Politics and Kingdom

Hi everybody, this is March of 2024, and that's in case you're listening to this sometime in the future. I want to say I did not watch or listen to the State of the Union address last night, and I'm not saying that particularly proudly or sadly. I'm just saying. This is Dave Scherrerrer, and this is Kingdom Offerings, and it's a ministry of 100 bold ministries that spends our time talking about the gospel of the kingdom. I recently did a podcast that touched on the kingdom of God and 21st century politics, and I kind of want to build on those thoughts today with the State of the Union and all the political conversations on my mind. In that Kingdom Offering podcast, I noted that while we should always be civic-minded, and I even endorse the idea of Christians in politics, though I think that's a painful and persecuted path, I also stated soberly that there's no earthly system, divine by earthly citizens that can actually do anything to ultimately change our circumstances on earth. Let me say that again. There is no earthly system designed by earthly citizens that can do anything to ultimately change our circumstances on earth, not ultimately. I want to say that I didn't avoid the State of the Union out of partisan politics. In fact, I was meeting with a family following the death of their father, and I can honestly say that my time with this family, I feel, was far more profitable than the two hours I might have had watching this address and maybe listening to the opposing parties rebuttal. Maybe infinitely so more valuable. Politics for preachers, let me just editorialize for a moment, is tough. People get agitated. I guess that's okay. I'd rather have an excitable group in front of me than a bunch of sleepyheads, but too often the politically excitable parishioners in my churches hear me put a couple of words together that they don't think should be in the same sentence, and it kind of wraps them around the axle, and they quit listening to the sermon. It's my experience, but it happens. During the pandemic of 20, 21, 22, I made enemies from the pulpit with just about everyone. I made enemies from political reds, political blues, from ethnic blacks, from ethnic whites, from people who wore masks and people who didn't, from people who hated the idea of vaccinations and from people who thought you were unchristian to not vaccinate. I antagonized all those people. I kind of think of it like the Civil War time. If you wore a blue coat and gray pants, you'd get shot at from both sides. It was not a fun playground during those two years. One of my parishioners accused me of being a Republican, and they left. Another accused me of being a Democrat, and they left. I didn't correct any of these people exactly on where I stand. In my mind, the politics really are not the point of the conversation from the pulpit. It's about the kingdom of God. And the way that impacts our morals and our activities of the day, and those need to be addressed. But it's not really political. It's scripture. There's a noted Presbyterian pastor, Tim Keller, who said, The longer it takes people to figure out where you stand on political issues, in all likelihood, the more faithfully you are preaching Jesus. Well, I hope that's true. I want to acknowledge and recommend, and I want to pull from Scott Saul's book, Jesus Outside the Lines. That's a Tyndale House publication from 2015. And I like the byline on the book. So the title of the book is Jesus Outside the Lines, but the byline is, A way forward for those who are tired of taking sides. Yeah, I kind of like that. So let's dive a little bit into that. As in the case with every paradox associated with Christianity, there's kind of a both-and and a neither-nor component as it relates to political loyalties. Unless a human system is fully centered on God, and I want to say no human system is, Jesus will have things to affirm and things to criticize about it. The political left and the political right are no exception. And I want to say that Scott Saul and that I am essentially making the same point that I was making a moment ago. This helps me. I hope it will help all of us, especially those tired of the rancor and the caricatures that so often accompany political discussions, the stereotyping and the blaming. I want to say a couple more things about the government and the idea of taking sides. First thing that I want to say about government is that God's in favor of it, and that should encourage anybody listening with a career in public service. Presidents, members of Congress, senators, governors, mayors, council members, police officers, military personnel, people that sit on the library board in the park and school district employees, public servants play an important role in God's plan to bless the world and bring glory to himself. Fact. We know Jesus paid taxes and he encouraged his disciples to do the same. To those living in Rome, whose government wasn't always friendly to Christians, the Apostle Paul encourages submission to the government authorities who are ministers of God, he calls them with quotes, ministers of God, to whom taxes and respect and honor are owed. Beginning with Deborah in the Old Testament, she served as a judge over Israel. Joseph served as a prime minister for Egypt's Pharaoh. Daniel served in the count of Nebuchadnezzar. Nehemiah was in the court of the Persian king and Xerxes. We've seen these leaders being pulled into the governments for the purposes of God's plan. In the New Testament, Jesus gave praise to a Roman soldier for his exemplary faith, and that was in Matthew 8. So government, whether in theocratic ancient Israel or secular Egypt or Babylon or Persia or Rome, government has always been a part of God's plan. But when it comes to politics, the Bible doesn't give us a reason to believe that Jesus would side completely with one political viewpoint or another. When it comes to kings and kingdoms, Jesus sides with himself. Let's look at this curious encounter in Joshua. Joshua, who is the Israelite military commander who's headed into battle, confronts an angel, an angel of the Lord. It says, when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and said to him, Are you for us? Are you for our adversaries? And he said, No, but I am the commander of the army of the Lord, and now I have come. Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, What does my Lord seek to say to his servant? And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. That's a fun story. Joshua says, Lord, are you for us or are you for our adversaries? And he simply responds, No, I'm not. It seems like what we should be asking isn't whether Jesus is on our side, but whether or not we're on his side. I believe that's what the angel of the Lord's army was inviting of Joshua. Whose side are you on, Joshua? It's the appropriate question, not only for our politics and government, but for everything else. In Scott Saul's book, he suggests that Christian citizens walk in a hierarchy of loyalties. That there are things, non-negotiable values that are in a certain hierarchy that we need to attend to. You know, it's curious. Maybe you knew this by your reading of the New Testament. But there was a lot of political diversity among Jesus's disciples. Included in the twelve are Simon, who was a zealot, we are told. And Matthew, who was a tax collector. So this is significant because zealots worked against the government. They wanted to overthrow the government. While tax collectors worked for the government. And in my mind, I would guess that Matthew and Simon would not get along. They would not consider both serving on the same task force. Simon was a right-wing, small-government kind of guy. Who thought that the state should keep out of people's business. And Matthew was a left-wing, big-government kind of guy. Who made a career out of collecting taxes for the state. But despite their opposing political viewpoints, Matthew and Simon were friends. And Matthew wants us to know this. It's interesting. In his gospel, Matthew places an emphasis on the fact that a tax collector and a zealot can live in community together. Because of a hierarchy of loyalties that exist. Especially for Christians. Our loyalty to Jesus and his kingdom must always exceed our loyalty to an earthly agenda. Whether political or otherwise. Scott Saal said this. He said, Let me say that again. Because I think it's a really great turn of phrase. We should feel at home with people who share our faith, but not our politics, even more than we do with people who share our politics, but not our faith. If this isn't our experience, then we may be rendering to Caesar what belongs to King Jesus. I need to wrap up. But I want to say that people from varying political persuasions can experience unity under a first allegiance to King Jesus, who on the cross removed and even killed, even killed the dividing wall of hostility between people on the far left and the far right and everybody in between. You know how I know that? Because the Bible says so. And Ephesus says that in chapter 2, Jesus came that we might be reconciled, us both to God and one body through the cross, and thereby killing the hostility. Let's keep the politics in front of us, but let's keep the gospel of the kingdom over us. Let's pay attention to His rule and His reign. This is Dave Scherrer. These are kingdom offerings. Feel free to weigh in at 100fullministries.org. Catch me up on my email address at dave at 100fullministries.org. Peace to you. You