And yet, what did He say to government leaders when He had the chance?
- "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here" (Jn 18:36).
- "For this reason I was born, and for this reason I have come into the world: in order that I can testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice" (Jn 18:37).
- "You would not have any authority over me unless it was given to you from above" (Jn 19:11).
- And sometimes, Jesus just said nothing at all to defend Himself.
Jesus never tried to overthrow the government. His was not a political movement. His movement was to transform the world through transforming people with the Gospel. He handpicked and trained ordinary people He called His "disciples" to send out just as He was sent (Jn 20:21), to carry on the same mission in the same manner.
Paul, who was one of the Apostles who followed Jesus after His death, was a most prolific emissary throughout the Roman world. He was a full citizen of the empire and saw the atrocities firsthand. Even so, his campaign was not to change the empire's rules, but to change people within the empire with the Gospel. Some of those folks even lived in the very heart of Rome (see the entire book of Romans). When he closed out his letter to the church in Philippi, he said "All the saints greet you, and especially those of Caesar’s household" (Php 4:22). Apparently, some within Caesar's own household were followers of Christ. They weren't there to take over - they were folks holding down their "government jobs" in the center of it all ... as followers of Jesus.
Luke wrote two long volumes to his friend Theophilus (cf. Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-5). There is strong speculation among scholars that Theophilus, a follower of Jesus, was well-placed in government. But the accounts Luke writes to Theophilus are not stories of overthrowing the Roman government, but rather stories of the world being turned "upside down" (Acts 17:6) by people sharing and living the truth about Jesus.
In light of recent events, I want to encourage you no matter what your view is of how Christians should be involved in the affairs of government. Some of you don't care one lick about politics, some of you intentionally withdraw from it, some of you talk about it and vote and maybe dabble here and there, and some of you dive right into the heart of it. I want to encourage all of you:
No matter how you choose to engage the affairs of government, Jesus' primary means of changing the world has always been through His followers telling others about Him, and loving and living like He did.
That's it. That simple, that relational, that normal, that daily. Not just one or the other - not just talking about Him and not just living like He did and not even just being really loving, but all three. There may be all kinds of secondary means (which we can debate). But the primary means never changed. Therefore, it must remain the modern Christian's primary means, too, no matter what.
This neither precludes nor prescribes any particular approach to being involved in the political process. Some followers of Jesus were from the very beginning well-placed in government. Paul's bacon was saved several times because he had good relations with government leaders (and he was threatened by the bad relations!). Others had their noses down, focused on the families and work. But even in the context of a government far worse than most modern Western nations, the strategy never wavered. Followers of Jesus talking about Him, and loving and living like He did.
To rely more on any other method is to claim we have a better strategy than He did. To expect any other method to be more effective is to claim His way wasn't timeless.
