His Kingdom

Recently, I watched another friendship dissolve over heated words spoken about political demonstrations. It wasn't me this time, but it has been.

Every year feels angrier and more desperate than the last, and I can't imagine it feels different on the other side of the political aisle. The larger the government gets, the more powerful it grows, the more it seems to matter who leads us and the angrier we get when it doesn't go our way.

If you are a Christian reading this, I want to pose a question to you. I haven't fully crystalized this idea, so please bear with me.

What kingdom are you seeking right now?

I ask because the behavior I see from the Church at large is little better than the standard secular political firefights on Facebook– it is, in fact is taking part in many of those. Members gunning down other members because, let's be real, it hurts too much and that comment was one too many and how could they possibly believe that?

Please. Hear me. I'm setting aside my political opinion for a moment. Can you? Whether you lean left or right, can you hear me as a sister in Christ?

I think that we--on both sides of this--are frightened and clinging to our rights. I say this as no brave person, but I think we are afraid of living through a period of time that calls us to be brave.

I look back at history and I wonder, where did we get the idea that we should be in charge of the political sphere? Jesus himself came in a time of occupation and actively quashed his disciples' dreams of revolutionary glory. He told them to give to Caesar (oh hated Caesar) what was Caesar's and give to God what was God's. And it was only when the Caesars demanded what was God's that Christians could rightfully say, "No."

Has not the church always shined brightest surrounded by the most darkness? Has she not been most faithful to the Father when brought low?

The church is fragmenting at the seams trying to be everything all at once--everything but loving toward each other. Some of the most vicious verbal attacks I've seen have been between church members.

By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. --John 13:35

Friend. Are your eyes on this world? Are you clutching it like it's going to dissolve if you don't hold it tighter? Why? Don't you know we are passing through? This does not mean we don't care for it and don't take responsibility, but it does mean we don't treat it like it is the ultimate prize. We certainly shouldn't treat it like the fate of the world rests on our shoulders. Who raises up our leaders, whether to embolden or discipline us?

In the book of Judges, God raises up Judges–warrior leaders–for Israel. If you read the book from beginning to end, you will see that each Judge is more fallible and corruptible than the last, leading the people along with them, until the ominous phrase "and everyone did what was right in their own eyes."

It feels like the end of Judges, lately. And at this point, no matter who is in charge, we are losing things we hold dear.

There's a quote from The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn that came to mind recently. He talks about being brought in for interrogation in Soviet Russia, and how everyone around you--from interrogator to guards to fellow prisoners--pressures you to give in and point the finger at others as conspirators against the State, whether those people are guilty or not. The guards have quotas to fill, after all, and it will have to be somebody, and perhaps they will let you go if you confess enough.

In that state, Solzhenitsyn contemplates the way to escape the pressures of interrogation with your soul unscathed.

So what is the answer? How can you stand your ground when you are weak and sensitive to pain, when people you love are still alive, when you are unprepared?

What do you need to make you stronger than the interrogator and the whole trap?

From the moment you go to prison you must put your cozy past firmly behind you. At the very threshold, you must say to yourself: "My life is over, a little early to be sure, but there's nothing to be done about it. I shall never return to freedom. I am condemned to die--now or a little later. But later on, in truth, it will be even harder, and so the sooner the better. I no longer have any property whatsoever. For me those I love have died, and for them I have died. From today on, my body is useless and alien to me. Only my spirit and my conscience remain precious and important to me."

Confronted by such a prisoner, the interrogation will tremble.

Only the man who has renounced everything can win that victory.

I say, with trembling, that keeping our lives, our rights, and our comforts is not the highest priority we have as Christians. And that acting like it is is driving us to bitterness and hatred.

I say to the Christians reading this, all we own and hold dear is given to us. Not by the US government, but by the hand of God. If you hold everything as tightly as responsibility calls for and as loosely as a steward should, then what can anyone take from you that you have not already surrendered your claim on? And then, who has the authority to drive you to despair?

If you read the Old Testament, you will find that God raises up enemy nations sometimes to humble Israel. If this is so even for Israel, how much more for other nations? And if it is our turn to be humbled, can you keep your face turned toward God and your heart open to your brother in Christ?

I know that some are called into politics. I know that some have a passion for it. I do not say this to belittle them or take away from them. But can you hold it a little looser? Can you cast your vote as a token of your wholehearted stewardship, while releasing the results to God?

You may grieve the results, but do not lose heart and lash out.

You may celebrate the results, but do so quietly and without vicious glee. Do not stumble your brother.

We are His example in the world. From where I stand, we look like clutching, howling, terrified children who don't know who their Father is, or don't really believe He's there no matter who's the manager of the house.

I'm right there. I am screamingly afraid, too. But I want to outgrow fear. In an age where every generation is more anxious than the last, take these words to heart.

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, o you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. --Matthew 6:25-34

In the midst of this storm, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

"Nice words. What does that even mean?"

Real talk, the meaning of many phrases like that are learned through experience or by watching someone else and are hard to express. But I can draw the outlines of it.

• Look for ways to love on your fellow church members who are struggling. Find ways to bless them: home-made meals, practical assistance, financial assistance. You are not powerless.
• When social media is getting hot, walk away for as long as it takes to clear your head and heart.
• If your favorite podcaster is feeding self-righteous anger in you, consider if it's time for you to take a break.
• Love your enemy. Go to a rally or protest of the opposing viewpoint, and don't say boo. Just hand out water bottles and walk away.
• Study a passage of the Bible in depth. If you don't know where to start, I recommend the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7.
• When something you read or see inflames fear or anger in you, turn away from it and sit down for some prayer. Ask God to show you what to do with these feelings, whether to turn them into action or give them to him. You may find out he's inviting you to action, but that action won't be screaming at people.
• Change from your normal music to a worship set, or contemplative Christian music with lyrics that focus on God.
• Talk to Jesus about all the ugly feelings, or the ones that feel too good to let go of. Tell him all the angry, fearful thoughts. He already knows, but by telling him you begin to give them over to him.
• Think about the sort of person you want to be when trouble comes, and tell God about that. Then ask him, expecting an answer, what sort of person he wants you to be when trouble comes.
• If you have a platform you're speaking on, seek advice from other Christians you trust before you release something--written or recorded--in the heat of anger or fear.

Have your rights been trampled? Have your desires been thwarted? Have you been misunderstood repeatedly? Are you tired of having to explain yourself, your position, and the things that are important to you? Does it feel like even your friends just don't understand?

Friend. We both know a guy who's been through all that and more. He'd like to hear from you.