Chalcedon Blog

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans 10:10

Including myself, it is most difficult for conservative Christians to refrain from discussing politics. This is well, good, and understandable. However, we can easily cross the line of Biblical discretion when we sound as if our solutions are primarily political. This makes the objective of the Kingdom a matter of legislation, nationalism, and political control. We must not allow our political concerns to take precedence over our central Kingdom mission. We do not want to become like the statists we criticize.

What then is our goal? Our objective is to reach the "heart" and "mouth" of men and women. The apostle Paul set the target for us in the passage cited above by stating that regeneration--or salvation--is made evident by faith in the heart of man and the corresponding confession made for salvation. This is the heart of the Kingdom message. It is also the long-term solution to all things political, economic, or cultural.

Man cannot reconstruct his world unless he can first "see" the need for expanding the rule of the King. He cannot understand this until he first can "see" the Kingdom itself. This is clearly what our Lord testified as well:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3

No doubt, this Kingdom is spiritual in nature. Our Lord goes on to state unless a man is "born of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God" (v. 5). However, the Kingdom finds expression through the regenerated individual in order that the rule of Christ might expand into history. There is a direct connection between 1) the Spirit, 2) the Kingdom, and 3) the changing of history to submit to the reign of God:

But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you. Matthew 12:28

Though a man must be born again to see and enter the Kingdom of God, this regeneration is merely the starting point to a new era of spiritual activity. His responsibility is to now cause the Kingdom of God to "come unto" this world by the Spirit of God. The Kingdom comes when the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven (Mt. 6:10).

You cannot reverse the effects of sin and satan by political coercion. Reversing abortion legislation will not remove the murder so pervasive within the heart of man. Nor will sound money alter the larceny (theft) that's also residing in man's being. In fact, man's heart is one grand violation of the Ten Commandments:

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. Matthew 15:19

So, while Christians battled to keep Judge Moore's monument bearing the Ten Commandments in the vestibule of his Alabama courthouse, those same commandments had already long before been removed from the vestibules of our hearts. Yes, the Scriptures teach that with salvation the law of God is written on our hearts (Heb. 8:10), but the antinomian preaching of much of mainstream evangelicals has essentially nullified the effectiveness of that law in the wider historical sense. In other words, antinomian Christians--by antinomian I mean those who reject the present validity of God's written law--generally adhere to an ethic that essentially comports with the law. They try not to steal, kill, or commit adultery. However, their limited scope of application is detrimental to the expansion of the Kingdom of God into every sphere.

Am I saying we shouldn't oppose Roe v. Wade? Am I suggesting that political involvement is somehow sinful? Absolutely not. The civil realm needs as much reconstruction as any other sphere. My point is that the political is dominating our thinking to such a degree that we misconstrue the order of God's Kingdom. Last night I sat across the table from a man as we discussed the issues of the Kingdom. I was seeking a form of conversion, viz. his conversion to my way of seeing the faith. My goal was to change his heart and mouth. I wanted to see God's Word and Spirit change the central beliefs of his heart thereby transforming what he communicates and does.

What's wonderful about this mission is that it required no political or legislative support. Our conversation was outside of the jurisdiction of all institutions whether they be church or state. The task of Christian education is found in transforming hearts, mouths, and actions. By doing so, we create the mass constituency that eventually transforms the civil, economic, and cultural realms. We must not lose sight of the simplicity of Kingdom evangelism while we sweat out the 2008 presidential election.