Thursday Read: The Church's Political Seduction

Jerusalem, 6 BC. Herod the Great has rebuilt the temple into an architectural masterpiece, and many Jews see this as evidence that God is working through political power. Surely the Messiah will come as a warrior-king to establish God's kingdom through military might and political dominance. When Jesus arrives, crowds want to make him king by force (John 6:15). Even his disciples ask, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). They couldn't conceive of God's kingdom advancing through anything other than political conquest.

Jesus consistently rejected this model. When Pilate asked if he was a king, Jesus replied, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting" (John 18:36). The kingdom of God doesn't advance through legislation, elections, or political movements—it advances through transformed hearts, sacrificial love, and the proclamation of the gospel. Yet American Christianity has repeatedly fallen into the same trap as first-century Judaism, believing that God's purposes depend on our political success.

Constantine's conversion in 312 AD seemed like Christianity's greatest triumph. Suddenly, the faith moved from the margins to the halls of power. Churches received imperial funding, bishops gained political influence, and Christian symbols adorned military standards. But this marriage of church and state corrupted both. The church gained worldly power and lost spiritual authority. Politicians used Christianity for legitimacy while Christians used politics for influence. The gospel became a tool for temporal gain rather than eternal transformation.

Today, many Christians are more passionate about their political party than their Savior, more angry about election results than heartbroken over lost souls. We've convinced ourselves that God's kingdom rises and falls with our preferred candidates, that political victory equals spiritual progress. But Jesus told Pilate that his servants don't fight because his kingdom operates by different rules—not coercion but conversion, not force but faith, not political power but spiritual transformation.

Are you more invested in winning political battles or in winning souls for Christ? Do you spend more time posting about politics or praying for your enemies? When your political party loses, are you devastated in a way that reveals where you've really placed your hope? The church's mission isn't to elect godly leaders—it's to make disciples of all nations.