Politics & the Kingdom of God

Warning:
This post will upset some North American Christians.

Confession:
I really don’t understand USA politics and elections

What I see:
Sometime in the next couple of days, the course of the next few years of American Christians will become clear. 

• If a Republican wins, some Christians will become confident that the Golden Days are about to arrive.
• If a Democrat wins, other Christians will become confident that the Golden Days are about to arrive.
• For some Christians, if a Democrat wins, they will become depressed and lose hope.
• For some Christians, if a Republican wins, they will become depressed and lose hope. 

As I listen to the very vocal arguments and quarrels – and if we are honest – we recognise that this is becoming increasingly the way of politics here in Canada – I need to ask the question: Where is our hope? 

• Yes, we hope that we can solve international conflict.
• We hope we can resolve poverty.
• We hope for a solution to systemic racism.
• We hope for resolution of our educational problems.
• And our health care problems.
• We hope we can create a better economy.

But where does our hope turn to when I think of war or poverty or education or racism? 

• Does it focus on our political party – left or right? 
• Do we think that if we get the right candidate, the right party elected our problems will be resolved?

If so, then we have an empire-shaped, Constantinian, political faith. And it doesn’t matter then if it is a right-wing evangelical or a left-wing progressive hoping that their party wins. Because both have a misguided faith.

If your candidate loses it won’t make one bit of a difference to our obligation to follow Jesus today. Not one bit.

Some of you will spend way too much time today and tomorrow wondering about the mid-term election. I follow a feed on Twitter that regularly says things like: “Go to bed sinners… maybe you’ll wake up and find Twitter was just a bad dream.” 

Here’s the thing. 

• Yes, we work for change.
• Yes, we vote. Do you hear that fellow Canadians? Vote.
• But we go to bed knowing that Jesus is Lord. Tonight. Tomorrow. And every night from now into eternity – Jesus is Lord.

Scot McKnight has said that our hope reveals that:

Our hope is in God.
The great South African missiologist, David Bosch, in his book Transforming Mission impressed upon many of us that the church’s mission is not in fact the church’s mission but God’s mission. Our calling is to participate in the missio Dei, the mission of God in this world. So, at election time we can use the season to re-align our mission with the mission of God.
Therein lies our hope.

Our hope is in the gospel of God.
God’s mission is gospel-shaped. Some today want to reduce gospel to personal salvation while others want to convert into public politics and secularize the kingdom of God. The gospel is about Jesus the King and the gospel is about kingdom citizens living under the king regardless of who is in “power.”
Therein lies our hope.

Our hope is in the gospel of God that creates God’s people.
God’s gospel-shaped mission creates a new people of God. In fact, the temptation of good Protestants to skip from Genesis 3 (the Fall) to Romans 3 (salvation) must be resisted consciously. The gospel creates kingdom citizens who indwell the church and live that vision.

We need to soak up how God’s gospel-shaped work always and forever creates a gospel people. The first thing God does with Abraham is to form a covenant people, Israel, and Jesus’ favorite word was “kingdom” and Paul was a church-obsessed theologian-missionary. Herein lies the challenge at election time.

We are tempted to divide the USA (and I will add Canada) into the good and the bad and to forget that the gospel has folks on both sides of political lines. Even more: we are tempted to think that the winners of the election are those who are blessed by God when the blessing of God is on God’s people. God’s gospel-powered mission creates a new people, the church, where we are to see God’s mission at work. Therein lies our hope.

Our hope is in the gospel of God that creates a kind of people that extends God’s gospel to the world. Chris Wright’s big book, The Mission of God, reminds us that election is missional: God creates the people of God not so the people of God can compare themselves to those who are not God’s people, but so that God’s people will become a priesthood in this world to mediate the mission of God, so that all hear the good news that God’s grace is the way forward.

Our hope is in God’s mission in this world, and that mission transcends whatever happens in this or any other election.