We got off to a good start with our new series Jesus for President. I am pleased with the response and look forward to the continuing dialogue about the issues surrounding being citizens of heaven in America during this historic election. Here is some of what I said yesterday. Please chime in if you like:
"Jesus for President" is the confession that Jesus is our King and we are first citizens of His kingdom and always activists for the kingdom way of life, love--always love.
This is a confession of where our ultimate loyalties lie and the "platform" upon which we operate. Our calling to be kingdom people with Jesus as our King should translate into every language and ethnic group. We are not seeking an American Gospel. We seek to live out the kingdom Jesus inaugurated by his incarnation.
Jesus' initial message was, "Change how you think and live because the kingdom of God is here." Matthew 4:17
I confessed that I had come to interpret the word "repent" to mean "to feel sorry for your sins," but Jesus expected a change of lifestyle to match that of his present-future kingdom. Someone noted that they grew up believing "at hand" or "here" meant "Jesus was coming back soon," not that Jesus actually was bringing the rule of God under his Kingship on earth. Your eschatology will affect if you agree with me or not on this one.
I ended with a question from Greg Boyd's Repenting of Religion:
"How can I, right here and now, affirm the unsupassable worth of this person for who Christ died?"
Our desire for the series is not to give "Christian answers" to the political issues, but to challenge ourselves to love people who live with these issues. When you vote "for" or "against" an issue, you don't have to engage the person. To love is to serve no matter what your ballot reads.
Resources:
The Dallas Morning News has an on-going blog on the campaign and other topics. Some huge diversity of opinions. Check it out.
Check out this site to get a perspective on what the unchurched feel about Christians on some of the issues. You can download the chapter "Too Political" from the site.
Here is Greg Boyd's blog if you want more of him.
"Jesus for President" is the confession that Jesus is our King and we are first citizens of His kingdom and always activists for the kingdom way of life, love--always love.
This is a confession of where our ultimate loyalties lie and the "platform" upon which we operate. Our calling to be kingdom people with Jesus as our King should translate into every language and ethnic group. We are not seeking an American Gospel. We seek to live out the kingdom Jesus inaugurated by his incarnation.
Jesus' initial message was, "Change how you think and live because the kingdom of God is here." Matthew 4:17
I confessed that I had come to interpret the word "repent" to mean "to feel sorry for your sins," but Jesus expected a change of lifestyle to match that of his present-future kingdom. Someone noted that they grew up believing "at hand" or "here" meant "Jesus was coming back soon," not that Jesus actually was bringing the rule of God under his Kingship on earth. Your eschatology will affect if you agree with me or not on this one.
I ended with a question from Greg Boyd's Repenting of Religion:
"How can I, right here and now, affirm the unsupassable worth of this person for who Christ died?"
Our desire for the series is not to give "Christian answers" to the political issues, but to challenge ourselves to love people who live with these issues. When you vote "for" or "against" an issue, you don't have to engage the person. To love is to serve no matter what your ballot reads.
Resources:
The Dallas Morning News has an on-going blog on the campaign and other topics. Some huge diversity of opinions. Check it out.
Check out this site to get a perspective on what the unchurched feel about Christians on some of the issues. You can download the chapter "Too Political" from the site.
Here is Greg Boyd's blog if you want more of him.