Which Government Do You Serve?

"My Kingdom is not of this world."

I’m reposting this article as we begin our series on the Sermon on the Mount.  Every time I go back to this Kingdom Manifesto, I’m reminded by how easily Christians today boil Christianity down to private piety, overlooking the fact that Jesus calls his followers, the church, to be a new society living his New Way — a way that touches every sphere of our lives — political allegiances included!  Peace, JB

The political climate in America this week is boiling hot on the heals of Sunday night’s signing of the Obamacare proposal.  There is an apocalyptic like mood on the conservative right, with talk show hosts prognosticating on the eventual collapse of America as we know it.

Today, I walked to the gas station for a soda, and a perturbed man on the brink of desperation was waving a copy of the newspaper in the face of the clerk and yelling: “You see this?!  This is not just a new Healthcare plan; it is the beginning of a complete government takeover of this great country!  You just wait!  This is the beginning of the end of America.”

I’m not here to weigh in or take sides in this debate.  In fact, I intend to do quite the opposite.  I intend to remind Christ followers of where our primary citizenship lies, and where our hopes for the future does rest. I walked out of the gas station store, calm and collected, opened my Mello Yello and with the fresh spring breeze all around me said a silent prayer of thanksgiving:

“Thank you, Lord, that my citizenship is of another world.  Thank you, Lord, that the American government — whether conservative or liberal or far leftist — is not where I place my hope for my own future or the future of the world.  Help this man to discover a greater, more lasting Kingdom to place his hopes in.”

Jesus was not an American — obviously.  But nor was he a citizen of ancient Rome, supposedly the “bringers of world peace and prosperity” in the ancient world. When he was on trial for, among other things, treason against the political superpower of his day, he was asked plainly by Pilate about his political allegiance.  His answer was unequivocally clear: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

We must quickly point out that Jesus did NOT mean by this that his Kingdom was not for this world or present in this world, as if he were referring to an otherworldly Kingdom in the sky called Heaven where we’ll eventually go.  By saying his kingdom is “not of this world” he meant his Kingdom/government does not follow the same rules and patterns of other human governments we know.  (In this context he means first and foremost that it does not stand or fall by military might: “If it were [of this world] my servants would fight to prevent my arrest”(v. 36b)).

Jesus inaugurated a new government rooted in radically subversive Kingdom-principles and driven by Calvary-shaped public agenda.  Jesus didn’t align himself with any of the political parties of his day; but nor was his ministry apolitical.

Christ Encounter #5: Jesus and Family (Mark 3:20ff)

20 One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. 21 When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said. 22 But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons.” 31 …Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. 32 There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” 33 Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers.” 34 Then he looked at those around him and said,“Look, these are my mother and brothers. 35 Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:20-21, 31-35)

I. INITIAL QUESTIONS & OBSERVATIONS

1. What does Jesus’ family think he is out of his mind?  Is this a compliment?  What about the religious leaders?  Why do they think he has a demon?  Is this a compliment?

2. Why do we learn about Jesus’ family in this text?  Why does it not mention Jesus’ father?

3. Why did they stand outside and send someone to tell him to come out?  Why didn’t they just go themselves?

4. What point is Jesus making by his question: “Who is my mother?  Who are my brothers?”

5. What do we know about Jewish family values in the time of Jesus?

6. Is Jesus being disrespectful to his mother and brothers here?  Is Jesus being anti-family here?

7. What is the main point Jesus is trying to make in this encounter?

II. EXEGESIS & INTERPRETATION

Many may be surprised when they come upon this often overlooked Christ Encounter that our Savior and Lord, Jesus himself, was labeled a loony, considered “out of his mind” by his own mother and brothers, and mistaken for a demon-possessed nutcase.  I have never heard this passage emphasized on an episode of Focus on the Family and youth pastors are probably wise to just avoid this teaching of Jesus — lest parents draw the wrong conclusion that we are somehow downplaying the significance of family.

We can be “good Christians”, read our Bibles, go to church on Sundays and say a prayer before our meals without letting our faith challenge our core allegiances in life.  But if we want to move beyond safe, comfortable, domesticated “churchianity” and become a true, sold-out, radical Jesus followers, then we need to wrestle with “allegiance-passages” like this.

You can profess to be a Jesus-follower with your lips but your true allegiances are revealed by the way you live and order your life. For example, if you claim God as your provider but lose faith when you lose your job, then Money or financial stability may be your true God.  If you claim Jesus is your Lord but trust your own insight in making all the big decisions of life without prayer or God, then you may be the true Lord of your life.  If you claim Jesus as your as your King and call yourself a citizen of the Kingdom of God but invest most of your time and energy debating the worldly politics of the American Right and Left then your primary allegiance may in fact be to the American flag rather than the Kingdom of Christ.  Religious people talk politely of private beliefs, while Kingdom-centered Jesus followers talk of new allegiances.

So, we at last come to Jesus’ encounter with his well-intentioned, but misguided mother and brothers.