In this season of voting and choosing candidates, I want to take a few posts to share some of my biblically political views on the world. You won’t find my personal views here. But you will find the perspective of a preacher and pastor when it comes to Earth’s politics. In each blog post, I will share some of my sermon material and thought process about politics. Enjoy!

Here’s the first type of preaching I do during political seasons. It all has to do with centering our understanding of who we are as believers in Christ. If we don’t understand our identity in him, we will never be able to choose the candidate who might lead America in the most godly way.

So what kind of political preaching do I do from the pulpit, or what kind of religiously informed views do I spew from the sacred desk? What does this religious leader endorse and what values do I pound with my position, authority and influence? I’ll show you. This is my politically motivated and charged religious plea to Christians every four years.

I Have Dual Citizenship

Usually around Independence Day, I pull out of the mothballs and dust off my sermons on being a citizen of heaven first, and then of some nation. I preach against national pride and all of the things that blind us to our true citizenship.

I talk about our privilege of serving Christ wherever we have been planted, whether that be in America or somewhere else. I talk about the bigger picture so we don’t put blinders on during elections and national holidays that tend to fuel our desire to fit in with others and push our nationalism to a disgustingly malicious stench to other believers around the world.

We happen to be on the same team with Christians in other nations. There are wonderful privileges, rights and benefits we enjoy as Christians that no country can give us. My nation is great, but God’s Kingdom is greater. Paul talked about being a member of God’s Kingdom in these ways using the word and idea of citizenship, I believe, on purpose.

We can allow our nationalism and geographical pride to divide us with other believers, or we can humbly thank God that “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess to God” (Isa 45:23; Rom 14:11; Phil 2:10-11; Rom 10:9; Rev 5:13; 7:9-10).

Aside from this, we are from a different kind of Kingdom, not of this world, but of God (1 Pet 2:9; Rev 1:6). We are citizens of God’s Kingdom (Eph 2:19-22; Phil 3:20-21). This means that we fight for Jesus first, that we stump for Jesus first, and that God is our Leader, not a mortal human being. God is perfect, and His rule is just and good. I’d rather have Jesus anytime than sort through who promised what and why they failed to deliver.

This also means that we play on the team of Christ. So there is no reason for fellow believers to remotely be at odds with one another. We live and love in a beautifully unified body of Christ, where He is King and where our uniquenesses fall under His Spirit’s direction and leading.

We bring our flavors of personality to the unified body of Christ. From the diversity of our lives, the Spirit brings a unity of purpose, of worship, and of action. I have found that political parties will champion only one part of God’s commands, commitments and desires. We must be more balanced than that.

Now I live as a dual citizen in a certain land and because of my birth or ability to be a citizen, there are certain rights and privileges I enjoy. One of them is to vote. So I do my best to be well informed without being crazy about it. I don’t scour the internet everyday all day long to find dirt on candidates. I have a life in God. I’d rather study the Scriptures than politics.

But I get as well informed as I can, and then I go and I vote. I do my part as an individual to obey the laws of the land. So I do vote. I don’t believe you should just not vote. But you should pick the person, after prayer and study, that you believe would best represent your views.

I’ve heard it said that I’m not picking my pastor in chief but my commander in chief. That’s a great line, and it’s true. This president is not my pastor. But, just like all of us, no matter how much a president tries to be objective, their personal views, beliefs and environment will certainly affect the way that they rule. Just take a minor gloss of the Old Testament Kings and you will see that their life and beliefs colored how Israel dealt with all things.

So I search for someone I think would be best at making choices more suitable to godliness for our nation, since they have that kind of influences as the President of the United States. I may not be voting for my pastor, but I’m voting for someone who is human and cannot so compartmentalize their life that their beliefs will not ever affect them in their choices. If that were true, they would be a sociopath, and someone without any conviction or character. And I don’t want that at all.

It’s hard for us to square our dual citizenship with how to vote and be involved in politics as Christians. As long as we remember that we are citizens of heaven first, I think will all do just fine with politics on earth.

These are fleeting times but we have an eternity waiting for us. Leave a comment and tell me how you deal with this matter. And stay tuned for next week to see the second kind of sermon I deliver during political seasons.