A New Politics

17: A New Politics

“… we need to remind ourselves of this ultimate Christian truth: the final rule will be a theocracy. God will rule through King Jesus over the whole world. With that important reminder baptizing every political controversy and voting season, we ask, In the meantime, how do we live?”

AMERICA’S FOUNDERS. The Puritans wanted to build a godly society and had a vision of seeking to bring about God’s will in a nation. Nothing wrong with that. But, the reality is far different. “Maybe we need to revise our Bible verse to read, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, and neither is there Republican nor Democrat, for you are all one in Christ Jesus! For some, those italics may be the hardest item to chew in our fellowship of differents.”

PAUL AND ROME’S POWERS. Paul probes the same questions, but faced a much different political reality for there is no concrete guidance. Four principles can be learned from Paul.

  1. Be Good Christian People in the Empire. “Whatever we think of politics today, we too are called to pray for our leaders.” “Good citizenship is a posture of the one whose primary citizenship is under King Jesus. It is the posture of engagement for the sake of the kingdom, but it is never the posture of total obedience or subservience to Caesar.”
  2. Recognize the State as a Temporary Good. “So our relationship to the state must be nothing less than “ambivalent.” Yes, it’s within God’s design, but when it oppresses, the Christian cannot support the state.”
  3. Challenge the State with the Gospel, Even If It Means Resistance. “The gospel message subverts any other message that lays claim to a person deeper than the claim of Jesus. To the degree that the state’s claims are consistent with King Jesus’ claims, the Christian is a good citizen. The moment the state lays claim beyond what Jesus claims, the Christian citizen is called to follow Jesus, regardless of what that means for one’s life.” The example of Karl Barth.
  4. The Best Way to Be Political Is to Be the Church.” 

Quotes from: Scot McKnight. “A Fellowship of Differents.” iBooks. https://itun.es/us/9W9u1.l

Charles Eklund 2018