Oct 1, 2020
Everyday Theology
Applications for Questions of the Faith
By Pastor Phil Lawton
I’m tired. I’m tired of the American political system. I’m tired of telling my liberal Christian friends that the media is being misleading about the things Trump says. I’m tired of telling them that one video clip of a shooting is not the whole story. I’m tired of arguing with them that rioters are not protestors. I’m tired of telling my conservative Christian friends that the statement “black lives matter” is true even if the organizers of BLM have Marxist leanings. I’m tired of telling them that people wouldn’t be looking for socialist programs from the government if the church did its job and took care of people. I’m tired of arguing with them that protestors are not rioters. But most of all I’m tired of being told that this nation will be saved if only I vote for the right candidate.
Look, I get it. The people in power know that the best way to keep power is to make everyone else think that the world will end unless you vote for them. I also get that news media has a vested interest in getting eyeballs on what they produce and the best way to do that is to be divisive and sensational. I also know that every four years the world does not end—no matter how much we are told the contrary. I know that the politician inhabiting the White House can’t do very much to comfort the widow who just lost her husband of fifty years. That politician can’t console the mother who lost her child to gang violence or provide dinner tonight for the family who has no income because of the pandemic. Sure, there are policies that might help in these situations, but they will inevitably fail because of bloat, corruption, or just plain ignorance.
I’m not telling you to never vote or that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics. What I’m saying is that we shouldn’t buy the lie that politics and politicians can save us. God could have become incarnate as a political leader. Jesus could have led a successful military revolution against Rome. He didn’t because the Kingdom of God doesn’t work the way the kingdoms of this world do. I for one am thankful that God’s kingdom looks nothing like the kingdoms of this world.
In Daniel chapter 2, we are told of a dream that Nebuchadnezzar has of a statue. The statue represents the many kingdoms from that time up through Rome. That statue is ultimately crushed by a stone, hewn from a mountain, but not by human hands. Daniel says of that stone, “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” (Daniel 2:44) That kingdom is the Kingdom of God. That kingdom was inaugurated with the coming of Jesus. He is the ruler of that kingdom.
Paul reminds the church in Philippi of this reality when he tells them that their citizenship is the Kingdom of God, not the empire of Rome (Philippians 3:20-21). Paul’s point is not that they should give up on the world and just wait for the coming kingdom. After all, Christians are in a sense colonizing the kingdoms of this world with the Kingdom of Heaven. (Peter expounds upon this point in his first letter to the churches in Asia Minor. He calls them chosen exiles.) Paul is saying that as citizens of Heaven we should not fear the storms and assaults of this world because Jesus will one day restore this world. Jesus is the savior of those in His Kingdom, just like Caesar is the savior of Roman citizens.
What I want you to realize from these passages is that our ultimate hope is not in any earthly kingdom or ruler, but in the Kingdom of God and its ruler, King Jesus. This doesn’t mean that we shy away from this world. On the contrary, Paul calls us ambassadors of Christ and to His message of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:20). Just like terrestrial ambassadors, we are called to bring the good news of our home nation to the world. This means that we should be looking at every way that message of reconciliation can be preached. That includes through civic duty. But it also means that we do not put our hope in the kingdoms of this world. Daniel told us those kingdoms were doomed and Paul reminds us our hope is in none other than Jesus Christ.
This nation’s salvation is not coming on November 3rd. It’s not coming from a ballot box. It won’t be achieved through correct foreign policy, or domestic job programs. It won’t come from a return to greatness or maintaining the status quo. A revolution in the streets is not going to bring salvation either. The hard truth that always seems to be overlooked every four years is our nation is doomed. Just like every other nation. No nation, no representative democracy or totalitarian dictatorship or constitutional monarchy or anarcho-syndicalist commune will last forever or be the savior of the world. There is only one savior. There is only one everlasting kingdom. That savior is Jesus Christ. He is the king. And as Christians we all owe allegiance to Him alone.
