The City Gates: A Guide to Local Political Action
We cannot afford even one less Christian involved in the political fight to regain Christian stewardship of America.
Local political action is within the grasp of every faithful Christian man. While not every man is called to be the next Christian Prince, there is much work to do in between the ranks of Prince and Pauper. It will not always be glamorous, but the reward will be undeniably glorious.
Every Christian man is already involved in local politics. The pothole that you swerve to miss on your way to work, the HOA letter whining about the color of your mailbox, and the abortion mill on Main St. are all products of the political process.
Acquainting yourself with the various elected positions in your area can seem daunting at first. Luckily, the vast majority of the people who fill those elected positions are anything but daunting. This should give you a measure of peace, but also impress upon you the weight of our task.
Look for positions that have been maintained for many years by the same person. Often, in local governments, the good old boy is less than good, certainly old, and may not even be a boy at all. None of the opponents that you will face in local political races will present much of an obstacle to a bold Christian challenger—especially if that challenger is fit, keeps his family in order, and doesn’t look like he’s one loud noise or cheeseburger away from a heart attack.
Before you go about challenging incumbents, become known at the city gate. Make an effort to attend city council meetings, especially the ones that appear particularly dry. That way, when you have to march down to City Hall to pray against the organizers of the upcoming sodomite extravaganza, your face is not an unfamiliar one. Instead of looking like a radical interloper, you will be remembered as the man who provided good input during the soil and water commission meetings. Building rapport with bureaucrats is the easiest way to dismantle their machinations.
Sons of Thunder
Being accompanied by like-minded men who support Christian political ambition is a great force multiplier. Unbeknownst to many, most elected officials have a conversion table when it comes to the correspondence they receive from their constituents. For most politicians, having one man show up and plead the case for a given issue corresponds to 500-1,000 voters who agree with the angle of the issue being addressed.
Every Jonathan should seek to bring along at least one armor bearer into the Philistine camp. This means that you have to know an armor bearer. What’s more, you have to trust them enough to back your play. Part of being effective as a political actor for Christ means having other Christians by your side who can back you up when the debate starts turning sour. So, make a concerted effort to befriend men in your community who share your political aspirations. They don’t all have to have a signed copy of The Case for Christian Nationalism on their bookshelf, but they do have to be stalwart Christians who care about obeying God first, men second.
Trust is gained in inches. Build friendships at your church, your workplace, your gym, etc., with men who love the Lord and who are willing to be true friends to you. Make your friendship about more than politics. Have men and their families over to your house for meals, help them move a couch or two, sing Psalms and drink good wine together. That way, when the time comes to go and sit in a city council meeting you’ll have something else to talk about than the color of the presiding woman’s hair.
Building Coalition
Most major cities already have sizable Christian activist groups operating in them. Among these groups, the most common special interest is abortion. This is a good and right arena to involve oneself in; however, these groups are often fraught with women of both sexes. Nevertheless, enterprising Christian borough builders should not hesitate to build good contacts with stalwart men involved in groups like these. Take a Saturday off to go and pray at an abortion clinic once a month, and print out some imprecatory Psalms to pass out to the men there. This will provide you with contacts with men in your area who are already committed to in-person activism.
Another great place to build coalitions is, of course, your local church. Part of building Christendom capital is being a faithful churchman in your local community. A word of caution on this point: If you are not comfortable becoming a member of the church that you are attending, it is best not to aggressively pursue political helpers there. Obviously if you are good friends with a man in the church, approach him and ask for aid. Be wary against school-marming women and limp-wristed clerics, but do not hesitate to expect Christian political participation from the men in the pews.
Part of building coalitions is building communities. If your church has a men’s group, become a regular attendee and be sure to bring up prescient prayer requests that concern your local political situation. If your church does not have a men’s group, then start one! There are few sweeter joys than sharing a meal in your own home with Christian men. Building a robust Christian community in your home and church will go a long way towards instilling a visceral love of people and place.
Marching as to War
Once you have a good cohort of Christians that you can trust, it’s time to get off your couch! Once a month you should endeavor to make an appearance at at least one secular political event along with the men whom you trust to back your play. This can be as small as the HOA meeting in your neighborhood or as large as a county public forum. Avoid going much higher than the county if possible when starting out. The decisions in those meetings directly affect your day-to-day life, and are largely undefended by those who would want to thwart your efforts. The Left has delusions of grandeur too, and they have left their flanks wide open by forsaking mundane local activism in favor of burning down Main Street and protesting in front of the nation’s Capital.
Approaching a city council meeting with Christendom in mind can be difficult for the uninitiated. These meetings tend to be quite dry and cover topics that appear mundane. Do not be fooled. These meetings are where decisions are made that you and your neighbors will feel. Read the agenda beforehand and have a few comments on each issue on the docket. Christians are called to steward the soil and water of their community just as much as we are called to topple idols and high places. Making war against the laissez-faire attitude toward these small issues will reap rewards without too much hassle. It will also give you a taste of who is in the good ole boy’s club in your area, which of them are worth supporting, and which need to be ousted.
Your Hat in the Ring
Once you have a good understanding of the local political situation you have a decision to make. Political service is no small task, no matter how seemingly insignificant the position up for grabs may be. Assess whether a commitment to public service is something you are able to support as a father. If the answer is no, then continue to attend meetings, voice your concerns on resolutions, and evaluate whether any of the men in your cohort are more suited to tackling the task. If the answer is not yet, hold pattern as above, but take concrete steps to pursue a political bid. Make your ambition known to those who are in your cohort and ask for their advice and support. In the abundance of counselors a wise man makes war.
If the answer is yes, then get busy. Most of the races in your city and county government have not seen a real contest in decades. The vast majority of incumbents in your area only hold their position because they have a pulse. If you present a knowledgeable, engaged, and confident attitude in the meetings you attend, then you are already leagues ahead of your competitors. Bonus points are automatically awarded to those with a fit and youthful physicality. There’s a reason JFK won the first televised debate, and it’s not because he had better answers.
Fundraising for local politics can seem daunting at first. Take heart—all the legwork you did with building relationships in your political sphere will help tremendously. There are several grassroot PACs with dollars to spend, and yard signs aren’t very expensive. Don’t be afraid to plunder Egypt a bit by taking Boomer-bucks: most older conservatives will be more than happy to see a young face making positive change on the zoning commission.
Conclusion
Unless you want to become the bureaucrat that you seek to replace, don’t get comfortable in any position you acquire. If you win a local election, your first order of business will be to select a stalwart brother in your cohort to replace you during the next election. This will serve two ends. First, it will make sure that Christendom in your borough is never lacking a faithful county commissioner. Second, it will keep the fire in your belly to do all that you can every day to make your position effective in bettering your community for Christ. A ticking clock is a great motivator.
Once that next election comes, assuming your brother beats you at the ballot box, take the political capital that you have accrued in that position and apply it toward another. Select a position that is slightly more contested this time. Now that you have bona fides it will be much easier to beat an incumbent who has some measure of local support.
Keep the pressure on. Do not give an inch. Make no concessions and make many friends. Do not be discouraged if one of the old codgers that you run against bests you. If you have built a solid cohort and made a good name for yourself in your community by your actions, that is far more than the majority of Christians in America today can say. When God closes a soil and water commission spot, he might have opened a seat on the school board.
An imprecation against discouragement: There are men who shun the idea of Christians becoming involved in political action. From one side of the aisle, it is claimed that politics aren’t a Gospel issue and should be rejected. On the other side of the aisle, the argument is that there is no political solution to our modern societal problems, so Christians should reject politics. You’ll note that both sides have the same end goal in mind: to keep you away from politics. We cannot afford even one less Christian involved in the political fight to regain Christian stewardship of America. If state-sanctioned demon worship isn’t something your god cares about, we aren’t worshipping the same God. Likewise, if your god is powerless to be faithful to bless Christian men fighting to make a positive change in our nations’ politics, we don’t worship the same God.
Above all, no matter what you do politically, you must do something. There is no excuse for apathy in this arena. While not all men are called to be Senators, all men are called to take a stand in the gates of their community.
Get off the couch and start winning the world.
