One thing must be kept in mind: We Christians are Christians first and everything else after that. Our first alliegiance is to the kingdom of God. Our citizenship is in heaven. We are grateful for political freedom. We thank God for democracy as a way of life. But we never forget that we are sons of God and citizens of another city whose builder and maker is God. For this reason, we must not identify the gospel with any political system or make Christianity to be synonymous with any form of government, however noble. Christ stands alone, above and outside of every ideology devised by man. He does not join any of our parties or take sides with any of our great men except as they may come over on His side and try to follow Him in righteousness and true holiness. Then He is for them, but only as individuals, never as leaders of some political faction. The true Christian will be loyal to his country and obedient to those in authority, but he will never fall into the error of confusing his own national culture with Christianity. Christianity is bigger than any country, loftier than any civilization, broader than any human ideology.
A.W. Tozer
Have you ever thought about leaving, or actually left a church because it didn’t share the same political beliefs you do?
When you were looking, or perhaps you are still looking, for a home church, is how they support your political beliefs one of the deciding factors?
Are we trying to bend our faith to fit our political beliefs or adjust our political opinions to align with our Christ centered worldview?
Ponder that.
We are Citizens of Heaven, Followers of The Way, Believers in Jesus, and Co-Heirs with Christ, the fact we live in America is secondary and our beliefs about American political issues, as varied as they can be, should always yield to our Faith, Relationship, and Love we share in Christ’s Kingdom.
Perhaps it should be welcomed that what may be taught on Sunday morning would shake our political beliefs to the core, make us question our stance, even maybe, change to be more like Christ and less like a political party.
Christian First, American Second.
Have you ever been told or heard that America is a Christian nation. God’s country? Blessed and chosen by God? Or that such and such verse is about America needing to repent in order to be blessed by God again? Etc etc?
(Like 2 Chronicles 7:14. Contextually about Isreal and God’s promise to the people of Isreal, not the USA.)
I find it to be a very nationalistic worldly view, and not of the Kingdom.
Don’t get me wrong, I love America. I believe it’s the best country on earth. We are so privileged to live here and enjoy the freedom and rights we do as American citizens.
But to elevate my earthly country, above others as exalted by God? I just can’t buy it.
You see, I beleive Christ died, paid the price, tore the vail, and rescued each and every one of us, no matter what nation we hail from. He even specifically instructs us to spread His good news to “All Nations”!
Other countries even send missionaries to the US. I’m not convinced that God is anxiously seeking for the nation to repent, at least not even remotely like like eagerly awaits each individual soul who turns to Him. Our individual hearts are what God is after, a relationship with you specifically, not your country of origin or residence. God does call countries he calls individuals.
I’m merely a foreigner here in the USA, citizen yeah, but my home is in another Kingdom.
Let us not forget who we are. Lets not let patriotism or nationalism overshadow our roles ambasadors of Heaven, not of this world, but in it.
Patriotism
Oxford Dictionary
the quality of being patriotic; devotion to and vigorous support for one’s country.
Nationalism
Oxford Dictionary
Identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations.
Many people fall for the appeal of becoming a gatekeeper. Under the false notion of being a protector, they take it upon themselves to judge and determine who is allowed in and who is not. Who is a sheep, who is a ram, who is really a Christian, who is not. Often, throwing cultural and social norms and beliefs in the mix. Many people have felt unworthy, and unloved in church, shamed from the the faith, segregated, and outcast.
You can, in fact like both your country and God, but we are commanded to love One over the other.
Many conservative Christians elevate certain political views as dogmatic Christian beliefs.
“You vote Democrat so you aren’t a real Christian.”
“You voted for a candidate that accepted money from a company that supports abortion, you aren’t a Christian”.
Etc.
Here we see Governor DeSantis virtually equate the left with the Devil himself as he parallels “schemes of the Devil”, as it is written in the Bible, with his own “the left’s schemes”. (See Ephesians 6 which he paraphrases about the Armor of God)
The danger here, though, is in wedding our faith commitments to our political beliefs and making them so intertwined that we think our politics are God’s politics, our party is God’s party, our political opponents are God’s adversaries, and our beliefs are God’s Way.
John Corriea
Further, while I love the United States very much, in the grand picture of the Kingdom of God, what country you call home means didly squat, let alone what political party you are in.
Should our Christian beliefs influence our political stances? Absolutely. Though I fear many who’ve bought into Christian Nationalism, the idea that America is God’s country and that we are the last Christian stronghold on earth, let their political stances influence their theology, instead of the other way around.
“Ain’t gonna find it in a politician
Not from the government or any law
Can’t get it going by your own religion
Only by the Spirit and the Word of God
Only by the Spirit and the Word of God
Come with me
Come on with me, yeah!Anybody here looking for a revival
“Revival” by Third Day
In our own hearts and across the land
Anybody looking for a revival
Lift up your voice and say Amen
Lift up your voice and say Amen”
We aren’t called to be gatekeepers. In fact, just the opposite. We have just about zero role in determining who may enter the Kingdon and who may not. We are told to love everyone, especially those who harm us or whom we would consider our enemies. That role of determining who may enter and who may not, is God’s and His alone.
We are ambasadors. Citizens of The Kingdom, sent to the world, to share with everyone what we are about. What good is an ambassador that never leaves the embassy or only congregates with their fellow ambassadors?
An ambasador is sent to another place to represent their homeland. They engage with the locals, learn about their way of life, and share theirs with them. They show, by their actions, how their kingdom treats people. In this case, we are called to love. We are messengers of joy and grace, not harbingers of judgment and condemnation.
Are you more a citizen of America than you are a Citizen of Heaven? Are you living as a Christian refugee in America, as a Gatekeeper of the Faith, or an an Ambasador of Heaven?
I don’t want my love for anything, good or bad things, to overshadow my love for Christ and his Kingdom. I want His kind of love to be my legacy.
