Uneasy Alliance or Struggle for Power
If Jesus is Lord, then Herod is not.
If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not.
God kept his word and destroyed those who did not recognise the Lordship of his Son. Herod’s power was destroyed in AD 70. Then the Father destroyed the Roman Empire.
Unfortunately, the Church missed the point. It tried to prop up the Roman empire, by establishing the Holy Roman empire. The Church has been trying to maintain the power of the state ever since, because we do not understand the Kingdom of God. If Jesus is King, then the state is not.
The universial Roman Empire under Christian principles lasted for nearly a thousand years.
- The state protected the church.
- Christianity legitimized the state.
The lesson has not been learnt yet. Christians are still trying to use the political system to advance the Kingdom of God. We must learn that for the Kingdom of God to come in its fullness, the modern political system will have to be destroyed. The system is already destroying itself, but I am not sure that Christians are willing to let it go.
3 comments:
It is interesting that here in the US, the dominant view among "conservative evangelicals" is not only that the persecuted church in all non-westernized countries (like China) should not "register" with those governments as a church, but should do whatever they can to avoid it. But these same people anathematize churches here that don't file for non-profit corporate status as violators of Romans 13 in not obeying the state. Acute schizophrenia.
Steve, There is no legal requirement to register for nonprofit status. If you start the church of Steve and people come and they do the things churches do, Communion, baptise, study etc, then you can legally take contributions, they can deduct them and you as the "Church" leader fill out a DBA Schedule c for that ministry.
BUT,
Ron's point is well taken. I was at a conference this last week that was a large number of evangelicals who were bemoaning loudly the loss of house and senate. Like Jesus can't be God unless the Republicans are in power.
I'm as conservative as anyone, and I'm here to say, we lost, rethink, reconoiter and hit em again.
Then, if I read the book of James right, "Don't say tomorrow we will go do this or that, but rather say, if the Lord WILLS we will do this or that". If we believe God puts one up and takes another down then we must understand that Nancy Pelosi is God's Speaker of the House for NOW.
Gene -
Who's WE?
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