“My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” – John 18:36
Imagine the pressure that would be on Jesus Christ around election time if He were walking on the earth today. Imagine the constant pressure from all sides to join a political party and use His fame to attack the other political parties. There was incredible pressure on Christ to join a party, compromise some aspect of His convictions, and enjoy the benefits that come from not standing alone and being shot from all sides. However, Jesus Christ came not to join a party but to start a new party called the Church of Jesus Christ, which brought a new opportunity to go up and down instead of forward or backward (Zealots and Essenes) or right or left (Pharisees and Sadducees).
This fifth and final group is the Christians. Christianity emerged in a negative world, ruled over by a godless Roman government and surrounded by a demonic culture of Greek perversion and gender confusion. The Church was launched and grew in the same tension we face today: the tug-of-war pulling between the Pharisees on the right, the Sadducees on the left, the Zealots going forward into conflict, and the Essenes going backward into retreat.
For Christians, we must think long-term instead of short-term. Forever and ever, we will be in the Kingdom of God. For a short life that the Bible calls a “vapor” in comparison, we will be on earth under the rule of a government that is flawed. Our hope must be to not just recruit people to our politics but also evangelize people to our Savior. All the nations and governments of the world are coming to an end and will be replaced by the rule of Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords forever. For this reason, to keep thinking and serving north and south, Kingdom down instead of Hell up, we must proclaim the gospel to all political parties. Acts 17:30-31 says, “he commands all people everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this, he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” To live Kingdom down and gospel-focused requires at least three things.
One, the Word goes over the world. Whatever your political, cultural, or social thoughts are, the Word judges the world. This includes your politics.
Two, Christ is over your cause.
Three, preach repentance over tolerance. Today, a faithful Christian leader must call the Sadducees to repent of their progressivism, the Pharisees to repent of their legalism, the Zealots to repent of their bitterness, and the Essenes to repent of their indifference or even cowardice. The gospel calls every group to repent of sin, trust in Christ, and form a new group that doesn’t always go forward, backward, left, or right but seeks to always go up to the Lord Jesus Christ as the Holy Spirit comes down.
Let me also tell you this: as a Christian, you need to endure a lot of pain. You’re going to be treated poorly, you’re going to be hated, some people are going to trash you, they’re going to turn against you, they’re going to falsely accuse you, they’re going to post negative things online, and they’re going to cause you great fear. It’s going to hurt like hell, but it’s all for Heaven. You can either have their approval or His anointing, but most of the time, you can’t have both.
My encouragement would be not to settle for their approval but to remain in His anointing. It’s the most important thing you have, and it can get you through whatever you must endure. Along the way, have a patriotic love for your nation and do your best to vote like Jesus.
What does it look like for you to remain in God’s anointing, especially in this election season?
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