Being Christian has always had political implications. If you doubt that, read about how well Rome received the Christians from the time of Nero until the Church conquered Rome through conversion. Rome’s problem was not that the Christians worshiped Jesus. Rome objected to the Christian refusal to worship Cesar. Two kingdoms fiercely collided and the unlikely kingdom of slaves conquered the most powerful empire the world had thither-to known. This kingdom of slaves as Rome would have thought of it is what Jesus called The Kingdom of God or The Kingdom of Heaven. The ministry of Jesus was focused tightly on the present and coming Kingdom of Heaven (or Kingdom of God) on the earth.
According to the Apostle Paul, there are only two kingdoms active on the earth; The Kingdom of God’s son, and the power of Darkness [Col.1:13]. The earthly governments and popular culture merely reflect this conflict raging between the two real kingdoms. The fight over loyalties is the same now as it was millennia ago. Even though it has often been possible for us to live at peace as citizens of earthly countries, our true loyalty and citizenship is in Heaven. This causes us to obey the laws of heaven in defiance to the laws of earthly governments at the point where they conflict. Jesus was clear in his teaching that his kingdom is in conflict with the kingdoms of this world, and that we are forced by that inherent conflict to make a choice of loyalties between them. I have heard it popularly taught that Jesus preached love and acceptance, but the scriptures clearly say that he preached the Kingdom of God and repentance [Matt 4:17, Mark. 1:15]. Repentance happens only when we change our position, beliefs, thoughts, and actions to align with God’s position according to his word. The great presupposition of the Bible is that God is (exists), that he is right. When there is disagreement between God and man, man is wrong. God does not change, nor does he need to change. On the other hand, we desperately need to be changed to conform to his will. Jesus, being God, is love. Yet what he calls love and what people call love are very different things. New Testament love refers to not only affection, but to the faithfulness of a covenant. His kind of love is both faithful and eternal. It is not fragile, nor is it changeable with the shifting winds and tides of human cultures and beliefs.
Any kingdom is about its king and the realm over which the king has dominion. Jesus is the king of the Kingdom of God. His word is truth and in his kingdom, his word is law. Americans are not accustomed to think of themselves in relation to a king of any kind, but the usually unrealized reality is that from our conversion to our being received into heaven, Romans 10: 9 describes our relationship to him. “Jesus is Lord…God has raised him from the dead”. Being the king, he is our foundation, our source, our head, and the finisher of what he has started in us. Believers, or better said, Disciples, do not choose their own course or schedule. We come to him every day and discover what his plans are. We then do what he says. Jesus told and still tells his disciples — “follow Me”. In doing so, we stay close to him. He is where the action is. He is where the miracles, power and the provision are. He is truly our life and the length of our days.
There are two Jesus being preached to the world around us. One of these Jesus characters is the sweet shepherd who is never cross with anyone. He loves and accepts everyone and embraces their sin as if it would be welcomed into heaven. This Jesus requires no repentance; no conversion; no sacrifice; no service. Sadly, this Jesus is unable to offer salvation because he is not real; he is an illusion. He is flexible to the point of not standing for anything. Contrast that Jesus with the Jesus of the Bible. The Lord Jesus’ love is endless, but he requires repentance and obedience. He is after all our King! If he is our King, then we owe him our allegiance ahead of everything and everybody. Allegiance or the old word “fealty” is only meaningful when the subject of the king is faced with a choice between competing allegiances. Since most of the time there is no conflict between the laws of our land and the kingdom of God, we can be lulled into complacency that is shocked when conflict does emerge. Our first loyalty belongs to the King of the universe, and the best weapon that the Lord gave us is the Gospel of the Kingdom, which is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe it. We have the answers to the world’s problems. We have the best solutions to the world’s unsolvable problems. These answers are bound up in the Gospel of the Kingdom and the King of the Kingdom. Seek the Kingdom of God first, and the provision, solution, etc. will follow. Jesus is Lord! God has raised him from the dead. We are therefore confident that he has also raised us from the dead with him. Further, he is Lord of the armies of heaven. The nations rage, and the peoples imagine a vain thing…But the Lamb wins.
No matter what happens, stay on God’s side! Do not be overly impressed by the world’s display of power, wisdom, propaganda, blah, blah, blah. Though the kings and rulers of the earth come into agreement and defy the Lord of heaven, He who sits in the heavens shall laugh (Psalm 2: 4). Since Paul in Ephesians 2: 4-6 tells us that the Lord has raised up and seated us with him in heavenly places. We as believers in Jesus laugh too. This may or not be the last generation before the end of the age, but as Gloria Copeland has been known to say, “this is your last generation”! Make it count. This life is the shortest thing that we will ever do throughout the ages to come. Stay close to the King and stay on God’s side! Everyone who disagrees with him will ultimately be shown to be at best wrong, and at worst, a liar.
We are not political because we enjoy telling people what to do, the Kingdom of God just inherently collides with temporal politics; sometimes more forcefully than at other times. There is no way to avoid confrontation. Jesus’ words to Peter echo to us today, “…what is that to you? You follow me.” (John 21: 22).