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America is Transitioning. So What?

We all have certain passages that we keep coming back to. The passages that stick in our brain that we just can’t help mulling over. Foundational passages. For me, one of those passages is from Daniel chapter 2. The chapter tells how King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream where he saw a massive statue with a head of gold, arms of silver, a body of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of a mix of iron and clay. King Nebuchadnezzar sees a giant rock hit the statue and it comes crumbling down. Daniel, as it turns out, is the only one who can interpret the dream for him, and Daniel goes on to tell the king how his empire is the empire of gold, and after his will be successive empires until it all crumbles down.

The United States was NOT founded as a Christian nation. Most of the founding fathers were deists, meaning they pictured God as a sort of clockmaker, who once he wound the clock never touched it. Thomas Jefferson edited out all the miracles in his Bible, turning it into basically a book of wise sayings. One of the articles in the 1798 Treaty of Tripoli, which ended the war the American Navy had been fighting against Muslim pirates in the Mediterranean, said:

“As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion, as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquility of [Muslims]; and as the said States never entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.“

Fast-forward 150 years and the United States was no longer at war with Muslim Pirates, but Communist Soviet Union. Without getting into the ins and outs of Communist theory, Communist Russia was staunchly atheist. Because the United States was fighting the Soviets in a Cold War as opposed to a “hot” war, it was fought with things like culture, economics, and religion; not tanks and guns (in political theory this is called soft power over hard power). This meant that the United States had to portray itself as the exact opposite from the Soviets, religion included. The Soviets were the godless horde, so the United States had to be Christian. For the first time ever, the President instituted a National Prayer breakfast, and even more impactful, in 1954 the US added “One Nation, Under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1955 the US added “In God We Trust” to money. For the first time the United States was portraying itself as Christian: to be a good American, you had to be Christian; to be a good Christian, you had to be American. For the next seventy years, this was largely the status quo.

That status quo is now ending. America is returning to its secular roots. To be a good American, you no longer have to be a Christian. It’s a big shift, to be sure. But how does this shift impact us in 2023? I’d argue, it doesn’t, or at least it shouldn’t. In the movie Men In Black, when Will Smith joins MIB he is told “You are no longer part of the system; you are above the system. Over it. Beyond it.” For us, since we have joined the Kingdom of Jesus, we are no longer a part of the world system. Going back to Daniel 2, Babylon was described as the golden head, yet even the best part of the statue was smashed by the rock, which Daniel goes onto say is the Kingdom of God. it doesn’t matter whether the United States of America is the silver, bronze, iron, or clay part of the statue, it is going to get smashed by God. It is an insignificant worldly kingdom that is going to be smashed by God. It doesn’t matter what is happening in America because for all spiritual intents and purposes, a citizen of God’s Kingdom is no longer American.

Satan wants to divide us—divide and conquer is a tried-and-true strategy. Long ago, the Enemy realized persecution only united God’s people, that’s why I believe that mass style of persecution is never coming back in any global way. Where are the places Christianity is growing fastest? In the Middle East and in China, places of real, actual persecution. And if real persecution does come to America, all the better because then we truly put it on the line for Jesus. But it isn’t. No, the best way to destroy God’s people is from the inside. A house divided cannot stand. Satan wants us to get sucked into fighting over culture wars in America that ultimately don’t matter. It distracts us from the mission we have as God’s Kingdom people—proclaiming his reign and being a tangible manifestation of that reign in our communities.

One of the big culture wars of the 1920s was left-handedness. Some Christians associated being left-handed with practicing witchcraft, evilness. Christians even claimed Satan was left-handed! Here is a chart of left-handedness in the United States over the last 120 years:

The number of left-handed people didn’t magically explode in 1940s America and then plateau. No, the number of left-handed people remained the same; the difference was people were allowed to be lefthanded. It became a non-issue, culturally. A similar thing happened in the 1960s with interracial marriage. Some Christians protested out in the streets saying interracial marriage should remain illegal because it was a sin for the races to mix. Worldly culture doesn’t matter. It has always been fallen; it will always be fallen. Just like with the Men In Black quote, we are beyond the world now. We still live in it, but we must be above it. Does the person believe that Jesus is the Son of God? That he died for us when we were still sinners and rose from the dead, and through Grace undeserved allowed us to be adopted into the Kingdom? And that we are called to go forth and be disciples that make disciples? If yes to all three then it really doesn’t matter what that person thinks otherwise, because anything else we are arguing over isn’t a Kingdom issue, but a left-handed issue.

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Delivered and Transferred

“[God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” – Colossians 1:13-14

The domain of darkness—the rule, authority, dominion of darkness. This is the same dominion that came to arrest Jesus in the garden and later crucify him (Luke 22:52-53). The same darkness that is so easy for us to love and be trapped in, without even knowing it’s a trap. In darkness, we feel our selfish desires and deeds are safely hidden away (John 3:19-21). Satan provides that false sense of security there—he wants us to feel comfortable in the dark. But Satan’s power pales in comparison to God’s. When our eyes are opened, how can we help but turn to the light (Acts 26:16-18)?

Praise be to God that he has delivered us from that dominion. We don’t belong there anymore. He has set us free. He has transferred our citizenship to the kingdom of light, where his Son reigns as our King. We will still wrestle with this darkness. We live in a world where darkness surrounds us. But God is sovereign over it all. He gives us strength, he gives us wisdom, he gives us faith and endurance. He gave us his Spirit to dwell within us. No matter what the darkness throws at us, we can rest in the true peace and security of our glorious kingdom and King. Ephesians 6:10-20 paints that picture well.

Jesus put this short statement in Colossians 1:13-14 on full display as recorded in John chapter 9. A man blind from birth, who literally knows only darkness, is met by Jesus and some of his disciples in Jerusalem. As was common in that day, it was assumed that his condition (as any type of suffering) was brought about by sin in his or his family’s life. But no, Jesus says that the blind man is here so that the works of God might be displayed in him. Jesus has already proclaimed that a new Kingdom, God’s Kingdom, has come (Mark 1:14-15). He said HE is the light of the world (John 9:5), and he was about to display the deliverance from the kingdom of darkness and transference to the Kingdom of Light through this blind man.

Jesus mixes up some mud and rubs it in this guy’s eyes. What would you think if someone did this to you? You’re born blind, and some random guy says “hey, let me rub this in your eyes.” Sounds crazy. But this guy literally had blind faith. Jesus told him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. He could have just snapped his fingers (or less) and the guy would be able to see. But Jesus wanted him to respond in faith. I believe this was a precursor to being washed in baptism. His faith in Christ, before he even knew who Jesus was, healed him (Ephesians 2:8).

Now, the dominion of darkness does not like to lose parishioners. The deliverance of the blind man stirs up the agents of darkness all around. The striking thing here is who is playing that role of the agents of darkness—the Pharisees, supposed men of God whose whole mission in life is supposed to be to hold up God and His laws as supreme. There are, of course, many examples of just how far this group as a whole had fallen from that. But this should highlight for us that even with the best intentions at the outset, we must be on guard that we don’t end up serving the wrong kingdom.

The Pharisees are clearly threatened by the great miracle that has occurred. They try to discredit Jesus since this work was done on the Sabbath and claimed that he couldn’t be from God. Some Pharisees didn’t buy that argument, knowing that a sign like this could only come from God. They summon the formerly-blind man’s parents, who didn’t even want to get involved because they were so afraid of the power of the Pharisees.

Calling him back for another interrogation, he gives this wonderfully simple testimony—“One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25). How awesome. Someone should write a song with that in it…

He goes on to expose the shallowness of this group of religious leaders. They should have superior knowledge and understanding, and yet they have no idea who the miracle worker is. The blind man’s eyes were opened, and he already has deeper spiritual insight than these learned, pious men. How much we can learn from this—from both the angle of being confident in our faith, knowing that we don’t have to have complete understanding to proclaim the truth within us, and also that we dare not become prideful in our understanding as if we have it all figured out. We see because He opened our eyes, not because we opened them ourselves.

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” – 2 Corinthians 4:6

The formerly-blind man was kicked out of the synagogue. The truth of his story would distract the people from blindly following their blind guides. Let this be a lesson to all of us in the Kingdom of Light: we will be hated by many who refuse to believe. Jesus said in John 15:18-20 that we shouldn’t be surprised to find that the world hates us. The world hated him first and they will hate us because we follow him. If we find that the world loves us, we need to check where our allegiance lies…

That persecution is part of the suffering we will endure during this life on earth. But what an awesome prize we have to gain when Christ’s glory is fully revealed! (1 Peter 4:12-14) What an awesome day it will be when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, is King over all. (Philippians 2:10-11)

Much like this blind guy, we were born into darkness in this world. If it weren’t for God and his Son, we would only know darkness. Praise be to God that he opens the eyes of the blind (Psalm 146:8).

When Christ opens our eyes, we see that he is worthy of our worship just like the blind man did (John 9:38). We see that he is worthy of our very lives. Paul says in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Because the “gospel,” the good news, isn’t just that we have forgiveness in Christ through his sacrifice so that we can “go to Heaven” one day. The good news is that God’s Kingdom has come! The King has come! And that King is offering us citizenship in his eternal dominion. We get to take part in that citizenship right now. Right where we are. He has already delivered and transferred us. Our eternal life has already started. What kingdom are you living for?

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. – 1 Peter 2:9

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The How and Why of the Kingdom of God

I can’t describe this topic better than is contained in this short soundbite from the After Class Podcast. Please take 15 minutes to listen. I hope you’ll consider listening to more of their material as well.

“The Kingdom is not advanced top-down, by the sword, by the legal gavel, through the pen of legislation—the Kingdom comes as a GIFT.” – John Nugent

The After Class Podcast, Episode 2.9 – Explaining the Kingdom – How and Why
(https://afterclass.libsyn.com/explaining-the-kingdom-how-and-why)

If you found that to be of value, here’s an excellent follow-up episode: https://afterclass.libsyn.com/228-embracing-the-kingdom-part-1

Thanks to John, Ron, and Sam at the After Class Podcast!

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Declaring Independence from the United States of America

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” 

On July 2nd, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to separate the 13 colonies from Great Britain. Penned by Thomas Jefferson, the words above make up the preamble to the Declaration of Independence which was signed on July 4th, 1776 and adopted on August 2nd. There is a long historical debate about when the colonists began to see themselves as independent from Great Britain which I won’t hash out here, but for many of the members of the Continental Congress the idea of actual independence was a new and radical idea. For many reading this blog, what follows may be as equally a radical idea as separating from Great Britain, but God called and continues to call for the citizens of his Kingdom to be radically different from the World. God calls us to be Citizens of his Kingdom, not citizens of the United States of America. 

Especially in the Southern United States, being a Christian is intertwined with being a patriot. In fact growing up, the hymn book I sang out of had patriotic songs in the back. Or think about how most churches have an American flag somewhere close to or insight of the pulpit. This connection also works the other way. The Pledge of Allegiance has the phrase “One Nation, Under God” and U.S. currency has the phrase “In God We Trust.” That being a Christian is to be an American is so ingrained in our culture that many Christians will call the United States a “Christian Nation.” As both a Christian and a historian I am here to tell you that the United States is not nor has never been a Christian nation. The idea that the United States is a Christian nation is only about 70 years old and was created as a piece of propaganda during the Cold War as a way to make the United States seem like the “good” guy against the atheistic “bad” guy the Soviet Union. The harsh truth is the United States is part of the “Powers and Principalities” (Ephesians 6:12) of this world and as such will pass away (1 John 2:17). 

Furthermore, living an American life is the antithesis of living a life for the Kingdom. After the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote the colonies were separating from Great Britain in part so the colonists could secure the rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” In their American context, all three of these ideas stand opposed to our Kingdom mission. The first is the easiest to explain. As Christians our life is not our own, but to God. Therefore, if we fight to save our life from the powers of this world, we will accomplish nothing but losing it. (Luke 9:24). Yet if we lose our life in service of the Kingdom, then we have gained it. Similarly, as a Christian there is really no true freedom. We are either slaves to sin (i.e. the world) or slaves to righteousness (i.e. the Kingdom of God) (Romans 8:15-18). However, being a citizen of the Kingdom means we are free to become like any and all people so that we may reach as many people as possible (1 Corinthians 9).   

Lastly, the Continental Congress wanted to separate from Great Britain so that Americans could pursue happiness. In today’s climate happiness is often equated with comfort. The American ethos is work hard so you can buy stuff that makes you comfortable and happy. In fact, there are some that have married the idea of being a Christian and being wealthy into “the Prosperity Gospel” which is as false a teaching as someone could preach about the Gospel. But as Christians we are not called to be happy in the world, rather we are called to take joy in the Kingdom. Think about how often you have heard someone say I have worked hard for my stuff. While undoubtedly true, as members of the Kingdom we actually don’t own anything. Anything and everything we have is to be used for the Kingdom and by the Kingdom, because anything we have we must treat as if we are just borrowing it. (1 Corinthians 7:29-31) (Acts 4:32-35). To be clear, this does not mean we have to sell everything we own and go live in the desert and live off of honey and locust. What it means is that everything we have and do must be centered towards building the kingdom. And to put a bow on this thought, Jesus in Matthew 6:24 during the Sermon on the Mount said “”No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Now in this passage the other master that Jesus referenced is money, and not an earthly kingdom, yet the lesson is clear. In terms of priority, God and his kingdom is first, and there is no second. 

In terms of priority, God and his kingdom is first, and there is no second. Click To Tweet

Just like treasure we store up for ourselves on earth will pass away (Matthew 6:19-21), so to will the Kingdoms of this world including the United States. In Daniel Chapter 2 Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had a dream. In this dream, he sees a giant statue with a head of gold, torso and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and its feet a mix of iron and clay. In this dream a rock not made of human hands smashes the statue and then the rock grows until it covers the earth. Daniel revealed to Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom was the head of gold, and the rest of the statue were going to be the kingdoms that came after his. The rock was the Kingdom of God, which will smash the kingdoms of the world and set up an everlasting Kingdom on the new Earth. (Daniel 2, Revelation 21-22). The United States is represented somewhere on that statue and as humans we can either be a part of the everlasting Rock, or a part of the destroyed statue. 

Now, at this point you might say that Paul was a citizen of the Roman Empire and he said we have to submit to whatever authority we live under (Romans 13). To that I would say that submission to the powers and principalities of this world is not the same submission that we have to Christ. We are called to abide by the rules of the authorities so long as it does not interfere with our Kingdom mission. Note that the same Paul who said we should submit to the rulers and pray for them (1 Timothy 2:1-3) is also the same Paul who was arrested countless times by the rulers and authorities for preaching the gospel. What Paul meant, at least in my Kingdom centered interpretation of these passages, is it doesn’t matter what authority in the world you happen to live under give unto them what is theirs, like taxes, but don’t get caught up in the world. Paul used his Roman citizenship insofar as to use it to spread the gospel, but he considered his Roman citizenship and everything else he had or knew “garbage so that I might gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). This was one of the most important lessons the Jewish followers of Jesus had to learn. For centuries, they had been waiting for David 2.0. An earthly king who would reestablish the Davidic kingdom of Israel on Earth and overthrow the Roman Empire, or at least kick them out of Palestine. Yet, Jesus made clear his kingdom is not of this world. As Christians we are called to live out God’s picture of His Kingdom here on Earth regardless of where we live. 

Jesus is often called the Prince of Peace, and rightly so, for citizens of the Kingdom his yoke is easy and his burden light (Mathew 11:30). But for those outside of the Kingdom, there will be no peace. Even among biological families Jesus said “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:34-37). How much more unworthy are we of Jesus if we love the country we live in more than Jesus. Therefore, to fully live out our Kingdom mission we must spiritually revoke our citizenship from the world, divest ourselves from its cares and concerns and declare our Independence from the United States of America. 

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