Growing up my hometown was, and still is, very conservative. Most everyone identifies as a Christian and a Republican, and to me those two terms were nearly synonymous. I was taught that America was the greatest nation on the planet and that we were in fact a Christian nation, to suggest anything different would be tantamount to suggesting that bacon was not delicious, and only crazy people and liberals would suggest something like that. The thing about my hometown is that it’s not just conservative, it is very conservative and, I should add, very dispensational. So when a bad brand of dispensationalism and an extreme nationalistic zeal are combined it can make for a very bad recipe.
If you drive through my hometown it is not terribly uncommon to see “Bush & Cheney 04’” stickers faded on the back of cars. We really liked Bush and we LOVED Reagan. So when Obama got elected for the first time, well… it really hit the fan then. I remember watching Obama’s first inauguration on a fuzzy TV screen in my homeroom class my sophomore year of high school and my teacher thought this was surely the end of America. Now you may think I am being a bit hyperbolic, but let me assure you I am not; she proceeded to tell us about her plan to bury guns in her back yard so we could start a militia, but I digress… Particularly I have observed an attitude of sheer panic and fright over the state of America. If only I had a dollar for every time I heard “if only we could get prayer back into the schools” or “we need a Christian President,” I would be a millionaire (or at least a hundredaire).
While the desire for a prosperous America is not wrong or sinful, the common Evangelical Republicanism divorced from a robust Biblical theology is unhealthy and often leads to political idolatry. If you don’t believe me that political idolatry really exists just look at your (or perhaps my) Facebook feed. Nearly every day I see something like “WATCH THIS: God has a warning for America” or “Obama is the Anti-Christ!” Many Christians in America really believe that if we just elect the right man into the White House then God will bless us and we will be prosperous a nation again— you know, like the good ol’ days.
My plea to my brothers and sisters in Christ is to realize that that man has already come and he is ruling and reigning today and forevermore. Christ is king and Caesar is not. I do not mean that in a trite way or merely in a spiritual sense, but Christ is in fact ruling and reigning today. Yes we ought to worry to some extent for our country (I Timothy 2:1-4) and vote according to our convictions but we ought also to remember that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Let us not divorce our outlook on the world from God’s providence. Let us remember that the God who allowed Joseph to be sold into slavery turns evil intentions into good (Genesis 50:20-21). Let us declare with Jeremiah “I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). Christ is king and the President is not!
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