City on a Hill
Political activists of all stripes invoke the name and idea of “god” to validate their power over others, and they employ the most popular religious ideas and terms when doing so. Just as politicians in many Western-style democracies pay lip service to “Judeo-Christian values,” likewise, Augustus Caesar appealed to traditional Roman morality and deities for divine approval of his imperial regime and conquests.
Too often, patriotism and religious
faith become intertwined and even synonymous in popular thinking, and any lack
of nationalistic fervor becomes the equivalent of religious heresy.
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| [Photo by Pablo Orcaray on Unsplash] |
Today, many church leaders participate in this idolatrous ritual, especially when partisan feelings run high. The inevitable result is the purported alliance if not identification of God, Jesus, and Christianity with the nation-state, culture, and governmental system of their country.
To maintain this fiction,
presidents, kings, members of parliament and dictators claim their country is
the “shining light set on a hill” that illuminates the rest of the world to
show humanity a higher way, a presumptuous and idolatrous assertion to which
many pastors and other church leaders voice a hearty “Amen!”
Politicians are not the
most morally upright or selfless human beings on the planet, so one can understand
their self-serving efforts to hijack Christianity in the pursuit of power and popularity.
However, it is an entirely
different matter when “Christian” and church leaders join this blasphemous
chorus, proclaiming their nation, its form of government or political ideology
as the “light of the world” and the representative of God’s kingdom on the
Earth.
Biblically speaking, at the
heart of this controversy is not whether a country, culture, or government is good,
bad, or indifferent, or whether God champions democracy, autocracy, or
socialism over other forms of government.
Idolatrous statements of this sort contradict the claims of the New Testament declaring that JESUS is “the Light of the World” and the only true representative of the God of the Bible. On the lips of supposed men of God, attributing that role to anyone or anything other than the Nazarene is blasphemy and idolatry.
His light which, in theory,
is reflected on the Earth by his local assemblies, is the true light that beckons
all men and women to be reconciled with God. Jesus gave his life for the entire
world, not just one nation, ethnic group, culture, or political system. The
Bible labels him the “Light of the World,” not Western civilization,
democracy, socialism, or free-market capitalism.
That some church leaders
and organizations embrace ideas about a nation or political system being the “light”
demonstrates how far from the biblical ideal they have strayed in the pursuit
of political influence and power.
ONLY ONE TRUE LIGHT
There is no true light,
liberty, peace, or life apart from Jesus of Nazareth. Scripture declares that his
church transcends all national, cultural, and ethnic boundaries. It is the priestly
kingdom commissioned by him that mediates his light in a very dark world. Super
patriotism and other forms of state idolatry adopted by Christians will only
hinder if not derail his saints from this mission.
Jesus did not establish his
true Church to propagate any of the political ideologies of this fallen age,
but instead, to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to every nation - “To
the uttermost parts of the Earth.”
His disciples are pilgrims and
sojourners in this sinful world. Their true citizenship is in God’s Kingdom. To
be a loyal citizen of His realm means giving TOTAL ALLEGIANCE to its one
and only Sovereign and Lord, which leaves no room for dual citizenship or split
loyalties. According to the Scriptures, sooner or later all the existing
regimes of this age will cease to exist. Effectively, they are “perishing
meat.”
None of the present governments
of this “evil age” has ever officially or directly acknowledged, let
alone submitted to, the absolute
lordship of Jesus. Therefore, whatever else they are good or bad, they
are other than Christian.
Moreover, all existing nations and ideologies are part of the world order that was judged on Calvary. The forms and institutions of this age are, even now, in the process of “passing away.”
The immersion of many churches
and Christians into partisan politics has diverted them from their paramount
task - the proclamation of the Gospel
to all nations. In doing so, their “lamp” fades as they cease
reflecting the light of Jesus and instead demonstrate that their true lord is Caesar.
This is not a call to passivity
or disengagement from the world, but an exhortation for followers of Jesus to
reengage with it using the means described in the Apostolic Tradition,
including prayer, self-sacrificial service for others, and teaching the Word,
but above all by becoming shining witnesses of and for Jesus of Nazareth.
His Kingdom cannot be
advanced by the ballot box, military might, economic dominance, or political
power. Only men and women living cruciform lives submitted to his absolute Lordship
can and will reflect his bright light in this very dark world, pointing all men
toward the truth and life that are found only in Jesus Christ.
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