How Does Spiritual Formation Inform Political Engagement?

Last month, Transform Minnesota concluded our Beyond Voting webinar series with a discussion about the relationship between spiritual formation and public engagement. Steve Eng, Advocacy Director for the NAE, provided insight into the ways Christians can reframe their engagement when they find their identity in Christ.

Reframing Christian Political Engagement

Eng discussed the need for Christians to reframe political engagement through the lens of Christ. Christian engagement is not about advancing a partisan agenda or seeking political victories, but about embodying Christ’s values. To do this, Christians must enter the public square with humility. Our identity in Christ must be primary, allowing us to demonstrate the compelling reason for the hope we have in Him.

Christian political engagement looks different when we are formed by our identity in Christ than a political, partisan identity. Eng discussed several spiritual formation practices for the participants that can inform their engagement. This included inward practices like fostering hope and meditating on scripture, and outward practices like worship, confession and repentance, and serving others.

Formation Through Action

As with the previous webinars, Eng identified the need for the focus of Christian engagement to extend beyond self-interest. Specifically, prioritizing those on the margins helps us cultivate a tender heart towards weakness. Through this, we can better mirror God’s character as we create places of joyful belonging. This can help us work for policies that better help people thrive.

Eng concluded by letting the participants know that Christians don’t have to be fully formed before we can start to work for policies to better people’s lives. He encouraged the participants to consider action as formation, stating that Christian identity does not exist apart from action. Christian life is about being and doing, and there are parts of formation that we will only discover through action.

As part of his presentation, Steve Eng discuss aspects of the NAE document For the Health of the Nation. Click here to read this evangelical call to civic responsibility.