Shepherding in the Valley of the Shadow of Politics (Northwest Christian Convention 2023 Workshop)
This podcast is a rerecording of a workshop offered at the 171st Northwest Christian Convention in 2023. You can listen to the audio, download the workshop handout, and read the notes below.
Shift #1: From state craft to kingdom craft
• We are programmed to believe that the best way to change the world is through statecraft.
• We turn to the Bible to figure out how he wants us to practice statecraft.
• We end up with a million different answers because the Bible isn’t interested in telling us how to practice statecraft.
John 18:36 NIV
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
• The Kingdom of God is a real kingdom, but it’s a different kind of kingdom—with a different kind of power.
Shift #2: From anxiety to faith
• States are founded on an anxiety mindset—the world is a chaotic place that needs to be controlled.
Without a common Power to keep them all in awe, they are in [the condition of war] against every man.... In such condition, there is no place for Industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain; and consequently no Culture of the Earth; no Navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by Sea; no commodious Building; no Instruments of moving, and removing such things as require much force; no Knowledge of the face of the Earth; no account of Time; no Arts; no Letters; no Society; and which is worst of all, continuall feare, and danger of violent death; And the life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short. (Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, 1651)
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.... (Declaration of Independence)
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. (United States Constitution)
• The founders of the first Biblical cities had the same mindset. (Genesis 4:13-17, 11:4)
• The Bible challenges this anxiety—God made the world good, and he continues to provide for his people.
Genesis 1:28–31 NIV
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Genesis 4:15 NIV
But the LORD said to him, “Not so; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
Genesis 9:1–3 NIV
Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
Matthew 7:7–11 NIV
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Shift #3: From power to truth
• States, by definition, rely on power through violence to create order and maintain control.
[A] state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory. (Max Weber, Politics as a Vocation, 1919)
John 18:36–37 NIV
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
• The kingdom of God is not built on another source of power, but simply on the truth that God’s grace is real and cannot be challenged or overcome.
• The Law of Moses was designed this way: to testify to the truth of God’s grace by simply trusting him to take care of them.
• Ultimately it’s not a fight. We don’t have to overcome anything, because everything is accomplished by God. We just have to testify.
Ephesians 3:10–11 NIV
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Shift #4: From hostility to love
• If we aren’t afraid of chaos or scarcity, then we don’t need to be hostile or selfish. We can be generous.
• If it isn’t a fight, then we shouldn’t see everyone else as a threat. Instead, our focus needs to be on testifying to the truth of God’s grace.
Matthew 7:11–12 NIV
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
• Anxious hostility undermines our witness because it proves we don’t actually believe in the sufficiency of God’s grace.
• The ultimate testimony to God’s grace is our love for others.
• Love your family.
• Love your neighbor.
• Love your congregation.
Shift #5: From desperation to patience
• Anxiety leads to impatience. Desperation undermines our witness.
• If we know that God’s grace is sufficient, then we can afford to play the long game.
2 Peter 3:9 NIV
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Mark 11:23 NIV
“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
• Patience was a high priority for the early church, and it worked—they conquered the Roman Empire!
• God’s grace is advancing today—all we need to do is be patient.
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