GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP
By Tim Keep
How should we respond as citizens when we see our constitutional freedoms eroding , our government overreaching , and our Christian values being trampled ? Some say we should protest ; others say that we should submit . Some believe we must resist , and others want us to retreat .
Here are three big-picture biblical principles that have helped shape my understanding of Christian citizenship . These have helped me find and keep my balance and guide my responses .
First , I must keep the church of Jesus central to my mind and heart . The New Testament church turned the world upside-down because they responded to crisis , threats , and persecution as a community of believers rather than as isolated individuals .
As a true believer in the gospel , I am a member of a church being built by Jesus ; a united church that the gates of hell cannot prevail against ; a Spirit-filled church through whom His perfect kingdom is coming — a kingdom of righteousness , peace , and joy in the Holy Spirit ; a bold-preaching , gospel-proclaiming church through whom the sins of society are called out and through whom sinners are being saved ; a united , Spirit-led church which acts with discernment ; a praying church which acts with power ; a salt and light community of saints preserving society from total decay ; a victorious church which will never be defeated or stop expanding . Culture rises or falls with the church . And to the degree that the church is not being the church , society decays , and freedoms are lost .
From every truly New Testament church will emanate the fragrance of Jesus in a sinful world . From a Christ-centered , Spirit-filled church will radiate the beauty of Jesus to a darkened world . Wherever this church is operating , it is making disciples who are permeating educational institutions , the business community , the media , the arts and entertainment industries , the judiciary , and the government ; it is forming ministries to serve the most vulnerable and promote righteousness ; it is transforming culture from the inside out . Wherever a holy , Jesus-saturated church exists , it proves to be the best vaccine for its sick and dying community .
Isolated from the body , lone actors become imbalanced , paranoid , irrational , and sensational . Isolated , I will lose my focus on Christ and my eternal hope in a kingdom that will never be shaken . Alone , I will end up walking by fear and not by faith , by conspiracies rather than in God ’ s Word . And every lie I choose to believe will become smoke in my eyes , blinding my vision of God at work in our land and keeping me from praying , in faith , “ Thy kingdom come !” Fear can cause me to forget that history is His-story , that world events follow His decrees , and that calamities are His mercies drawing the nations to their only Savior and chastening the church toward holiness .
Second , I must respond as a foreigner in exile because that ’ s who I am . I must participate in the good of the land where God ’ s providence has placed me but always as a stranger and pilgrim . I should defend it , beautify it , and seek its welfare . I should use my gifts and resources to make it more just , prosperous , fruitful , and good . I should push back the darkness wherever I find it but all the while remembering that only the kingdom of God will stand forever .
In Jeremiah 29:4-9 , listen to how the prophet Jeremiah exhorted Jewish citizens living in exile : “ Thus says the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel , to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon : Build houses and live in them ; plant gardens and eat their produce . Take wives and have sons and daughters ; take wives for your sons , and give your daughters in marriage , that they may bear sons and daughters ; multiply there , and do not decrease . But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile , and pray to the Lord on its behalf , for in its welfare you will find your welfare . For thus says the Lord of hosts , the God of Israel : Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you , and do not listen to the dreams that they dream , for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name ; I did not send them , declares the Lord .”
22 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW