Following up on the last post, I think that we Christians need to take a hard look at our priorities. By throwing in our fate with a “kingdom of this world,” we’ve accepted much of the doctrine that kingdom wants to teach us, we’ve allowed that kingdom’s values to become our values. Months ago, I wrote about the sad fact that most people who identify themselves as Christians in the United States see themselves as Americans first and Christians second. Because of this, we accept the need to do unChristian things to “preserve our way of life” and “protect our freedoms.” Christians will often justify such by saying that it’s for the good of the church that we promote democracy, that we fight to preserve this country.

It’s not the truth. Examples like that of the church in Cuba show that. If we are honest, such views do not promote the good of God’s kingdom; they promote the good of an earthly kingdom. They promote our personal comfort. The Kingdom needs none of those things, as we saw in our last post. We cannot afford to idolize religious freedoms nor the country that offers them to us.

I’m not against this country. As far as kingdoms of the world go, it’s a good one. But it’s a kingdom of this world. I’m a citizen of heaven. And I must never forget that. A way of life, a way of government, prosperity, freedom… none of those things mean more than the spread of the gospel and the growth of the Kingdom. None of those things allow me to forget who I am as an ambassador of the Kingdom of God.

If we must choose between personal good and the good of the Kingdom… well, I hope we’ll have the courage to make the right choice.