Love as Statecraft: Faith at Work in Halls of Nations
To say and pursue “sovereign equality” is to push back against oppressive thinking and misguided conquest of nations. Equal sovereignty is not bureaucratic varnish. It is a claim that nations stand as moral equals—responsible for people and planet, answerable to one another, and accountable before God who loves the world.
“Love is the fulfilling of the law… it is the essence, the spirit, the life of all virtue.” —John Wesley, “The Circumcision of the Heart”
That John Wesley quote is my hinge. To pursue public, civic, justice-seeking love is the logic of sovereign equality. Sovereignty that snubs nations grows brittle. Sovereignty that convenes nations as neighbors grows durable.
This year marks my 29th year representing the United Methodist voice at the United Nations. I have watched and engaged international public servants, mission delegates, and civil society allies to bring out the best in one another as we continue to work toward the United Nations’ (UN) three pillars: human dignity and rights, peace and security, and sustainable development.
As United Methodists, we believe the claim that sovereign nations “stand as moral equals,” which supports an important second claim that “national and global civics must be complementary.”
One nation cannot carry the weight of this century without the other. Rising seas don’t respect borders. Pandemics don’t queue at customs. The harms of one place reach another, and the good we do together returns as stability at home. National sovereignty for each country, under a shared sacred trust (Ps 24:1), complements God’s ultimate sovereignty.
Sovereignty that is Equal and Complementary is Not New to Methodists
The Methodist Central Hall in London, England, hosted the first General Assembly of the UN in January 1946. After years of construction, the UN moved to New York City in 1952.
In the early 1960s, the General Board of Church and Society led the construction of the Church Center for the United Nations, located across the street from UN Headquarters. The Church Center is a steadfast beacon of faith-based, civil society engagement that effectively continues to this day.
Our United Methodist Social Principles say and support the same views about sovereign nations in church language. The Political Community grounds civic life in neighbor love and blesses structures that protect human rights and God’s creation. In that light, engagement with the United Nations isn’t a detour. It’s discipleship—social holiness in the open air of public life.
For example:
Consider the Climate
The Community of All Creation reminds us that we are woven into complex ecosystems. Science-honoring stewardship, sustainable policies, and just transitions are not adversaries of sovereignty; they are tools of sovereignty. Mitigation, resilience, and fair finance, done with others, protect homes, harvests, and hopes.
Consider Public Health
We learned at a terrible cost that “none are safe unless all are safe. ” It is not a slogan; it’s epidemiology. Early warning, transparent data, and equitable access to countermeasures are the opposite of surrender. They are sovereignty in defense of life.
Consider the Economy
Our Economic Community commitments uphold the dignity of work, corporate responsibility, and action against trafficking and corruption. When supply chains evade duty and finance outruns fairness, communities pay. When we cooperate, through due diligence, fair taxation of mobile capital, and joint enforcement, the people who labor can live and prosper.
Consider Peace
United Methodists are clear: war is incompatible with Christian teaching. Nations have a first moral duty to exhaust every diplomatic path before force. Peace is not passivity; it is work, prevention, restraint, restorative justice, and institutions that make violence the exception, not the reflex. This is the kind of statecraft that keeps sovereignty steady.
Sovereign Equality is Imperative and Matters Now!
Sovereign Equality is the ground on which we practice complementary national and global civics, in order that people and planet can breathe. It honors sacred worth. It stewards creation. It guards the vulnerable. It puts peace at the center, not the margins, of policy.
If we are to survive together—and there is no future in which we survive apart—then this complementarity is not optional. It is our calling. It is our covenant. It is the present tense of our hope.
See the attached PDF below highlighting Three Steps for Faith-based Organizations to Offer Love as Sovereign Statecraft.
The Present Tense, a monthly column of reflections, is written by Levi Bautista, Assistant General Secretary for United Nations and International Affairs of The General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church.
