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Acts 17-18: Christian Is Not a Political Party

Aug 3, 2009
Acts, Christian Living, Evangelism

Today’s reading is Acts 17:1-18:28.

The Thessalonian Jews made an interesting accusation against the Christians in Acts 17:7. They claimed the Jews were rebelling against Caesar because they believed there was another king, Jesus. On the one hand this was true. The Christians did believe Jesus was their king. They did give their allegiance to Jesus over Caesar. However, we all know this charge is bogus because the Christians were not rebelling against Caesar. In fact, their king had claimed they should render to Caesar what was his due. 

The Christians were not fighting against Rome, rebelling against Rome, or even encouraging folks to break the laws of Rome. This accusation was pointless. The Christians were not taking up arms against Rome. They were not trying to overthrow Caesar. They were not even working to change the laws of Rome, at all. The most they did to impact their government was to pray (cf. I Timothy 2:1-2).

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to say that individual Christians are not allowed to participate in the political process. I encourage you to vote. I encourage you, if you have a heart’s desire for it, to be political. But please, recognize that Christian is not a political party. God did not establish Christianity to impact national politics. Jesus did not die so nations could become Christian. Jesus died so we could carry the gospel message to one more person and let them be forgiven.

Can this message change the social and political world? Sure it can. As we get the message out to more and more people and more people become God’s children, that will impact what happens at every level of our government. But please, please recognize this very simple point. Voting is not your Christian duty. God does not have a candidate in any election. God does not have a side on any law. He wants us to surrender to Him no matter what our government does. He is not asking us to bring our government in line with Him.

Sadly, the world could probably bring an accusation against Christians and churches today that they are trying to change the political structure of nations. Let’s give that up and just get back to surrendering ourselves to God and carrying God’s message to others.

***Question: Why is it so easy for Christ’s church to lose sight of its real mission and get distracted with things like politics?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

5 Comments
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  • Eric Huggins

    I think it is easy sometimes to lose faith in the power of the gospel so we look to other methods (like politics) to make changes. The gospel message is the only message that will save souls and change lives. The gospel cannot be stopped. Politics does not even compare.

  • http://www.mandevillechurch.org Nathan Williams

    Most of the time it's because those who believe they are part of Christ's church do understand the mission Christ gave to His church. Christ did not give us a political mission, a health-and-wellness mission, a secular education mission, an entertainment mission, or a host of other missions we might think up. He gave the church a spiritual mission. When we think, "I think this would be a great idea for the church…" we need to look carefully at the pattern Christ has given and make sure it's part of His picture.

  • HL

    Hey, I think you have made a very interesting point. Truly Jesus did not come to establish a kingdom in the world but nowadays many Christians seem to think that they have to be at the pinnacle of the world in order to bring glory to God's name, when all that God really wants us to do is to bring the truth in His words as written in the Bible to share with another fellow man that they might be brought before Christ! More and more Christians seem to be trying to build a physical kingdom on earth. May true Christians follow the pattern that Christ has instructed us and not always re-creating their own interpretations of the Bible, just as Moses had followed carefully the divine instructions to make the tabernacle exactly as God had commanded. By the way, I am also writing a blog on Acts, together with some fellow brethren for other books of the Bible. Pls feel free to visit: http://www.closerdaybyday.info (p.s. i come here for inspirations sometimes :) )

  • Edwin Crozier

    Thanks for the encouragement, HL.

  • http://www.learntostudythebible.com holy scriptures

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