christian could vote for the other one.” The first is conviction. The second makes your political judgement a test of fellowship. Kosisochukwu had crossed that line, and an older brother who loved him had walked away hurt.
Pastors carry particular responsibility here. The pulpit is not a campaign platform. A congregation contains people of many political views, and all of them need to hear the gospel without feeling that their place in the family depends on their vote. Leaders can and should teach the moral principles Scripture gives for public life. They should urge people to vote, to pray and to refuse corruption. But they serve the whole flock best when they do not tell it which candidate to choose.
Honour all men
Peter wrote to believers scattered across the provinces of Asia Minor, many of whom faced suspicion and mistreatment from their neighbours. He gave them a pattern for public life:
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men . Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
Look at the four short commands at the end. “Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” Every person is owed honour, because every person bears God’s image. The brotherhood of believers is owed love. God alone is owed fear, the reverent awe that belongs to Him. And the king, the governing authority, is owed honour. Notice that Peter places the king alongside “all men.” The ruler receives honour, not worship. And so does everyone else, including the people who disagree with you about who should rule.
Political seasons tempt us to forget the first command. Opponents become enemies. Enemies become less than human. The people of a certain region, tribe or religion become a joke or a threat. That is exactly what had happened in Kosisochukwu’s heart, and it came out in a picture he forwarded at midnight.
Once, when a Samaritan village refused to welcome Jesus, James and John asked, “Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?” (Luke 9:54). They had religious reasons. They had a biblical precedent. But Jesus “turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of” (Luke 9:55). The spirit that wants to call down fire on those who reject us is not the Spirit of Christ.
In a nation where political tension sometimes spills into violence, Christians must be people who refuse hatred. Do not share content that mocks people for their ethnicity or religion. Do not spread rumours about the other side that you have not verified. Do not use language that dehumanises. Never take part in violence, and never excuse it when your own side commits it. Speak up for the safety of your neighbours of every tribe and faith. That is what it means to honour all men.
When the results come
Elections end. Someone wins and someone loses. For the Christian, both outcomes carry their own temptation.
If your candidate wins, the temptation is triumph: to gloat, to assume God has vindicated your side, to stop holding your leaders to account because they are “ours.” Remember that the people who voted differently are still your neighbours, and that your leaders still need prayer and still answer to God.
If your candidate loses, the temptation is despair or bitterness: to conclude that the country is finished, that God has abandoned it, or that the other side’s supporters are your enemies. Daniel, who served under several kings, said of God, “he removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Daniel 2:21). That does not mean God approves of every ruler or every outcome. It means that no election places a nation beyond His reach. Where there are lawful channels to challenge an unjust process, use them peacefully. Then keep praying, keep serving and keep seeking the peace of the city.
PunchlineEither way, the church must remain the place where the winners and the losers can still kneel together at the Lord’s Table.
Kosisochukwu did not sleep well the night after that lunch. The next morning he deleted the picture and wrote to the office group. Yesterday I shared something that insulted the people of a whole region. It was wrong, and I am ashamed of it. I apologise to all of you, and especially to my brother Bilal. Then he went to Bilal’s desk and said it again, face to face.
Bilal looked at him for a while. Then he stood up and said, “Let’s go and eat.”
That weekend Kosisochukwu also phoned the older brother who had left the men’s fellowship group. He apologised for what he had written. The man was silent for a moment, then laughed softly. “Kosi,” he said, “I have been praying for you since you were nineteen. Did you think a vote would stop me?”
On election day, Kosisochukwu queued at his polling unit in Gwarinpa from seven in the morning. Bilal queued at his in Kubwa. At about two o’clock, Kosisochukwu’s phone rang. “Have you voted?” Bilal asked. “I have. Let us pray for the best for this country.”
When the results were announced, one of the two men was disappointed. I will not tell you which, because it is not the point. What I will tell you is that the following Monday, they ate lunch together as usual, and that at Sallah that year, Bilal’s wife sent the meat again.
You belong first to Christ. Take part in the life of your nation with courage and conviction. Vote, pray, serve, speak for justice. But keep your heart free of the idols of party and the poison of hatred, and honour every person you meet, because each of them bears the image of the God you serve.
Teaching Companion
For Reflection
- In what ways has your political loyalty ever competed with your allegiance to Christ?
- When did you last pray sincerely for a leader or candidate you did not support?
- What civic responsibilities have you neglected that Jeremiah 29:7 calls you to take up?
- How do you speak about believers who reach different political conclusions from you?
- Is there anyone you need to apologise to for something you said or shared during a political season?
This Week
This week, pray by name each day for three people in authority over you, at local, state and national level, including at least one you did not vote for. Ask God for their wisdom, integrity and salvation, and for the peace of the nation. Then examine your recent messages and posts about politics. If anything you shared mocked people for their ethnicity, region or religion, or treated believers who disagree with you as less than serious Christians, delete it and apologise.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, You are the King of kings, and my citizenship is in heaven. Forgive me for the times I have placed my hope in a party or a candidate, and for the times I have spoken of others with contempt. Teach me to seek the peace of the city where You have placed me, to pray for all who are in authority and to take my civic duties seriously. Give me conviction without hatred, and help me honour all men because they bear Your image. Keep Your church united in You above every political division. Let Your kingdom come, and Your will be done in my nation as it is in heaven. In Your name, Amen.
Truth received brings freedom. Truth believed establishes the heart.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. · Illustrations using first names only are composites unless stated otherwise.