There is a bit of common bit of advice that is passed around every year at Thanksgiving time. Now I realize that it is May and we are all ready for summer, but let’s think about what happens at Thanksgiving time for many of us. It is a season when we gather with family that often we have not seen each other for some time, so we do a lot of catching up with one another. There are many topics to talk about, but inevitably politics seems to come up. Now they say that blood is thicker than water, but I cannot tell you how many times I have seen families come to almost fist fights over the conversation of politics.
In my own pastoral experience over 4 1/2 decades, I have seen many troubling things within the life of the church. Of course, I have seen glorious and wonderful things and I love the church. But no doubt there are times when the family of faith can be at odds with one another. There are plenty of subjects that this becomes true, but I can promise you that one of those subjects is when you enter into the arena of politics and government. The modern world of instant information and social media of course has multiplied so much (and this can have some terribly negative results). But throughout history our emotions about politics have spilled over to the point of sometimes bloodshed. We are as Christians who have our allegiance to the Kingdom of God, and I think most of us recognize this fully. But we also are citizens of this earth and citizens of this nation and citizens of our local community and every day we are affected by what goes on around us. Government and politics matter deeply. If this is true (and it is) then how then shall we live as citizens of this nation as a Christ follower?
This Sunday I’m going to teach out of Romans 13 and I’m going to specifically concentrate on 13:1- 7. Take some time to read through this passage carefully and slowly and several times. If you have a Study Bible read some of the commentary that is associated with this passage. Don’t forget that this part of the book of Romans is all about the ethical lifestyle of the Christ follower while we live in this broken world. That is the context of Romans 13.
I’m excited to bring this to you this coming Sunday morning and I cannot wait to walk through this is very important passage with you. It happens to be next up in our Romans study, but the timing is so appropriate in our nation as we in a national election year. I can promise you it will not be a divisive Thanksgiving style conversation and teaching. But as God’s people we really need to learn how to navigate this truth as Christ followers while we are citizens of this nation. I will see you Sunday morning.
