Jonathan Leeman, editorial director at the ministry 9Marks, challenges Christians frustrated with today's divisions to hit the restart button by living as citizens of another kingdom and offering the world a totally new kind of politics.
Religious liberty feels in jeopardy today, as cultural power brokers grow ever more suspicious of Christianity. Meanwhile, Christians cannot agree with one another politically. Some want to strengthen the evangelical voting bloc. Others advise focusing on social-justice causes. Still others would leave the public square to get on with the so-called spiritual work of the church. Prominent Christian leaders criticize one another in the news. Members of church small groups find themselves divided and angry. Clearly, Christians in America need a political reboot.
Jonathan Leeman, a scholar of political theology who has taught at various seminaries, believes this restart begins in local churches. Before we can truly do good and do justice, we need to be a good and just people. We cannot talk with integrity about family values if our marriages are falling apart. Or advocate for tax policy changes if we're not being generous with fellow believers. The restart needed is conversion. Conversion makes us first citizens of Christ's kingdom and then puts us to work as ambassadors to the world. Our focus must shift from redeeming the nation to living as a redeemed nation. Only when we realize that the life of our churches now is the hope of the nation tomorrow will we be the salt and light Jesus calls us to be.
