One of the most beautiful, and I would say, most often obscured facets of God's way is that followers of Jesus are at the same time apolitical and political. That is, we are sojourners and aliens on the earth with a home and allegience that transcends any national boundaries or political parties. We are a people of a nation but it's not a nation with physical boundaries. It is a nation made of people from every earthly nation, from every language, from every tribe. "You are citizens with everyone else who belongs to the family of God."
// Ephesians 2.19 CEV But Jesus' message was political in the sense that it has implications on the way we as a people function in our world and affects the way we view the nation and authority under which we reside whether that be the United States, China, Portugal or Kenya. As Derek Webb sings on his album
Mockingbird:
my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it's to a king & a kingdom
The idea that the Christian is not necessarily committed or forced to associate or endorse one particular party is lost on way too many of folks who claim to follow Jesus. Our faith informs our political view but is not limited to one party or another, though I know that people from both parties will argue that theirs is the correct party for Christians.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said this about his lack of endorsement of a particular presidential candidate:
"I never came out with an endorsement. My father did, but I never made one. I took this position in order to maintain a nonpartisan posture, which I have followed all along in order to be able to look objectively at both parties at all times."
Faith informs political conversation and views but is not limited to one party or another. I'm going to stand with Martin Luther King, Jr. and attempt to look objectively at both parties at all times because my allegience is not to a flag, a country or a man, or democracy but to a King and a Kingdom. It's a beautiful truth.
