Christian Citizenship and the Path to Human Wholeness: Toward a Pastoral Theology of Peacemaking

What do Christians as citizens owe the body politic? With present-day political crisis much in mind, I contend that the basic Christian political obligation is thought, character and action based on the Bible's “covenant of peace.” Although this focus has long been the province of “peace churches,” it should, I argue, define all genuinely Christian citizenship. The essay describes my argument's context and relevance, addresses citizenship as a moral issue, and, with attention to the Sermon on the Mount as well as the Hebrew prophets, expands on the meaning of peace and peacemaking. The effect is justification of a simple maxim for Christian political participation: peace is the goal, peacemaking the way . In all this, I affirm the Radical Reformation heritage, yet break with stereotypical conceptions of it, including its actual or reputed “perfectionism.” The argument's last stage asks how themes congregations typically embrace (I pick out grace, care and reconciliation) both strengthen and illuminate the case I am making.