Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Subversive Orthodoxy Revisted

The Impotence of Government & the Inadequacy of Democracy to Give Freedom

As I listen to many of the current conversations in the world of pseudo events called the media, I see reflected over and over again the struggle we humans have in discovering and fostering what we have come to call “freedom.” We live in a democratic society that is a major advance from despotic rule but still seems mired in a philosophical addiction that creates its ongoing ferment.

As much as we appear to have moved beyond feudalism and its accompanying obeisance to monarchies and despots, I wonder if we are still inordinately obsessed with our government as the source of our freedom. As a Christian I find the acknowledgement of government’s power in our lives as a strange dependence given Christ’s Lordship and the rulership of His reign over the universe. Just too even use that language sounds grandiose and deluded. Most of my Christian friends talk incessantly about politics and the seeming impotence of the current party in office. That impotence never seems to be healed or banished as each party in control finds it unable to move the nation forward at least in terms of their agendas and mandates.

Have not the teachings of Christ powerfully directed our dependence towards our heavenly Father as our source and the Kingdom as the philosophical structure out of which we find our ethos and pathos. Paul tells us that we fight not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities. This portion of Scripture alone is powerful in revealing our false & misunderstood dependency upon the material world of legal documents, laws, and political procedures to define our world. This is not to say that these crucibles do not indeed create a world. But it is not ultimately the world in which I truly inhabit. My citizenship is in heaven thus my understanding of who can give or take power or give or take freedom is based on this heavenly government under which I live.


I sense that we are all hungering for this deeper freedom. Can we find this in and from our governmental systems? Are we as believers looking for democracy or spiritual freedom? Are they the same? When I project power onto the government I then conclude that laws equal freedom. But as a believer I am told by our Lord that man made laws are not the constraints placed upon my life as His follower. As His follower I am beckoned by a much higher calling. I am bought with a price. I am not my own. My freedom is Christ.


In the Kingdom rule, I am called to become the leader I am looking for. I am called to develop the qualities that I insist other leaders have. Rather than see “flesh & blood” or humankind as the one with power, I am now able to see the invisible realm of minds, hearts, and intentions as the place of power & struggle. When I discover the true Lordship of Christ I begin to grasp the true governance of this world and to whom I must bend my knee to find true freedom.


Scripture tells us that this new law is written on our hearts. This means that no law or piece of paper will be a prescription for freedom. It is the realm of the ineffable and transcendent that rules and reigns over this world. It means that salvation, my own, is the beginning of the transformation of this world. This is not to make the salvation of the world as something outside myself. Quite the contrary. I am called to be a light on a hill. I am called to engage all systems and realms as those which will someday bow their knee as well. But this is not a political posture. This is a kingdom posture.


I grew up being taught in Civics class to look to my government as a source & provider of freedom. Right alongside that I was taught about Christ. As much as I was told Sunday after Sunday that Christi’s rule & reign were preeminent and all powerful, it was clear from an eagerly age that my family and my church saw the government as the most powerful source of authority in their life. When I finally came into a community that bent its knee to this invisible kingdom I began to see clearly the false dependence on man made governmental systems as the source and definer of my real freedom.


So often when I listen to the current visceral debates and conversations (if I can call them that) surrounding the current governmental leadership they seem so disembodied and removed from my freedom in Christ. I am not talking about hiding or dismissing the concerns that are represented in these conversations. Quite the contrary. I am merely wondering why we talk the way we do? Why do we empower our government with so much control over our lives? Why do we see this power as so preeminent? In fact, for those who may regard my perspective as escapism and some kind of detached spiritual flight, I am actually looking to the ultimate source of healing and truth for healing and restoration of the social ills that are much of the ruckus around these current debates.

Once again, my faith community has been teaching me about real governance and real submission and real freedom. When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God He appeared to be confused to many especially the Pharisees and those who thought they knew how truth should be organized. When He talked of the Kingdom He said it was …”here now… but not yet.” It was in our midst…. but located somewhere in the future. What did He mean? I am sure I don't grasp this paradox for that is indeed what it is (a paradox)

What might our Lord mean when He talked about this in breaking & yet future kingdom and how does it relate to us today? Could it be that Christ was saying that "The Kingdom is here now…….. But not yet.”
The freedom we desire and have received is not held tangibly in some form of government, some set of laws, some group of buildings or shrines. We live in the tension of being in and not off this world. That is the challenge. To live in the here and now, to serve in the here & now, but to receive through faith the inner down payment on a life that we are becoming, on a world into which we are moving, into a realm through which all things will be under the submission of our Lord.

As much as we want heaven here on earth through humankind’s system of governments, this is not to be. When we deify or unduly demonize a human made system, we lose the essence of the here & now kingdom and the not yet realm. We are looking to the wrong source for a freedom they cannot ultimate bestow. We are entangled in the flesh & blood of the skirmish and not focusing on the hearts & minds of the people who need to know & experience our Lord. We cannot usher in the Kingdom with bitterness, hatred, or even mocking and dismissing. In fact, I have yet to see divine love as a tactic in this supposed “war on truth.” These are strongholds and will only be taken down through spiritual means. Much of the protesting & the rancorous posturing on all sides is so far from a kingdom response I cringe when I hear people equate their engagement to spiritual values and mandates.

So this freedom we so crave and the demands we place upon our government give to us, they cannot. They are powerless here. Only a relationship with Christ can begin to offer the down payment on this ultimate gift .Maybe an analogy might help. Think about someone you love. We are all hungering for a deeper encounter with the ones we love. Their very absence makes us long for them more thus it is their absence that makes them more present in our minds & imaginations. So to, in the incarnation and His embodiment of His bride the Church, Christ has been brought near. But who He is and what we are to become in & through our encounters with Him IS YET TO BE fully revealed. It is still "not yet." So for me to anchor myself “ONLY” in the now is to disconnect myself from what I am becoming.

All this visceral discussion regarding the government seems misplaced at best & strangely manic at worst. The very act of looking towards our government for ultimate freedom is to remove from the Gospel its true overcoming power authority offered to us through the Life of Christ.

I would imagine that this perspective will be misinterpreted as being unpatriotic, severely naive or the ranting of a spiritual malcontent. “Get real,” someone might say. “Are you living in another world?” Well …..yes…I am.

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