Every era of Christian history has come with the calling to confess that \u201cJesus is Lord\u201d over and above whatever earthly power structures exist. The challenge is to figure out how to do this as both \u201cnot of this world\u201d but also clearly \u201csent into the world\u201d (John 17:14-15, 18). This is the anchor for the Christian life, belonging to an eternal Kingdom, but representing that in the here and now, as pilgrims, inviting others to know and follow Jesus, and to live as light, salt and leaven in the world. What does it look like to have this conviction shape our view of Christian citizenship as rooted in God\u2019s Kingdom, and not allow our other national or partisan identities to co-opt it or capture it?<\/p>\n
Having a robust public theology gives Christians confidence in how they live their faith in society, and can frame their political engagement. NT Wright and Michael Bird propose in their work, Jesus and the Powers<\/em>, that \u201cthe kingdom of God is not from<\/em> this world, but it is emphatically for<\/em> this world . The Church\u2019s kingdom-vocation is not only what it says to the world, but is also what the Church does within and for the sake of the world.12 [1] This leads to a lived witness, a modelling of what life and society look like when Jesus is at the center. It instructs us in how to treat our neighbours, our enemies, and those who are lost and harassed. This is in contrast to both Christian nationalism and nominalism, which offer cultural forms of Christianity that cling only to the Christian symbols, values, or heritage that seems under threat, but which downplay the way of the cross, contentedness with a grounded and embodied Christian faith even when culture is pluralistic, and faith is driven to the fringes of social power. The New Testament epistles are written to a Church that was this minority counter-cultural movement, and they like us are invited to put our absolute trust in Jesus to establish His Kingdom in unassuming ways.<\/p>\n In his chapter on Loss of Identity in Losing Our Religion<\/em>, Russell Moore paints a picture of this tension by calling it a bargain:<\/p>\n What we are bargaining away, in mild or severe cases of these nationalistic movements, is the blood of Christ for blood-and-soil, and that is not an even trade. The gospel according to Jesus is not an external affirmation of generic belief, from a heart still untransformed. The gospel according to Jesus is not accepting Christianity as a ticket of admission into society. [2]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n For both conservatives and progressives, the danger is to take the bargain. Conservatives cling to only a few moral issues and fight for them in the public square, such as ending abortion or stopping the erosion of traditional marriage. Instead of including other strong biblical themes of counter-cultural witness such as prioritizing care for the vulnerable, the poor, the imprisoned, and the foreigners in our midst, these moral issues are first interpreted through the lens of political ideologies. But this is not merely a conservative dynamic. Progressive Christianity is reactive to conservative movements, and can easily become more extreme in calling for justice, inclusion, and progress within a post-Christian secular framework, but not include the doctrine of original sin and a call for repentance, but highlight only sinful activities and call for a turning away from the participation in injustices. When Jesus is replaced by slogans, the gospel\u2019s call to repentance and transformation is diluted, and moral discourse devolves into virtue signalling and ideological conformity. Political capture can happen right across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n We are living in an era of false dichotomies and a herd mentality, echo chambers of news, and polarization at an ideological level. Whatever is perceived as loss is seen as a threat, and this is where Christians who feel threatened by the state of the world can abandon their ability to speak out and live the ways of Jesus that are relevant at all times and under all political conditions. In exchange, fear causes some to find refuge in populist movements which promise to regain the narrative of their group. In other words, tribalism thrives, and we lose sight of the multi-tribal vision of the Kingdom of God (Revelation 7:9), and call for one-ness (John 17, Acts 4).<\/p>\n My invitation is for followers of Jesus to demonstrate a political allegiance to Jesus, taking as much energy has been given to political platforms and apply it to the everyday acts of what it means to belong to an eternal Kingdom. Let us live out the Great Manifesto of Jesus (Luke 4), the greatest commandment to love God, others and self (Matthew 22), and represent that in the here and now, as pilgrims, inviting others to know and follow Jesus, and to live with us as light, salt and leaven in the world.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ____________________<\/p>\n [1] N. T. Wright, and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em>, (London: SPCK Publishing), 2024,<\/p>\n [2] Russell Moore, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America<\/em>, (New York: Sentinel), 2023, 116.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every era of Christian history has come with the calling to confess that \u201cJesus is Lord\u201d over and above whatever earthly power structures exist. The challenge is to figure out how to do this as both \u201cnot of this world\u201d but also clearly \u201csent into the world\u201d (John 17:14-15, 18). 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