Jesus’s teachings on the kingdom of heaven were politically-charged statements in opposition to the Roman empire, not merely campaign speeches to rouse support for His second coming. Jesus’s message was that his kingdom has come (Matthew 4:17) and that our job is to seek his kingdom above all else (Matthew 6:33). When we consider the modern political implications of seeking His kingdom first, we arrive at an inescapable reality: compared to our identity as citizens of heaven, our political party alignment and national identity is as unimportant as what HOA we live in.
Many Christians hold the perspective that we have a dual citizenship between the kingdom of heaven and the USA. This is illustrated well by the bumper sticker “Jesus is my Savior, Trump is my President.” But this dual citizenship mindset is not what Jesus taught. Jesus taught us that “No one can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24) He taught us that we are citizens of heaven and merely reside in a different land for now. While in that land, we must follow the laws of that country so long as they don’t conflict with the laws of God’s Kingdom. But whenever there is incompatibility, we are called to be ambassadors of God’s Kingdom, no matter the cost.
In other words, for Christians, God’s kingdom is to the governments of our world (most of which qualify as empires) as the governments of our world are to Home Owners Associations (HOAs).
Home Owners Associations are recognized as having legitimate power by the state and federal governments. HOAs have the authority to tell you to mow your grass, to collect assessments, and, in many states, to foreclose your property if you refuse to comply. All of these powers are recognized and allowed by the state and federal governments. However, an HOA cannot imprison you for not mowing your lawn or steal your piggy bank to cover your HOA dues. An association cannot go to war against a neighboring HOA, and it definitely couldn’t conscript the neighborhood kids to fight in that war.
In the same way, the governments of this world have been granted limited, legitimate authority by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But these governments frequently assume way, way more power than God allows and often use that power for all sorts of sinful, depraved actions. As citizens of God’s preeminent kingdom, we should be keenly aware of those overreaches and should follow Jesus’ commands and example to oppose those actions. Jesus’ Kingdom is highly political by putting the rulers, powers, and principalities in their place as being massively subservient to God, similar to HOAs’ position to the state/federal government.
Now let’s say you were a good ol’ statist American patriot who moved into Shady Hills, an HOA full of people who are obsessed with the neighborhood, so much so that they lost their identity as Americans and now consider their entire identity as Shady Hillsians. They are committing egregiously illegal acts like locking up a neighbor who has overgrown bushes. To improve the analogy, let’s ignore the justice system as an immediate solution since God will perfectly judge all people and sins in His timing.
As a patriot who believes in the laws of the land, wants his neighbors to uphold the laws and will not break any laws himself, what would you do? You might go plead with the board of directors (BOD) to stop overstepping their authority. You might go read the US constitution and laws yourself to find exactly what laws they are breaking and confront the board with those sections. You would probably attend every board meeting to make your appeals known. You would similarly appeal to all your neighbors, hoping that they will also discover their inner patriot and oppose the HOA board’s actions.
As a good patriot, what would you not do in this scenario? You wouldn’t start a secret club for patriots where all you ever do is talk amongst yourselves about all the HOA’s problems. You want to spread patriotism, not just pat yourself on the back for being right. You wouldn’t rally behind a new BOD president candidate who vows to release all detainees and instead lock the current BOD in his basement. That would be just as illegal! You wouldn’t lose sight of the fact that at the end of the day, your greatest identity is that you are an American, not that you’re a Shady Hillsian.
It’s the same idea for us as children of God interacting with our governments. Political success for residents of God’s Kingdom is to increase the citizenship of God’s Kingdom and to increase the sanctification of those citizens to Jesus’ commands (the great commission). Making the governments of this world enforce God’s Kingdom’s rules will not accomplish that goal. We should instead follow Jesus’s political directions and example by speaking truth to those in power, loving our enemies in the government, loving our nation’s enemies, and being a peacemaker. We should personally feed and clothe the orphans and widows, regardless what our government does or doesn’t do. We should love God, love others, and seek first the Kingdom of God.
If we spend our time, energy, attention, and efforts seeking God’s kingdom first, we will manifest our identity as a citizen of heaven and loosen our grasp on our national and political party identity until it falls to the level of our HOA.
