May 25, 2008
Chris Strevel

Everyone wants answers, solutions to the myriads of political, economic, domestic, and foreign conundrums that each day sap a little more of our lingering life. My guess is that whoever shouts “I can change things” the loudest and with the whitest smile will gain political power later this year. The masses do not think, of course, they feel, and this virtually assures that the candidate who says the least the most attractively will win. Christians, of course, acutely feel the tumult. We shall hear the regular rounds of argument for the “lesser of two evils,” a few isolated voices calling for a new Christian party, and mostly just a great deal of doom and gloom complaining. Others will understandably rub their hands in sarcastic glee. “Now, the other side will learn that they should have listened to us.”

To us? What do we honestly have to say about the present situation? Does integrity characterize the majority of Christian men? Can we honestly say that mainstream Christian leaders consistently live by the principles they would ram down the throats of Americans through the ballot box? Taking a broader view, can we deny that our present condition is anything other than deserved? If the way of the transgressor is hard, who are we to complain about hard times when we practice the same fiscal irresponsibility as do the Feds, albeit on a slightly smaller scale, give over our children to the secularists for a form of cultural training that only the most willfully naïve can call education, and are guilty of a host of personal sins for which our heavenly Father is understandably chastening us? A free nation, economic prosperity, and peace are not birthrights; they are gifts of God’s grace, the fruits of covenant faithfulness that no constitution, centralized government, and charismatic leaders can give or guarantee.

This does not mean, however, that the situation is hopeless. This would be a legitimate conclusion only if we had already determined that the problems of our nation can be repaired by government, whether more or less. Different statism, conservative statism, is not the solution to liberal statism. Marxism by any other name is still Marxism, whether the poster child is Joseph Stalin, Desmond Tutu, Che Guevara, Nancy Pelosi, Barak Obama, or the current cadre of Republican Marxists who have done more to increase the power of the federal government and decrease individual liberty than the past five Democratic regimes combined. The two national parties are like a ping-pong ball traveling between the same teams; the only difference is the spin each player puts on the ball and the speed of the return.

Those who still see the Lamb of God sitting at the right hand of the Father take a different view, and one that creates neither paralyzing pessimism nor despairing indifference. Whoever wins this or the next ten elections, the resurrected Son of God, Jesus Christ, is reigning at the right hand of God. He is the King of this nation, whether we are governed by secularists, pseudo-Christians, Muslims, or Corporate America. I would suggest, then, that the first thing that must be done is for the church as a whole to regain the vision of the exalted Savior. Until we believe that he is the King, that he is carrying out his purposes, and that his appointed weapons have lost not one whit their power, little will change. To this must be added personal, familial, and congregational submission to that King. Are our lives, words, and priorities, not to mention a hundred daily decisions, substantially different from those of the world? Are we a peculiar people, peculiar not because we dress and talk weirdly or are unable to interact meaningfully with those around us, but because we are peculiarly devoted to the enthroned Christ and his all-sufficient word? If even a tithe of the professing Christians in this nation were reformed by God’s Spirit to live in such a fashion, we would not need to speculate about the future, for that would speedily reveal itself. The lost would be converted. The globe would pulsate with kingdom prayers that are focused upon the glory of God and of his enthroned Christ rather than upon our self-interested political involvement. The practical holiness of believers would present a shocking contrast with the culture as a whole. Men would listen to our words because they would be backed up by our lives. Kings and Presidents would again become nursing fathers to the church and bow in submission to the King of kings. It is ridiculous, in my opinion, to get worked up into a lather about the next election. If you want to give serious mental and emotional energy to something, give it to your lost neighbor next door, your preacher who is too scared to preach the whole counsel of God, or the spiritual condition of your family.

This is not to abandon the dominion mandate; it is to redirect it where it belongs: to the first things, as Paul calls them, of which the resurrection of the Son of God is the centerpiece (1 Cor. 15:3). It is the first thing because through the resurrection, Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God in power, victorious over sin, Satan, and death. It is the first thing because it was immediately followed by his entering into his glory and kingdom, the inheritance promised by his Father as a reward for his obedience, suffering, and death. It is the first thing because it is the proclamation that causes men and nations to tremble. You see, believer, because Christ Jesus our Lord is raised from the dead, the war against sin and Satan has already been won. Christus Victor is our cry. This is his battle, not ours. He has equipped us with divinely empowered weapons that demolish strongholds. When the church uses these, she is fighting in the power of the first things. We pray and preach; Jesus smites the earth with the rod of his mouth. We witness and love; Jesus causes all men to know that we are his disciples. We repent and seek the grace of Christ; the power of his resurrection enables us to walk in newness of life. We are simple concerning evil and wise concerning good, and Jesus our Savior crushes Satan beneath our feet. This is the way we fight the battle; the first things must influence every other thing.

I know our religious legacy in the United States is that we must do something, that true religion is publicly lived-out religion, socially relevant religion. However much we may differ on the nature of God’s kingdom, it is remarkable that most Christians are still committed to the idea that we must “build the kingdom of Christ,” and that a significant part of that kingdom building is political involvement and social action. At one level, I do not question the legitimacy of these things, but at another level, I seriously question whether we have strayed from the first things. Christian cultures, godly leaders, and political liberty are the fruits of the first things, not the first things themselves. We will never enjoy them if we make them our primary goal; they are secondary blessings, the fruits of multi-generational confession, proclamation, and living the first things. And these first things are far more important and lasting in their relevance and power than the secondary things upon which we seem to have set our hope.

Should you, then, be concerned about the condition of our nation, the quality of its leadership, and the consequences of its sins? Absolutely. Should you seek to do something? Definitely. What? Commune with the enthroned Lamb, live by the word of the enthroned Lamb, and proclaim to everyone the peace terms of the Lamb. Do these, and the Father will come to our defense, for he always comes to the defense of his resurrected Son. Pray for the Lord Jesus Christ to be glorified, to bless his word, and to confound his enemies. Do these, and you may be sure that your prayers will be sanctified by the intercession of our ever-praying Savior and hurled back upon the earth in the form of judgments upon God’s enemies and deliverances for his people. But if we push the first things to the background, or think political action will save America, we will continue to reap the bitter consequences of misdirected dominion. The enthroned Lamb is fighting. He is praying prayers that cannot be frustrated. He is fighting his great war on a million fronts. His purposes are not in the least stymied by our present and potential leadership. He is carrying forward his great battle in and through them. The nations will kiss the Son. Every knee will bow to him. Are you proclaiming his peace terms: faith and repentance? Are you speaking of his resurrection, the first thing and our only foundation for hope? Are you living in the power of his resurrection, in fellowship with his sufferings, being made conformable to his death? Through these first things alone, his resurrection life will be operable in your life. Through these first things alone, the nations will be discipled, secularism defeated, and liberty and justice prevail. I firmly believe that the most politically meaningfully thing believers can do at present is to declare, with humility joined with courage, Jesus is Lord. This is the one political platform the world hates but which it cannot resist. It is the first thing the apostles declared, the confession of the earliest believers, and the power that converts the world. Christ, not man, is King.