Christianity and Politics

Today we are going to tackle the two subjects you are never supposed to bring up: religion and politics.

At this point we all know that Barack Obama has won the Presidential election. The campaign has been going for over 18 months and has crisscrossed every state and territory of the United States, and we have finally decided who the next leader of our country will be. All I have to say is, “I’m glad that it’s over!”

Many of you are excited over the outcome of the election. Others of you are disappointed. More than one person has told me that it is the end of the world, or at least the end of the American way of life. But I want to let you in on a little secret: who the president is matters very little in the Kingdom of God.

In Romans 13, Paul tells the Christians in Rome to obey their earthly rulers because they were appointed by God. Paul writes this about Nero, the Roman emperor who will eventually put Paul himself and hundreds of other Christians to death for their faith. Paul reminds them that they are called to be good citizens but not to worry so much about who is in charge.

We must remember that ultimately our citizenship is in heaven. As Paul writes to the Philippians (another persecuted people), he tells them, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). Our savior is not the newly elected President, Senator, or Congressman, it is Jesus Christ!

We must remember that we are American Christians, not Christian Americans. The emphasis is VERY important. We are Christians first, and as such we are primarily concerned with the Kingdom of God rather than the kingdoms of this world. We need to be more concerned with making the Kingdom known in our world.

So, fellow Christian citizens, remember to work for the Kingdom of God this week and always wear your citizenship there on your sleeve.