Humility and Empire.

What about the ‘faith’ {for what else could you call it?} we put in the political process? Historian Will Durant, in The Story of Civilization, wrote that “There is no greater drama in human record than the sight of a few Christians, scorned and oppressed by a succession of emperors, bearing all trials with a fierce tenacity, multiplying quietly, building order while their enemies generated chaos, fighting the sword with the Word, brutality with hope, and at last defeating the strongest state that history has known. Caesar and Christ had met in the arena, and Christ had won.” {Italics Mine}

Now... contrast the presence of Jesus so prominently on display in the lives of His earliest Disciples with our present day tendency to rely on effort and ingenuity, democratic will and political pressure, to ‘achieve’ our desires in the public sphere. Pretty stark contrast, wouldn’t you say? Instead of concentrating on the invisible, the eternal, and the spiritual, we worry about which politician can represent us best or which political party has our interests in mind. Let me clue you in on something here, just in case you haven’t figured it out: None of them.

What is Abba’s vision for governments and politics in the Messianic Age, these “last days” initiated by the Incarnation and brought to completion with the King’s Return {because in the end, His is the only one that matters}? On one occasion Jesus said to the Pharisees, “the Kingdom of God is within you” {Lk. 17:21b}; on another the apostle Paul said, “the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” {Rom. 14:17}. Jesus paints a picture of a Kingdom far different from any man has imagined. The very essence of its rule, power, and authority is spiritual and divine. The intrigue and power-brokering of our politicians and their parties have no lasting effect whatsoever on its existence.

Now think about elections, at every level, in the US and consider whether Jesus wondered if Octavian or Tiberius, Claudius or Caligula, was ‘God’s man’ for the Empire. Do you think the Apostles and apprentices of the early Church worried about whether there was prayer in Roman schools? When you look to the Scriptures, you never see them saying, “Oh no, oh noooo, Nero is a murderer, an adulterer, and a homosexual, what in the world are we going to do?” They understood that the Kingdom of Grace is, in Jesus’ own words, “not of this world” {Jn. 18:36a}; therefore, all the kingdoms of this world with all their power, persuasion, even persecution, could not stop its advance. It will go on conquering unto Eternity.

And what is our role in the Story? Our role is to give our lives over to it, wholeheartedly, to labor in the Cause of our King and to pray again and again and again without hesitation, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.” How? “On Earth,” exactly “as it is in Heaven.” Yes, Lord... let Your Kingdom come in the hearts of men and women, let Your freedom reign in the lives of Your own, let Your sovereign rule be seen in every word, every thought, every deed of every Disciple. In Your mighty name. Amen.

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org