Hello, and welcome to Enbolden, living a bold Christian life. I'm Chris Shutter, an ordinary Christian living with and learning about an extraordinary God. Now more than ever, we need to be resolute in Christ. Please join me over the next few weeks as we look at ways to lead an uncompromising Christian life.
Today's Resolute Verse comes from 2 Timothy 2, 4. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. And from author David Van Druden, who wrote politics after Christendom, comes this quote, "...we Christians are sojourners and exiles. This is not where our ultimate allegiance lies." We certainly aren't lacking in opportunities to engage in political discourse these days, from mask wearing to vaccine mandates and the budget crisis to abortion laws.
The world around us isn't quite a turmoil. But when as Christians, when are we to engage? When are we called to join the fight and stand resolutely in our faith? These next couple issues I'm going to be talking about will look at our life as Christians and the political realm.
First, starting with what role the church and therefore Christians even play in our common citizenry. But let's back up just a little bit. For those of us living in the United States, we've seen a serious deterioration from our Christian held values over the last 70 years or so. I mean, not long ago, almost all businesses were closed on Sundays, and you certainly couldn't buy alcohol on that day.
But now a business, say like Chick-fil-A, that makes a decision to not be open on Sundays because of their beliefs is vilified. I've heard different arguments about whether or not the United States was a special project made by God. But whatever stance you may take on that, we can be certain that every single nation in the world that was ever formed was formed by God. Every single head of state has been placed in their position by God and therefore is subject to his expectations and his final judgment.
Colossians 1, 16 to 17 says, For in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things and in him all things hold together. You know that the United States was founded with God and the idea of his sovereignty at the forefront really should not be in dispute.
Besides the federal founding documents, all of our state constitutions except for one, referenced God and his oversight of that said government in the beginning of their documents. It was then left to ask citizens as it has throughout history of the world to maintain that stance. When you get deep into C.S. Lewis's great Christian apologetic book, Mirror Christianity, you'll also find the concept of a moral law.
Through every empire, every phase of human existence, we turn to this moral law for guidance. We know what basically is wrong such as killing another human for gain or pleasure and what is right, for example, helping a widow or orphan child. And as Mr. Lewis argues, no matter your faith or lack thereof, those concepts that moral law has been placed in our hearts and minds by someone.
But as our society drifts further away from a common faith, as in the case of much of Europe, North America and South America, we create new ways of working around what we know to be right and wrong. We bend that moral law to fit the desires of our flesh and we seek to be accepted by the world. In his book, Mirror Christianity, C.S. Lewis says, you cannot make good men by emphasis mind, man-made law.
And without good men, you cannot have a good society. And so as we Christians watch one of the last bashems of religious freedom, the United States, which also built upon that with many other freedoms, we watch it begin to crumble. And we can so easily misplace our fears on our elected officials and the laws they create. Second Timothy says in one eight through nine, Paul says, so do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me, his prisoner.
Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. He has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. You know, at the time, Paul wrote that letter to Timothy, the Romans ruled with an iron fist, anyone that did not submit to their laws, which were mostly kind of pagan-like, they were imprisoned, tortured, killed, or pushed out of everyday society. Paul reminds us not just, reminds not just Timothy, but all of us who read this message that we have one commander to whom we must be most concerned, God and his son, Jesus Christ.
We are set apart to be holy and live a holy life. We are reminded that our role in this world is sort of a dual citizenship, to the country we call home and the home that waits for us. It's a balancing act that the disciples knew all too well. We are to obey the laws of our government as good guests, yet we remember we have limits based on God's expectation of our adherence to his moral laws and the knowledge of the final judgment.
1 Peter 2, 11-12 says, Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. It may come as a surprise to many Christians in the United States and the world, but it isn't our role to create a just society. It is our role to seek justice for those in need in our communities, but we can't right every wrong.
We need to be comforted that God is in charge, and we can, as individuals and corporately, do his good works. But Jesus, time and again, never sought regime change. He sought heart change. He sought obedience by his followers to God's expectations.
That author David Van Drouenen of Politics After Christendom goes on to say, Being a Sojourner did not require isolation from surrounding societies. Our father Abraham seems to have understood the need to exercise prudential judgment about how, when, and with whom to share common activity. An approach did not fit all cases. So does that mean we shouldn't try and affect our government's choices or laws?
No, that's not what Abraham did. He did interact, but it's remembering who we serve first, resolutely. It's remembering the difference between violently protesting a wrong and speaking out within the framework of how God wants us to act. It's figuring out where God and the church stands on an issue, such as abortion, and where something may not be biblical at all, like the federal budget.
It's making sure our heart and mind are set firmly with God, not the world. Believe me, I have struggled with these issues a lot. I stood on street corners waving my country's flag and promoting a candidate. I stood up to politicians who have demonstrated a lack of moral character, neither of which are wrong for Christians.
I vote in every election, which is in a way expected as a Christian. But as my faith progresses, I'm taking a new view of my place on this big blue planet. My firmly set King Jesus as my authority, as my hope, as the Lord and Savior, not just of my world, but of every single human that has existed and will exist, my perspectives change. As Christians, we cannot continue to say we trust God, we know God will judge in the final conflict, and yet sit there and scream and out reach at people who disagree with our political opinion.
That message speaks loud and clear to non-believers that we don't trust God, that we haven't set Him as our authority, that we have no concern for eternity. You know, it's time, fellow sojourners, to pull out our passports and remind ourselves of our future travel plans, to stand resolutely with the one King that will judge everyone for all ungodly acts. But he has not appointed us commissioners of that judgment, yet we are also not called to be passive in our worldly citizenry, sitting back watching the world burn and fall around us. He has appointed us as soldiers to exhort others to follow Him before it's too late.
Have a great day. I'd love to hear from you and find out more about how you are living out your bold Christian life. You can find me on Instagram at embolden-the-o, or at my blog at embolden.net.