The race for the White House has begun and the crowded field of Republican hopefuls has already begun to thin out. What will happen within the Democratic party is anyone's guess, as even Democrats seem not overly fond of President Obama. No, this is not going to be a political comment, at least not directly.
Recently, I was reading in Acts 22 about an event in St. Paul's life. He was on his last visit to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit had repeatedly warned that if he went there, he would be arrested and held. And yet, he seems to have felt that this was less a warning to be heeded than a destiny to be embraced. Indeed, he was seen, a riot broke out, he was taken into custody by the Romans and was about to be flogged when he says simply: "I am a Roman."
Roman citizenship was a great blessing. Not everyone, even in Paul's day could get it. In fact, the Roman officer who was about to have Paul flogged had paid a high price to obtain his citizenship. But Paul had been born a citizen. It was a very great privilege and no one took it lightly. They immediately released Paul from his bonds, but held him for questioning before the Jewish leadership. All this eventually leads Paul to declare that, as a citizen, he will exercise his right to be tried by the Emperor himself. This is Paul's tactic, both to keep himself safe and to get the unheard of opportunity of declaring the gospel directly to the Emperor.
It is exactly at this point that I want us to notice something remarkable. Paul uses the privileges of his earthly citizenship to advance the cause of the Kingdom of God. As much as he prizes his earthly citizen status, it is only a means to a greater end for him--the advancement of the Kingdom of God. He strategically utilizes his status as a Roman citizen to position himself for the greatest impact he can make for the Kingdom of God. Now, let's compare what is happening here in our own country as the political season comes upon us.
In our situation, the host of would-be Presidents are acting in a manner that is exactly opposite to Paul. They are not using their citizen privileges/status to extend the Kingdom of God. Rather, they are using their Kingdom status (assuming that they are, in fact, real Kingdom citizens) to gain earthly power. They are engaging in a behavior that is exactly the reverse of what Paul did. The fact is that we talk all the time about this or that politician courting the 'evangelical vote' or the 'religious vote.' And we seem to be just fine with such talk. I don't think we should be. It is language that is designed to smooth over something that has no business being allowed by Kingdom citizens. We are allowing people to play on our Kingdom sympathies for an end that should make little difference to us--they wish to use us so they can gain earthly political power, which is their real desire.
I say this about all politicians. For while the Republican party has, for many years, worked the traditional 'evangelical vote', the Democratic party is discovering the new, younger, more socially liberal 'emergent/neo-evangelical' voter block and will be coming after them in short order as well. But it is all for the same purpose! The purpose: to use our faith convictions, not to establish Kingdom living, but to garner political power which will allow them to pursue their own independent agendas.
This does not mean that we have to question the religious faith of any politician. I am not called, as a Christian, to judge the validity of the faith of Rick Perry, Michelle Bachman or Barack Obama. They say they are believers. Judging them is not my job. It is God's--alone! But what I am allowed to do, encouraged to do, is to be discerning. And no matter how well-intentioned any of the candidates are, they all seem to have bought into the notion that it is perfectly OK to use their Christ-faith as a means to a political end. And that is a world away from what Paul is doing in Acts 22. Paul used his earthly citizenship as a means to a Kingdom end. He did not use his Kingdom standing to achieve a merely earthly political end. And we, as Kingdom people, should not allow ourselves to be manipulated by this political tactic. Let's make our choices, come up with our solutions, choose our leaders. But to pretend that any of them will have better served the Kingdom for having smeared each other to win an earthly political office is not a Kingdom value.
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