Not of This World
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36).
The Christian life is challenging because we live in two worlds. Our ultimate allegiance is to a Heavenly King, and we are foremost citizens of heaven. Yet, God has placed us where he has at this time to seek him and glorify him with our lives (cf. Acts 17:26; 1 Cor 10:31). We primarily do that through proclaiming the Good News of Jesus and living lives distinctly different from those who don’t know Christ (Matt 5:13-16). This is because God “has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col 1:13).
The Bible tells us that we have three active enemies, the world, the flesh, and the Devil (Eph 2:2-4). The world is not referring to the planet, nor is it referring to people in general (such as in John 3:16) but is looking at the world as a system that is in opposition to God. The flesh is our own sinful desires that were defeated at the cross, but the final eradication of those desires does not occur until we go home to be with the Lord or Christ returns. The Devil or Satan is the malevolent spiritual being who hates God but cannot attack him so he and his minions go after believers and blinds the minds of unbelievers (Eph 6:12; 2 Cor 4:4).
Increasingly Christians are looking to politics and politicians to advance the gospel or at least preserve a Christian influence in our nation. There is a right sense in which believers, as citizens in this country, have a right to express our opinions and help elect people who are in line with our values. However, there has been an increasing comingling of politics and religion that began in the late 1970s and has been accelerating over the last decade. I am concerned it will only get worse in the lead up to the 2024 presidential election. The church is viewed and treated like another voting block and a political action committee.
It has been said that “our faith should influence our politics.” I wholeheartedly agree. My faith in Jesus Christ and my belief in biblical morality should decisively influence who I vote for, or at least who I won’t vote for. I should not, no, I cannot set aside my faith when I am casting a ballot. As a Christian citizen I have a responsibility to stand up for what is true, right, and good as taught in God’s word. Believers should not waiver on the moral issues of the day that are taught or addressed in Scripture by divine precept or necessary inference. As a church, we have the responsibility to stand on God’s word and preach and teach everything contained in the Bible regardless of how unpopular it may become. The church must not set aside or compromise the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection and biblical truth out of fear of cultural reprisal or cancellation.
Our faith should influence our politics, but I fear that more often it is our politics that is influencing our faith. As an individual believer it is appropriate to have opinions on issues such as inflation, the national debt, or boarder security. A believer can engage in cultural discussion on these issues and vote accordingly. The gathered church should not be focused on politics or promoting candidates. The message of the cross is much more important than any political campaign. The pulpit is not the place to endorse candidates or promote politicians. My intent is not to downplay the urgency of some of the issues we face as a nation. Rather it is to make a distinction between how individual believers may respond to the call to political involvement and how the gathered church continues to keep its focus on the Kingdom of God and the advancement of the gospel. There is much more that can be said on how we are to respond in this cultural moment with grace and truth, but that will be left to another post.
