An Everlasting Kingdom

"Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 

And Your dominion endures throughout all generations."

Psalm 145:13

In the United States, as well as many other 'western' nations, we have been blessed to be in a nation friendly towards Christianity. We have been blessed to be in a 'Christian' nation. However that Christianity is becoming less and less prominent in the government and in the media. It is unfortunate however I wonder if it is as big of a problem as we have made it out to be. 

Many American Christians seem to be desperately trying to reverse the trend of our government to go against Christian values. They are pushing for bans on homosexual marriage, bans on abortion, greater favor towards churches and ministries, etc. Well I believe that there is nothing wrong with trying to campaign for Christian values in politics I do not actually see this in the Bible.

I would even dare to say that focusing our attention mostly on politics is unbiblical.

Think about the early church. They were in one of the most anti Christian governments in the history of the world. Yet you never see them trying to change the government. Jesus never once attempted to change the government during his ministry. The only time it records Jesus even approaching anyone in government is when he was turned over to Pilate to be crucified. In that moment he had a prime moment to convince someone in authority and he barely even spoke. 

Jesus never tried to change politics, He tried to change individuals!

Moving on to the disciples as they started the early church. There is really only one time that we have recorded in which one of the early church member spoke to a Roman, government official and that was Paul to King Agrippa in Acts 26. At this point Paul does tell his testimony of his conversion and comes close to convincing Agrippa to become a Christian, but it is clear that Paul is speaking to the individual not to the nation. Paul is not advocating policy but is simply telling the testimony of how Christ saved him. 

That brings us to today. Everywhere I look I see Christians trying to change politics, but how much are we trying to change the individual? Don't get me wrong, I realize that there are many Christians out there who are trying to reach out to the individuals, but there are also many who are so focused on changing the laws of this country that they don't seem to have time to share their testimony with their neighbor. They post political posts on Facebook but never post how Jesus changed their life. They send out petitions to ban homosexual marriage but never have even attempted to reach out to the homosexual. They attempt to pass a law against abortion but have never sought out the young woman who made a mistake, got pregnant as a teenager, and is scared out of her mind as to how she can take care of her baby. 

What does it matter how Biblical our nation's laws are if we are not willing to reach out to our neighbors in a Biblical manner?

You see, Christ never called us to build a Christian nation. Christ never called us to make sure that our nation on earth is prosperous. Christ never called us to be Americans. Christ called us to build His heavenly kingdom on this earth. His kingdom transcends the United States and any other nation on this earth. His kingdom transcends all earthly laws and politics. And His kingdom is spread through love and truth, together. It is spread through the individuals, through the church. 

What are you doing to spread His kingdom?