“If we lose this election, we lose this country.”
The sincerity and depth of feeling were undeniable as he said these words. There was passion, heartache, even a bit of prophetic fire, but something just didn’t sit right…and it still doesn’t.
The shocking thought occurred to me, “So what if we do lose this country?“
You see, I’ve been hearing these words, or some version of them, for most of my life from well-meaning, genuinely concerned men and women: men and women to whom you would entrust your life because they are salt-of-the-earth, difference making people. And there lies the difficulty. I respect these men and women. I have patterned much of my life and ministry after many of them and have benefitted greatly from their guidance and love. But what if they were missing a crucial point in their effort to preserve and pass forward something better and more beautiful? What if all their well-intentioned efforts were pointed in the wrong direction?
For far too long, far too many Christians have been focused on the wrong kingdom. It is startling to awaken, truly awaken, to this realization.
- Paul, a Roman citizen, writes to the church in Philippi and says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20)
- The writer of Hebrews reminds us, “For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)
- And then there are the startlingly subversive words Christ teaches us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10).
All of these and many others like them scattered throughout the New Testament sound the clear, if unsettling, note that fealty to any earthly kingdom is misplaced.
An election may be lost. Sadly, a nation may be lost. But thanks be to God we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken! I look less and less to our government to act with wisdom and compassion. I pray the church, the forward operating bases of a the coming kingdom, will act with ever increasing volumes of both.
Maranatha.
The Shepherd's Staff 