Politics, Church and the Kingdom

In an earlier post, I said that if Christians wanted change they could believe in that they needed to focus on the Kingdom of God because the it is only through following Christ and his Kingdom that the world is and will continue to be changed.

The above sounds good in principle, but how can the Church and the government co-exist when, in many ways, they are opposed to one another? This is a difficult question to answer, as many Christians affiliate themselves with different parties that "seem" to support their particular understanding of the Christian worldview. But by aligning oneself with a particular political party is the problem because no political party can or does support all the features of the Kingdom that Christ charged us with following and living out in this world. The reason not party can do this is because the majority of those running our contemporary government believe that they are God's substitute and no political party of the government is willing to submit itself to God's authority through Christ in order to bring the Kingdom into reality.

This, of course, is not to say that government, by God's grace, doesn't or cannot do things that are not kingdom oriented in terms of morality. But the Kingdom is not just about making moral decisions. It is about having a relationship with God through Christ that is seen and experienced when Christians live out grace, forgiveness, justice, responsibility and peace. Unfortunately, however, our government, regardless of party, is incapable of being the Kingdom unless its motivation is to ultimately bring people into relationship with Christ. This is why government and the church are limited in their ability to cooperate with each other, as promoting the moral aspects of the kingdom are the only things the two share in common.

At this point, some may want to criticize me and say that one party is more moral than the other. So, for example, Republicans are more moral than democrats because they are generally anti-abortion, promote and support the individual's ability to financially prosper, wish to limit the power of government to control our ability to live life and hold individual responsibility up as a high ideal.

There are, however, many biblical contradictions in the more conservative line of thinking. First, God does not praise individual prosperity without responsibility. If one prospers, God allows the prosperity for a purpose, namely, to help those who are not prosperous. In other words, individuals may prospers, but they live in a community to which they are obligated. Second, many conservatives are anti-abortion but pro-war (i.e., national defense). These two cannot co-exists, as God respects all human life and wants it all protected, even the lives of our enemies. This is why Jesus tells us to love our enemies. Lastly, Christians align themselves with more conservative causes because conservative uphold more traditional values, such as the belief that marriage should be defined as the union between one man and one woman. Gay marriage is a sin and society should not encourage or endorse it and any that support it are not following God's plan for basic human relationships. Now let me say that I do not believe society should support or endorse gay marriage, but I also do not believe Christians can or should control the moral decisions of others. To do so, is not only to support legalism, but is also to be morally arbitrary. For example, how many Christians who are strongly opposed to gay marriage are equally opposed to obesity, which is just as sinful as we are temples of the Holy Spirit? Yet, there are many overweight conversative Christians, who are not bothered or give no spiritual relevance to their weight problems? Remember that sins are sins to God.

If the conservatives believe I have only picked on them, I could equally pick on liberals, as I see many liberals who are anti-war but support abortion, which is again contradictory to the Kingdom's mandate that we respect life. They tend to believe too much in the government's ability to "fix" problems can only be fixed by looking to God through Christ, and they tend to turn a blind eye those who have prospered, blaming them for the problems of inequality in our society. Again, some of their points are valid. Some are not.

I return, however, to my point, which is this: Christians need to ponder what their priorities are. Should we spend the majority of our time listening to Fox News and Rush Limbaugh? Should be consumed with listening to the generally liberal media? Or should we quiet ourselves and listen to what the Holy Spirit is speaking to God's people about His Kingdom and realize it trumps government in every way?

Just something to think about.

For an excellent text on the problems of Christian legalism see Gregory A. Boyd Repenting of Religion: Turning from Judgment to the Love of God (Grand Rapids MI: BakerBooks, 2004).

Why am I blogging?

I have believed for quite sometime that people need to explain why they blog. For me, there is one main reason, namely, I blog because I constantly need to remind myself of what I believe is important, meaning that my blog is most importantly for me initially and only then for those who care about what I believe.

With this preface, let me state upfront what my blog is and is not. First, this blog is not a journal of my innermost life, trials, emotional tensions, personal issues. I have read too many blogs about such matters and I find them to give TMI (a.y.a too much information). I understand the need of people to express who they are and what they go through in life in some form, but I do not believe putting the personal details of my life out into the virtual world for all to see.

The above declaration about what my blog is not then naturally leads to what it is. My blog is about what I believe is important and will focus mostly upon Christian theological and spiritual matters. My hope is that blogging on these two topics will continually remind me of what is important in my life and encourages me to continue pursuing a deeper relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Third, this blog is not a place for people to debate me on what I believe. So, I will not respond to comments I believe just want to challenge me for the sake of challenge. Besides, it is always more easy to debate than it is to listen to what is being said, reading and listening with respect. So, if you want to debate, please don't on this blog.

Lastly, the purpose of this blog is to build relationship with other who are Christian. I desire that those who read it desire to relate to what I am saying, thereby giving us the ability to encourage and build on another up in our faith. So, let the journey begin.

Thank you all for reading and interacting.

Jason

Inauguration Blues.

Today is a good/bad kinda day isn't it? It is a good day because a group of people (i.e. the U.S.) was able to move beyond some of its racial tensions between black and white by electing Barack Obama as president. It is, however, a much more depressing day than a good one.

Some may wonder how I could say something like this. How could this historic (good) day be depressing? Some may believe I am depressed because I have tended to lean toward conservativism and I am down because liberals are the controlling body of our national government now. At one time, this belief would have been right. Now, however, it saddens me to think I have wasted some must mental and emotional energy on political matters, because, in doing so, I have missed what matters most, namely, the Kingdom of God.

The depression comes from the fact (yes, I said fact) that many Christians look more to our human governments to solve problems that only God's kingdom can. So, the Kingdom is what brings lasting racial reconciliation, not government. The Kingdom is what brings financial contentment, not government. God's Kingdom is what offers us unity, not government. The Kingdom is what gives peace, not governments. The Kingdom is what offers true justice, not government.

I did not and will not watch the inauguration today, not because I dislike President Obama, but because I know he is not the one who provides me with contentment, peace, justice, or unity. Why? Because government, no matter how hard they try, can never replace what God has done and continues to do through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So, Christians, do you want change that can be believed in? Look to Christ and His Kingdom, not to government.

It is true that today was historic, but let us not forget the history that matters most, namely, that approximately 2,000 years ago the greatest, most life changing event in the history of humanity took place in through the coming of Christ, because it is that history which has, is and will continue to make a true difference.

For an interesting and thought-provoking book on the kingdom and the government see Gregory A. Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church (Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, 2005).