Citizenship Without Illusions [a review]
I'm not going to bury the lede: this is a phenomenal little book about Christian political engagement.
David T. Koyzis's new work is in some ways a distillation of his earlier work, Political Visions and Illusions, and in some ways is something that only could be written in our current political moment. The book begins with a brief sketch of what citizenship is supposed to be and then moves into a few different topics of interest:
- The tension Christians feel as members of two different kingdoms
- The importance (or lack thereof) of one's vote
- Mobilizing for political action
- Progressives, Conservatives, and how much a Christian can "belong" to a political party
- Whether we owe any allegiance to the broader globe beyond one's own borders
- Politics within the church
I realize that it's a bit sensationalist to say a book is "phenomenal," so let me defend that claim.
It's blessedly short
People who write about theology tend to be super wordy, and it's largely the same with politics. You'd think that a theological book about politics would be extra long, but instead it's really approachable.
It's convictional, yet hospitable
Koyzis writes from a Reformed perspective, but without the grating tone of self-assured cockiness that can often take. Instead, it strikes me as the best of what the Reformed perspective can be: rooted in Scripture with an eye toward engagement in the world while recognizing that there are other traditions that think about things in different ways. Koyzis demonstrates an admirable posture of speaking his own convictions but with charity and a willingness to understand those who disagree with him.
It offers a global perspective
A lot of Christian books are written by Americans and published by American publishers for a primarily American audience, and as such they suffer from tunnel vision. That can sound like, "Here's why all Christians must be Republican" (which assumes that all Christians live in democratic countries with a party called "Republican"), or it can sound like, "Here's why Christians can vote Democrat" (which rests on the same fundamental assumption). Plenty of Christians do not live under such a political system, though. Even in other democratic nations, the contours of political engagement for an individual are simply different. Koyzis manages to cover those differences without then descending into bland abstractions. It's still practical.
It offers wisdom to a post-2020 world
The racial unrest of 2020 gave white Christians who were willing to listen an awareness of why Black Christians tend to hold different party affiliations. Koyzis takes a different line from other Evangelicals and is able to see why sincere Christians of good faith would vote differently. Even so, he's open and earnest about his desire for Christians to feel a stronger bond to other Christians than to the party they vote for.
Should you read it?
Of all the books in this general territory that I've read, this is the one I'd recommend to folks. Are you going to agree with everything in it? Of course not—I know I don't. When I found myself disagreeing with him, though, he had earned my respect such that I was willing to hear him out rather than angrily dismissing him. When I think about the Christians in my life who are further left or further right than I am, I genuinely think I could recommend this to them and then have an interesting discussion from the questions he lists out at the back. So yes, I think you should read it!
DISCLAIMER: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of a fair, unbiased review.