Thursday, September 11, 2008

Establishing a throne: Would Jesus be a Democrat or Republican?

Jesus would have been a Democrat.
Someone was loudly proclaiming this on the internet the other day shortly after Senator Obama's speech at the close of the Democratic National Convention. Over the years I have heard Republicans express similar claims on the loyalty of Jesus to their party. I have got some news for all these people: your paradigm is completely, utterly wrong.

Jesus would not be a member of either party. Not only that, he would reject the whole governmental system of the United States. He is not interested in democracy. He is not interested in a republic. No. Get this straight:
Jesus is a king.
He does not care about political planks on some party's platform. He doesn't care about building consensus or opening dialog in a pluralistic society. Rather, He leads a kingdom. His word is law. He speaks and righteousness and justice are established. Any who do not agree with Him have no place under His leadership and will be removed from His kingdom.

No, we cannot claim Jesus to our side.

All we can do is align ourselves to His side.



This is the first in a series entitled Establishing a throne:
  1. Would Jesus be a Democrat or Republican?
  2. How is it established?
  3. Who sits on it?
  4. What is justice?
  5. What is righteousness?

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13 comments:

  1. WTF? This is one of the dumbest things I've ever read. God _is_ interested in earthly government. He sets rulers in place and commands us to pray for them.
    I'm pretty sure he'd be either a libertarian or a republican.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous,

    Thanks for your comment.

    Where did I say God wasn't interested in earthly government?

    You are correct. We are commanded to pray for our leaders that we might lead a peaceful life. Scripture clearly states he establishes and removes nations, kingdoms and leaders. In fact, ultimately Jesus will be established as the final King, ruling over the entire earth.

    You are incorrect about His party affiliation. The point of the article was that Jesus is not a member of a party, making Him in effect within the current system. The point is He is outside the current system. We need to make sure our perspective is correct by measuring ourselves by His standard. We cannot successfully make Him fit into ours.

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  3. I think you are forgetting an important aspect of God. He gives us a choice. He loves us and wants us to be on his "side" but we have the choice to completely reject that. People do it daily.

    I don't think God or Jesus would reject our governmental system. Our system gives us the opportunity to choose, which included choosing wrong. God did the same thing. Isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Right on! You nailed it!
    I'm reading a book called "Lord, Save Us From Your Followers" and chapter 2 deals with this very issue.
    Fun, informative reading!
    Good blog!

    ReplyDelete
  5. lee:

    The point of the article is that people try to put God within their system. He won't fit. I'm not sure what that has to do with choice, other than we can choose to follow Him or not. If we choose to follow Him, then we should concentrate on what His government is like and be less concerned about trying to fit Him into the world's.

    About God rejecting our governmental system: have you read Revelation? Daniel? These are all about God rejecting our human systems and setting up His own.

    I'm not sure how to read "God did the same thing. Isn't it?" Are you saying God choose wrong?

    reojames:

    Thanks for the "Lord, Save Us From Your Followers" reference. Sounds like an interesting read.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lee:

    There are a number of examples of God establishing governmental systems in the Bible. There are also a number of examples of God destroying those same governments because of the sin those leaders did and taught others to do. The United States is not different. God is just and will destroy this nation if we as a united people do not repent of the sins we humans have been doing that force God's hand to judge us.

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  7. Lee:

    That is what a King does. He dictates the Law and all those who refuse to obey get judged by the King.

    Jesus is King and we cannot change that fact no matter what we want to believe about Him.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love knowing that there are other believers out there who realize this fact. I have been getting kind of sick of hearing both parties claim God as their own. We are to pray for the leaders no matter who is in charge.

    I am a firm believer that if God had it his way it wouldn't be a democracy or a monarchy, it would be a Theocracy.

    Now that said, we don't live in a Theocracy, and I don't think we will see that ever here in the US. This is not a bad thing though. Like I said we are to pray for the leaders and God will use them for his glory no matter who is in charge.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Salt
    When was the last time God himself destroyed a nation after the death of Christ? He may allow nations to be destroyed, but he will never again call for it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I think i agree with you, but Jesus was well-versed in the law of His day, which means he had some interest, some study, some knowledge.

    Personally, i think he would have been a Libertarian, if He had to pick something.

    Thanks for the reminder, though, of His sovereignty. Today that issue tends to get pushed aside often.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Nicholas,

    Thanks for your comments!

    ...if God had it his way it wouldn't be a democracy or a monarchy, it would be a Theocracy.

    Agreed! A theocracy is a monarchy where God is the monarch.

    ...I don't think we will see [a theocracy] ever here in the US. ... Like I said we are to pray for the leaders and God will use them for his glory no matter who is in charge.

    Absolutely we are to pray for our leaders.

    I disagree that we will never see a theocracy here in the US. I believe we will see a world wide theocracy in the future. It's frequently called the Millennial Kingdom.

    He may allow nations to be destroyed, but he will never again call for it.

    Again I disagree. I understand Isaiah 63 to be yet unfulfilled messianic prophecy. In it we see Jesus himself staining his garments with the blood of nations. A similar passage is Revelation 16 where God's judgments are poured out on the earth.

    ReplyDelete

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