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Healing for a Broken World: Christian Perspectives on Public Policy

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As the political season heats up, there's no shortage of books coming out advocating particular political agendas by "baptizing" them in a whitewash of religious rhetoric. Steve Monsma's book will be useless to anybody who wants to leverage a church to promote a candidate or legislative agenda; anyone who's been around a church for long has seen this attempted, and too often carried out. The effects have been disastrous for the Kingdom and for Christ's reputation.

But for the church, the small group, the book club, the campus ministry, the thoughtful believer...those who take seriously the call to follow Christ and to do so in the context he's put us in, those who understand that as believers who are citizens in a democracy we have responsibilities as citizens of the Kingdom, those who see that Scripture has much to say about questions of political ethics and political policies, though often not the particular ones we're asking...this book will be invaluable.

In the midst of the hype -- hype which will no doubt leave many faithful believers burned out and discouraged when the ardor for the latest cause has cooled -- there must be those who test everything and hold on to the good, who recognize that not everybody claiming he's a prophet has been sent by God, who search the Scriptures carefully to see if what a particular author, activist or candidate is true. A book like this will be an invaluable guide to the kind of journey through the Bible and our history that will yield a sustainable understanding of what faithful citizenship looks like -- on issues like the environment and abortion and war, as well as on the more basic questions of what God demands of his disciples who are citizens with the ability to influence elections and policy.

Steve Monsma has brought decades of hard-won wisdom and experience as a legislator, political scientist, and faithful churchman to bear on these important questions. This book provides ample fodder for group discussion as well as personal reflection, moving briskly without glossing over complexities. The companion video and the discussion questions at the end of each chapter will catalyze group interaction even with rotating facilitators, and the text is meaty enough to serve classroom purposes as well.

As the election season heats up, God's people will increasingly feel the need for sober, thoughtful, sensitive and wise guidance on the issues of the day, and will increasingly feel that the loudest voices on each side are ill prepared to offer anything beyond red meat for their followers and red-faced denunciations of those who disagree with them. Steve Monsma's book has arrived just in time.

I actually took my time reading through this book. After all, it's subject content is a combination of two things that are very important to me: Christianity and politics. It was a lot to absorb but it made me realize just how robotic we have become when taking on the opinions of others.

Until now, I have not been able to put into words how I view the way these things should go hand in hand but now I don't have to because Monsma did it for me. God gave us free will. Jesus lived and died using it. Military men and women make sacrifices every day so we can keep it. So then why do we as Christians try to take that free will away from non-Christians?

We can't force them to believe as we do and why would we want to? God doesn't like that. He wants us to willingly choose to love Him and serve Him. Trying to convert people using the laws of the land isn't the change of heart God requires.

Monsma won't tell you who to vote for but he does address the questions you should ask yourself when choosing the person you will rally behind. Will they protect my rights as a Christian? Will they stand behind the constitution as it was originally intended? Will they fight for the well being of each man, woman, and child?

These are some of the major components addressed in this book but Monsma touches on many other subjects as well. He opens up with discussion about "taking every thought captive and making it obedient to Christ". That is his starting point.

In part one he talks about biblical principles such as Creation, Sin, and Redemption; Justice; Solidarity; and Civil Society. Each of which I found very eye opening.

Part two discusses applications of these principles to hot topics such as: Church and State; Life Issues; Poverty; Caring for God's Creation; Violations of Human Rights; Disease and Poverty in Other Countries; and War and Terrorism.

I gained a much greater insight after reading this book and have learned to look a bit deeper into the candidates and their policies. This book will be especially helpful with the upcoming election (don't get me started on that one!)

I do believe that every Christian and American citizen can benefit from this book.

I really enoyed this book. First, he laid a bibilical foundation as background for how to think about political issues and decide for yourself the answers. Then, he gives specific examples.

I found it really refreshing to read a book that talks about how to decide issues for yourself instead of presenting a specific case. This book helped me figure out why I felt so uneasy with the leadership of many of the Christian voices in politics today. He also built a case for deciding issue by issue what you think instead of applying a litmus test to all the issues to come to a position.

I knew I had to buy this book when I saw that both Chuck Colson and Ron Sider were recommending it. Healing for a Broken World: Christian Perspectives on Public Policy (Crossway, 2008) by Steve Monsma helps evangelicals consider how our Christian faith influences our view of politics and public policy.

Monsma calls us to a biblically-informed view of public policy. He writes:

"The truly important thing is that we approach public-policy issues humbly and with our minds shaped by biblically-based principles, not by the various political idols of our day." (11)

Monsma warns us of the traps awaiting well-intentioned evangelicals who participate in the political sphere. Some evangelicals fail to prioritize the right issues. Others may have a narrow goal of seeing Christianity recognized in public life instead of seeing freedom for all religions as a civic responsibility. A few evangelicals throw up their hands in despair, convinced that political solutions to our country's problems are too complex.

In order to help us avoid these traps, Monsma lays a foundation of biblical principles that should undergird all our political involvement. Three principles are key: justice, solidarity, and civil society. These principles frame the rest of the book, but Monsma concentrates on the principle of solidarity when he is speaking of specific political problems.

Monsma writes about abortion, immigration, religious freedom, human rights, the environment and other hot-button political issues. Readers might be frustrated that Monsma does not always come down forcefully with regard to specific political proposals. He sees how Christians might disagree as to how justice, solidarity and civil society are best preserved. Monsma seeks to offer a framework to help us think about these issues rather than taking a "This is the Christian approach" position that silences healthy discussion.

The chapter on poverty helpfully steers between the call to full responsibility and full dependence. He is right to see that the poor need help at a deeper level than a mere handout. My only quibble with Monsma's treatment of poverty is that he accepts at face-value the government's definition of poverty. Perhaps it is my experience in Romania with people who are truly destitute that makes me question the government's poverty line.

The chapter on church and state is thoughtful in its approach to the role of the Church in civil society. But surprisingly, Monsma never deals with the issue of Muslim Law. The growth of the Muslim population in Europe and the United States has led to a resurgence of interest in Muslim Law that is not at all separate from the State. Monsma helps us understand the issues at stake in Church/State debates, but does not address the growing concern about Mosque/State relations.

The chapter on the environment is biblically sound. But there is no discussion about whether or not global warming is man-made. I find this omission unfortunate, since determining the cause is key to how evangelicals decide how to address climate change.

The chapter on human rights is terrific. The principle of solidarity frames the discussion. Monsma peppers the chapter with good stories that are designed to shake us out of complacency and lead us to action on behalf of the persecuted in our world.

Overall, Healing for a Broken World is a much-needed book. I appreciate Monsma's treatment of these political issues. He manages to bring more light than heat to these issues - a true feat indeed in our polarized political climate today. I suspect that some may be disappointed in this book, having expected more concrete expressions of political passion. But I, for one, think we could use a few more cool heads.

If you're expecting a philosophy of government based on a careful exegesis of scripture, you will be disapointed. For a book purporting to present a Christian perspective, it contains suprisingly few scripture references. Dr Monsma espouses several "basic Biblical principals," justice, solidarity, and civil society, which, not being carefuly defined by Scripture, are easily twisted to support what ever position he desires: mostly a call for more Government. The book advocates unbounded government power to overcome social evils in Americal and all over the world. Not until the final chapter, when discussing Iraq and the Patriot Act, does Dr Monsma seem to remember that this world is fallen and cannot be redeemed through Government action.

While I did not agree with every conclusion drawn, I very much appreciated Mr. Monsma's approach. His appeal to think biblically when approaching politics really challenges many of the common views held among American evangelicals (such as the erroneous "christian nation" view). In particular, I love how he points out that the right tends to care very much about the unborn, while neglecting those very children after they are born, and the left does the opposite. I also liked his explanation on church and state separation. He points out that if we are advocating our own rights at the expense of the rights of others, we are not acting in accordance with Scripture, and that, I believe, is the best contribution I've heard to the discussion in a very long time.

I really would have liked to rate this book higher. Many of the things he says are dead on and need to be said. Especially the admonition to avoid seeking to advance the church by political means and the need to reject the notion of America as a "Christian nation". He does sometimes seem a bit blind to the impact government has on the problems he's concerned about, insisting for example that its necessary for government to use its tax and spend powers to solve some problems (when has ANY problem been solved that way?).

However, when I reached the chapter on environmental issues and it became clear he'd bought into the global warming fraud hook, line and sinker, he lost all credibility with me. For someone who spends a lot of time talking about investigating things and making informed decisions, he clearly didn't do so on this issue.

In tackling issues of life, the Christian's first concern should always be truth. We can know best what decisions are Biblical if we first know the truth about the issue in question. Global warming is a lie, plain and simply and Christians should have no role in supporting a lie.