"My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my disciples would have been fighting..." -Jesus
It is a well-known fact that many Jews a few thousand years ago were looking for the Messiah to be a political power-house that would set up an authoritative earthly government. Instead he laid down his life for his followers and made it clear that his authority was never going to take the form of earthly power.
So let me be clear right off the bat that i believe in churches and church members being "political" in a sense. We must care for the people in the places God has put us, and one way of doing that is through government. However, our government action must stem from a right view of God's Kingdom. As a favorite artist put it; "My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man... It's to a King and a Kingdom."
What really concerns me is that most of the church members i know talk and act as if more of our hope is in our earthly government rather than in our King and His Kingdom. Much of our action as a congregation is political activism and protesting. Often the "success" of the American church is judged by what appears to be a Christian influence over government more than by any other measure.
I just finished a huge paper on the history of this issue, and i know that there are a million different views to take on it, but my question for this week is simple-
What does it look like for a church to act as if our One True Hope is the Kingdom of God made manifest in Jesus Christ, rather than in a "savior on Capitol Hill?"
Have fun with this one!
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