In 2024, can we be both practical and prophetic?
Can we engage in practical politics without becoming cynical? Can we preserve our prophetic imagination, while taking advantage of incremental change?
Toward the end of my book Jesus Takes A Side I write about what I call “practical politics.” The final paragraph of chapter 11 follows:
“The most practical activists and political actors compromise to move their agenda forward. And when compromise leads to success, they celebrate their win, instead of sulking in what could have been. The most progressive members of Congress campaign on progressive politics but invariably compromise their values, making less progress than they desire, but progress nevertheless. We may see them as ‘selling out,’ but I think we need a reality check for our elected officials whom we may idealize as revolutionaries. We’re all better off if we ‘“right-size’ them, so to speak. We can expect them to operate within the basic parameters of our government because we are electing them to serve that very government. For Christians, so long as we understand that full liberation won’t come through a constrained political process, we need to use the process we do have to love our neighbor further and make progress toward alleviating suffering.”
At the dawn of this new year, I want to embrace this perspective even more fully. With a brutal war going on in Gaza, violent crime all around our country, and the impending threat of fascism on the ballot, we have major existential issues that plague us. It's essential that we imagine a world free of war, free of violence and police brutality, and without fascism. We need to have faith that such a world is possible.
We cannot allow the constraints of our political system to limit our imagination. As Christians, we are empowered by the revolutionary nature of our God, the person of Jesus Christ, who indeed did the unimaginable. Because we have faith, we can hold hope for a world that can be different. As issues bigger than us threaten to eclipse our imagination, I hope we can have hope that they will not defeat us, as we partner with others to imagine an entirely new way of doing things.
A world without gun violence, a world with peace in the Middle East, a world without income inequality and environmental degradation are things we must hope for. But we also need to see opportunity before us and take practical advantage of it. I hope we can engage in compromise and reform, even when we want revolution. I hope we can take small steps toward making the world better now. I hope we can see change that is immanent while also hoping for change that is transformative.
People with “radical politics,” have no issue believing and calling for a different world altogether, but we sometimes cringe at the idea of getting our hands dirty by supporting a policy or a politician who we think of as simply the “lesser of two evils” We think of moderates as compromising their integrity, and at times, no better than our true political opponents. We see their participation in politics as complicit in oppression.
On the other hand, people who are more practically minded might hear a phrase like “defund the police” and think it is confusing or an absolute pipe dream. What about the cries of mothers in poor neighborhoods asking for police to help when they are robbed or violated? They want to engage in things that they can change immediately, and may dismiss radicals as idealistic and even counterproductive to the cause.
Hostility between liberals and progressives weakens our cause. As much as I would like us all to engage practically and imagine prophetically, I hope we can honor each other, despite our differences.. There is certainly a role for prophetic people among us, and we should honor their courage and their voice. The issues they bring to the table and keep in the public consciousness make way for change. I, myself, tend to lean toward the prophetic side of things. But with that said, radicals should not dismiss the good-faith efforts of moderates who want to move forward with the tools and options we have at our disposal. If we waste our energy, and spill our tears and blood, on people who largely agree with us but bring about change in different ways, we’ll be giving way for the true enemies of peace and justice—the very real and legitimate fascists that threaten our freedom—to make even more, deadly progress. There is no “better” way to engage, and so I hope we can hold on to the good of both, embracing them both when we can, and honoring others who approach changing the world in a different way
I’m not asking you to change or compromise your beliefs, whether you are practical or prophetic. Rather, I am hoping that we can hold our differences in stride, in order to strengthen the coalition for progressive change. We can vote for Joe Biden, for example, while still believing that the U.S. needs a political revolution. We can back practical environmental policy that reduces fossil fuel emissions, while still hoping for a whole new way of producing and consuming energy. We can make compromises for a ceasefire in Gaza, while also praying and acting for a peaceful two- or one-state solution. We can support measures to reduce income inequality, while also prophesying against the fundamental evils of laissez-faire capitalism.
2024 will certainly give us many opportunities to both imagine a new way forward while practically taking steps to get there. This year, I hope we can engage practically without becoming cynical, and imagine prophetically without becoming paralyzed. Happy New Year.