Micah, you are right on target! Keep reading! I love how you think; it inspires me.

What I’m still wondering after reading this is in what ways we in our country and our time have rejected God as our king. What political views do we have and what actions do we take that are based on a lack of faith in God’s way of doing things and the desire to be like non-believers?

What would our political involvement as Christians look like if we followed Jesus’ teachings and his way of doing things instead of the world’s way? (I’m looking forward to treading the other two parts and seeing if and how you tackle these questions, because you’ve set them up well).

Something that is not often acknowledged among Christians is that Jesus’ teachings do actually have political implications. He did come to this world to establish a kingdom, not just to teach us how to get to heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven Jesus talked about referred to God’s rule being established on earth (essentially he came to reverse with the Israelites did with Saul and call us to follow God instead of men as our king). Where his disciples initially got it wrong was the form that his kingdom would take: it wouldn’t be established by the use of force and exerting power over others. We continue to get this wrong I believe, when we try to make laws that push our beliefs on others.

As you hinted at above, Christian political actions should exemplify Christ’s self-sacrificial love for others. We should support policies that prioritize helping those in need and living in peace with those around us. When the government doesn’t follow these principles we, like Christ, should speak out against it. As Paul said, we should follow that laws as far as we are able without transgressing God’s law, but we can do more than simply complying we can practice active nonviolent resistance to injustice. This is what Jesus advocated when he said, if someone forces you to go a mile, don’t just go that mile, go a second mile, and don’t just let someone hit on the cheek and get away with it, turn the other cheek. These are forms of protest highlighting the injustice of an oppressive system in ways that acknowledge the humanity of both the victim and the perpetrator of injustice.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of you here, because I haven’t read the rest of this yet, but I wanted to share my thoughts as they came to me reading this.