The Kingdom is Political
...two centuries of pretending that the Bible has nothing to say about politics have left the church disabled...when it comes to serious, responsible, contemporary rereadings that will address the urgent political issues of our day.
I just started reading N.T. Wright's The Last Word : Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture
. I haven't even finished the preface yet, and already this book is beginning to resonate with me. This statement isn't even the one that has hit me the hardest so far, but it is close to the top of the list.
Its scary. Downright frightening, really, to think that scripture ultimately speaks to the political. It is, to be honest, an idea that wasn't even on my radar screen three or four years ago.
But if it is true, if there is a politics of the Kingdom of God, we haven't the luxury of selecting the political flavor that best suits our particular interests and joining up with like-minded folks for the sake of asserting our rights. We can't have two masters. Our political ideas and expressions must serve only one interest.
Here is a conviction that I am moving toward: the Kingdom of God must (and will) ultimately subvert every other interest and government on the face of the planet. It will do it in a nonviolent way, of course - but probably also on a way that invites violence from those who want to hold onto their own "kingdoms." If we're going to be part of that Kingdom, then our political thought and expressions have to serve that end, not our own ends.
The next question, of course, is how that happens. And I've talked about this before. I'm repelled by the judgmental, abrasive tone of the RepubliChristians. On the other hand, while the socially conscious pleas of the Democrats make some sense, I'm not sure that the usual solutions posed by the democrats - a larger, more powerful state (particularly in terms of its economic influence and its ability to "punish" those who don't reflect "proper" social consciousness) - is such a good idea.
What I do know is that, if the church begins to wake up to this reality in the twenty-first century, it is really going to shake things up.
Technorati Tags: christianity, politics, nt wright, the last word, republichristians
I just started reading N.T. Wright's The Last Word : Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture
. I haven't even finished the preface yet, and already this book is beginning to resonate with me. This statement isn't even the one that has hit me the hardest so far, but it is close to the top of the list.Its scary. Downright frightening, really, to think that scripture ultimately speaks to the political. It is, to be honest, an idea that wasn't even on my radar screen three or four years ago.
But if it is true, if there is a politics of the Kingdom of God, we haven't the luxury of selecting the political flavor that best suits our particular interests and joining up with like-minded folks for the sake of asserting our rights. We can't have two masters. Our political ideas and expressions must serve only one interest.
Here is a conviction that I am moving toward: the Kingdom of God must (and will) ultimately subvert every other interest and government on the face of the planet. It will do it in a nonviolent way, of course - but probably also on a way that invites violence from those who want to hold onto their own "kingdoms." If we're going to be part of that Kingdom, then our political thought and expressions have to serve that end, not our own ends.
The next question, of course, is how that happens. And I've talked about this before. I'm repelled by the judgmental, abrasive tone of the RepubliChristians. On the other hand, while the socially conscious pleas of the Democrats make some sense, I'm not sure that the usual solutions posed by the democrats - a larger, more powerful state (particularly in terms of its economic influence and its ability to "punish" those who don't reflect "proper" social consciousness) - is such a good idea.
What I do know is that, if the church begins to wake up to this reality in the twenty-first century, it is really going to shake things up.
Technorati Tags: christianity, politics, nt wright, the last word, republichristians
posted by Matt at Friday, February 17, 2006
2 Comments:
When I think of spreading Christianity, I think of it in terms of a bottom-up movement. Christians share the gospel with their friends, coworkers, family, etc. and it goes on from there. I used to try to push for laws that reflect Christian beliefs, but as of right now, I don't feel comfortable doing that. It seems to me that attempting to push for political change may only serve to create a unified and organized resistance that wasn't there before. For several years I worked for a company where there were no other Chrisitians, and in a city where the Chrisitian population was a tiny minority, so this is part of what shapes my viewpoint (which may be out-of-whack).
To our "opponents" who would oppose our proposed laws, I say forget about the law and reach out to those people individually. At least in my case, it is easier to give some money to a political cause than to establish a relationship with someone who would oppose my beliefs. But I feel that having a relationship with those people is what we are called to do. And I don't think bad/unchristian laws do anything to stop Christianity. I fear that those who organize Christian political movements get sucked in to the power that they must possess to be successful.
Sorry, didn't mean to ramble...
Thanks for stopping by, Ray. Your viewpoint (where Christians are the minority) is most definitely NOT out of whack...or at least it won't be within a few years.
Like you, I'm turned at the thought of force-feeding what we might judge to be proper morals on people who don't share those values.
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