In the midst of a high-tension election year in America, a crucial question emerges for Christians: to whom, or to what, are we really pledging allegiance? Can our identity as followers of Jesus fit neatly into binary partisan affiliations? What does it mean to pledge our allegiance to a ruler who is not of this world while meaningfully engaging with the world at a civic level?

Tim Alberta, an award-winning political journalist and best-selling author, joined Good Faith Podcast host Curtis Chang to address these questions in this live recording from a national convention of the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities. Reflecting on both his personal and professional experiences, Alberta dives into the complex intersection of faith identity and political engagement, not only in the context of this election year, but examining the cultural shift in America from the 1960s to now.

In this podcast episode, part one of two, Alberta and Chang also examine the responsibility Christians have in first recognizing, and then addressing, the damage that has been done by the blending of partisan affiliation with faith identity. This conversation isn’t just informative; it’s an invitation to explore these complex issues with a spirit of open-mindedness and introspection, emphasizing the values Jesus demonstrated of justice, compassion, and humility in shaping political decisions. Alberta’s thoughtful analysis and practical guidance serve as a valuable resource for anyone seeking to navigate the intersection of faith and politics with integrity and purpose.

This excerpt has been edited for length and clarity.

Curtis Chang: The Sermon on the Mount is in a political context, right? There’s a straight line from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to the “how” of how we conduct ourselves with our character and our virtue. But there is, at best, a fuzzy line from the Sermon on the Mount to the Republican or Democratic party. I’m not saying you can’t draw those lines, but they’re fuzzy and they’re going to be contested. People are going to draw those lines differently.

Tim Alberta: Political parties exist to promote and protect their own power, and it is the ultimate means to an end exercise.

What we find in the scriptures, what we find in the gospels, what we find in the Sermon on the Mount, is that Jesus talks very little about the ends. He cares a lot about the means. We hear repeatedly about the means.

We are called to be a countercultural movement, we are called to be a kingdom that is not of this world. We are called to be living that upside-down kingdom in this right side up, weird world of ours. And so to adopt the same means to an end attitude, ends justifying the means mentality that rules this kingdom here on earth, this political kingdom is just at a baseline level, doing a disservice, and I would even argue is a betrayal of our calling as Christians to find our citizenship in heaven.