No area of the universe falls outside God’s concern. As Christian people, we believe we must be faithful stewards of the portions of the world God has entrusted to us (Genesis 1:28, Luke 12:42). So we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, and we take action to make it happen.

Suppose we discover that there are children in our community who go to bed hungry. This is a political issue: lawmakers and editorialists will debate whether and how government should address this problem. Some people might therefore consider it off limits for Christians. Yet most Christians would probably see feeding the hungry as part of the business of the kingdom: it’s a project followers of Jesus should be working on. So some of them volunteer in food pantries and soup kitchens, and others contribute dollars and canned goods, so that needy people will have reliable meals.

Some Christians find themselves moved to care about hungry people not only in their own neighborhood, but in your neighborhood, too. That makes them wonder why anyone in America should go hungry. So as concerned citizens they endeavor to change how we think and how we run the country, so that needy people will no longer lack good nourishing food anywhere in our nation.

But why stop at the border? There are Christians who find themselves wondering why children anywhere in the world should have to go to bed hungry. And then they ask what we could do, as faithful Christians concerned about children who don’t have enough food, to change the world and end hunger.

Working to implement a just and comprehensive global food policy puts us squarely in the realm of politics. Yet that won’t keep it from being Christian, when Christian people hope, pray, and take action for everyone in the world to have adequate access to food. And also to education, medical care, job opportunities, affordable housing, and so on.

Paul reminds us that it hurts the church when people gifted for one kind of Christian work disparage other kinds (I Corinthians 12:21). So: if that church member has a vision for strong ministries of disciple-making and hands-on mission, that’s great: go ahead and make that happen. But dismissing other people’s Christian concerns as “political” probably won’t help you do it.