When many Christians begin searching the Scriptures while considering how to craft their personal political theology, they find themselves naturally drawn toward the sacred “red letters” where Jesus speaks. In his words, we experience God’s special care toward vulnerable communities, read extensively about justice and mercy, and can come away with a robust understanding of how we should engage in politics.
That noted, restricting ourselves to only reading the four Gospels — although Jesus also speaks in Acts and Revelation, they are sparingly used to form a political theology — means inadvertently forgoing the wisdom found in the other 62 books in the Protestant canon. In light of our current broken political and spiritual situation, we could certainly use the wisdom of the minor prophets, since even a cursory reading provides the reader with rich insights about how God views society, government and justice.
Matthew Kolb
These writings condemn Israel for forgetting its covenant crafted with God while calling out its people for their mistreatment of others. Indeed, God’s condemnation is explicitly aimed at the Israelite society and government, recognizing their inability to care about justice, mercy, love or righteousness reflects a deeply spiritual turning away from him and his ways.
In the run-up to the 2026 midterm elections, let us look at several passages from these biblical authors, taking the time to consider what these texts ask from us and how God expects us to fulfill the obligation of Micah 6:8 to act justly and love mercy in our current political situation.
First, Zechariah 7:10 reminds us to “not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner or the poor.” These categories represent individuals the pagan world would disregard as worthless or unnecessary to help, with this verse serving as a reminder that God does not consider members of these communities as unimportant.
Contrary to a common critique from more conservative Christians, this — and other commandments — does not merely refer to an individual; instead, they cover the entire nation of Israel, with the Lord through the prophet communicating displeasure that Israel had forgotten God’s special care for the least of these.
In what ways has our government oppressed these classes of people who obviously carry great importance in the eyes of God? How might we craft policies that uplift their concerns and help provide better support and services to these communities?
Transitioning to Hosea 6:6, we are informed that God desires “steadfast love and … the knowledge of God.” Much like Jesus’ dual commandment in Matthew 22, knowledge of God cannot be separated from steadfast love. Our faith demands more than merely knowing the right thing; instead, we are required to take action in showing that steadfast love of God in our politics.
“Our faith demands more than merely knowing the right thing; instead, we are required to take action in showing that steadfast love of God in our politics.”
What political candidates are focusing their time and attention on promoting steadfast love? How have elected officials been either supporting steadfast love while in political office or staunchly opposing it?
Looking to understand who God is and how that should drive our political engagement, the prophet Joel assists us in the effort. Joel 2:13 explains that God is compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, three attributes in short supply in our politics of inhumanity, quick anger and spewing of hateful attitudes.
Imagine the changes in our personal political witness if we sought to emulate these character traits. Imagine if we considered these attributes when weighing whether to vote for candidate A or candidate B on whether they followed in the footsteps of God in this manner.
Finally, Amos chapter five, verses 13-15 contains perhaps the most striking and concise articulation of Christian political theology: Oppose those who promote evil, oppress the oppressed and take bribes while supporting those who seek the good, hate evil and maintain justice.
As we gaze on our ballots, what candidates do we find ourselves drawn to who have sought the good, hated evil and sought to maintain justice? What candidates do we believe promote evil and continue to oppress the oppressed?
This list is certainly not exhaustive; however, even within these selected passages we experience the love that God has — and desires that we do too — for widows, orphans, migrants or the poor. We witness God’s yearning for justice, mercy, compassion and love while condemning injustice, inhumanity, anger and hatred.
This November, we have the opportunity to join the minor prophets in knowing God’s character and taking that understanding with us into the voting booth. In this time of oppression, inequality, anger and injustice, let us turn to the authors who faced similar situations and filled with the Holy Spirit, gave us wisdom to help us make sense of this broken world.
Matthew Kolb is a student at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.