On Being a Citizen, Part 4 of 5

A Christian Nation

Let me begin by making it clear that the Christian nation I am going to be describing here today doesn’t currently exist; at least not as a physically, coordinated, geographical location. There is no “Republic of Christianity” or “Parliament of Christ.” What I am describing here is what I think a Christian society would look like if it did exist today as a physical, geographical location. What might the politics of a Christian nation look like?

Let’s begin by reviewing where we left off yesterday on how the current worldly governments are brought about. They are either brought about by the people as a need to bring about the protection and provision of the people, or they are brought about by a conquering warrior who promises to give the people protection and provision (or simply admits he is going to rule over them as slaves). In an odd twist Israel refused God’s protection and provision so they could have their own king like the other nations.

A Christian nation, then, would require no such government. Why? Because they would understand that they don’t need to give power to a group of elected officials to take care of them or provide for them. They put their whole-hearted trust in Christ as King. They see no need to expand their borders, they fear no invaders. Either God will protect them like He protected Hezekiah, or God will allow the ‘conqueror’ to come and use His people to bring about the redemption of the ‘conquerors’ so that they acknowledge the true King. They would not fear death in some country invading because they would truly understand that no occupation authority, no power whatsoever can separate them from the powerful, faithful love of Christ for us. In interacting with other countries their guiding principle would be to love. They would not care about the politics of the governments of any country, whether communistic, capitalistic, socialistic, etc. They would simply send help to all peoples so that they can be a blessing to all the world. This mission to help would not come with obligations on the part of the country they go to, but simply to show the people the love they have experienced through Christ and the love that God has for all men.

They would understand that they are a community, a family of God. A family not bound by blood but by something much more powerful – the Spirit. This understanding of community leads them to several results.

One such result of an understanding of community is that they are in this life together and cannot split from each other for any reason whatsoever. Although they recognize the good that has come from the many different denominations through the years they understand that the unity of the church is paramount and had worked for years before to re-establish the Church as One, which Christ prayed for fervently before his death (John 17). They understand the sanctity and authority of the Scriptures as well as that of the tradition of the Church. They recognize the authority of the shepherds/elders and are willing to submit to and follow their leadership of the Church. They have incorporated the good from the different denominations back into the Church as One. They understand the Church as family, and that although there may be people in the community that they don’t always agree with, understand, and even some that just get on their nerves, they are all still family. And so the Love of God becomes their abiding principle: to love one another as they have been loved. They understand John’s point that if you cannot love your brother in Christ, how can you love Christ? (1 John 4:20-21)

A second result of this understanding of community is united with their understanding that all that they ‘have’ is not their individual belongings, or even community belongings necessarily. Instead they believe and understand that all those things before them are God’s and He has chosen to bless them with what they need or the skills to make the things they need (of which He still provides the resources). This outlook gives them the ability to share their belongings with no qualms or arguments because they understand that it is not “mine” or “yours” but God’s. This would mean they would not have to be concerned with people hoarding resources, so that 10% of the population has 90% of the goods of the nation. They would not see the purpose of hoarding resources because they belong to everyone. This would also be influenced by an understanding that they are not guaranteed one day or another. What purpose is there in personal collecting and hoarding then if it could all be gone tomorrow? In the next hour?

Community would also help these people understand that they have a communal history, and as such a communal responsibility. When they realize that the community of 10 years ago messed up considerably on something, their response would not be “They messed up” but “We messed up.” They would understand the need of communal confession when events such as this occur and they realize their wrong and announce it plainly for all those affected to hear. They will not be caught up in their own pride but be proud only in Christ. And when individuals in the community make mistakes and falter in their walks, they would help keep each other accountable. But they would do so in a spirit of love and forgiveness, always remembering that they too have made mistakes and faltered along the way. They would remember that God has been patient with them in their mistakes and continues to love them through them, and so they too show their love for one another even in mistakes.

They would not be without an understanding of their individuality. However they would understand that while each person is unique and special and their own individual person, the individual would never take precedence over the community.

They would understand the gender roles as God intended them to be. That while a wife should submit to the authority of her husband, this in no way means that the husband is to exploit her and treat her like some slave. Instead, they understand that the husband is to treat his wife with love and respect. Husbands base the treatment of their wives off of the marriage relationship they have with Christ. Since the Body of believers are the Bride of Christ, and Christ treats us with love, mercy, kindness, gentleness, peace, joy, patience, faithfulness and self-control, so they too treat their wives as they have been treated by Christ. Women are allowed to be women and men are allowed to be men, and that doesn’t mean that the women just sit around and cook and clean. The women who climb mountains are not seen as any less of a woman than a woman who cooks and cleans, and the man who loves to cook or decorate is not seen as any less of a man than the one that prefers to work outside.

They would not look at different races/ethnicities within the community with prejudice, but instead see all people as equal.

They would see the value of education of the community as a whole and not just the children, and value that education highly. They would understand that more knowledge doesn’t mean greater status as sometimes people with a ‘simple’ understanding can see something of God that those with ‘great understanding’ had never thought of.

They would understand that while they have been given “dominion” over the earth that does not mean that they have been given the ability to exploit the earth. They understand that they have a responsibility to care for what God has given them and to use their resources appropriately. Reusing materials as available, finding healthy ways to power the things they need, etc.

They would understand worship as not something just done on Sunday but something done all day every day. They would understand that the glory of heaven is not simply eternal life or a life in paradise but that the value of paradise and eternal life is that it is a life eternally next to the Father (in the same way, the fear of hell would not be a fear of fire or torment but of an everlasting separation from God). They would try to live this out in their lives every day. They would see worship when they sang, when they painted, when they danced, when they played sports, when they talked, everywhere. They would not be restricted to one particular worship time but worship at all times, occasionally changing the times for the whole community to gather as needed. They would understand the importance of fellowship meals, where it is not only a joining of the community in meal but of God joining as well.

That is just a glimpse of what I see a Christian nation to be. I love the thought of it. I love the idea of a community that stands together as one and gives praise to God the Father for His unending love and works to make that love known throughout all the world. I love the idea of a community that attempts to make change not by forcing its beliefs through a political machine but looking to Christ to make the change in the world, as he is the only one that can. It’s a shame that it doesn’t exist in the world today.

Or does it…?