“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…” – Philippians 3:20
The Bible makes it clear that our eternal “citizenship is in heaven.” (Philippians 3:20) However, until we die or Jesus returns, our residence is temporarily in a nation on earth. The tension for the believer is how to live between these two realities and be politically active for God and good in our nation in honor of His Kingdom. This brings us to the role of Christians in politics.
Believers have always believed in “two kingdoms” based upon the teachings of the Old and New Testaments. Those two kingdoms are the Church and the state. The Church deals with salvation and making people new, and the state deals with restraining evil. The Church is about preparing people for eternity, and the state’s only concern is people’s lives on earth. The state can never replace the Church, and not everyone in the state is a member of the Church because many do not know and love Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
The two kingdoms are on full display in the Old Testament. The priests descended from the line of Levi (Church). The kings descended from the tribe of Judah (state). When King Saul sought to do a priestly act and offer a sacrifice, God punished him, cutting his line off from the kingship (1 Samuel 13). When King Uzziah sought to burn incense on the altar as a priest, God struck him with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).
To use an analogy, think of the Church and the state as two separate lanes on a road. When the state veers into the Church’s lane, God gets angry, and things get messy. That is precisely the point of the stories of Kings Saul and Uzziah. They were political leaders who tried to do priestly duties, and God swiftly and severely punished them. When these political leaders veered into the Church lane, God made a public example of them with judgment. Today, we are seeing the state repeatedly veer into the Church lane. Examples include trying to force Christian businesses to make cakes and invitations for same-sex weddings, forcing Christian employers to fund the holocaust of abortion, and governments seizing custody of children from their parents if they have mental health problems and gender confusion. When the state veers into the Church lane, there will be horns honked, some dents, and the occasional head-on collision if we are to remain faithful to our God and remain in the lane He has called us to.
Jesus also taught the two kingdoms principle repeatedly. When the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate asked if He was plotting a political revolution, Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36) Jesus the King rules over all kings, and His Kingdom reigns over all kingdoms. However, the Kingdom of our King Jesus has not yet come in its fullness, and until we see it, we are to pray as He taught us: “Your kingdom come.” (Matt. 6:10) Jesus’ Kingdom has begun its’ reign on earth through the preaching of the gospel and the presence of God in the Church, but until He returns, the two kingdoms remain.
In tomorrow’s devotional, we will look at the five kinds of Christian citizens.
How can you honor God while living within these two kingdoms of the Church and the state?
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