“Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God as a radical alternative to all versions of the kingdom of the world, whether they declare themselves to be "under God" or not.”
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
“Laws, enforced by the sword, control behavior but cannot change hearts.”
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
“Consider these questions: Did Jesus ever suggest by word of example that we should aspire to acquire, let alone take over, the power of Caesar? Did Jesus spend any time and energy trying to improve, let alone dominate, the reigning government of his day? Did he ever word to pass laws against the sinners he hunt out with and ministered to? Did he worry at all about ensuring that his rights and the religious rights of his followers were protected? Does any author in the New Testament remotely hint that engaging in this sort of activity has anything to do with the kingdom of God? The answer to all these questions is, of course, no.”
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
“...we must also recognize that people who have diametrically opposing views may believe *they too* are advancing the kingdom, which is all well and good so long as we don't christen our views as *the* Christian view. As people whose citizenship is in heaven before it is in any nation (Phil 3:20), and whose kingdom identity is rooted in Jesus rather than in a political agenda, we must never forget that the only way we individually and collectively represent the kingdom of God is through loving, Christlike, sacrificial acts of service to others. Anything and everything else, however good and noble, lies outside the kingdom of God.”
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
“Participants in the kingdom of the world trust the power of the sword to control behavior; participants of the kingdom of God trust the power of self-sacrificial love to transform hearts. The kingdom of the world is concerned with preserving law and order by force; the kingdom of God is concerned with establishing the rule of God through love. The kingdom of the world is centrally concerned with what people do; the kingdom of God is centrally concerned with how people are and what they can become.The kingdom of the world is characterized by judgment; the kingdom of God is characterized by outrageous, even scandalous, grace.”
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
― The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church
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