Remembering Who We Are on Election Day

Elections have a way of stealing who we are. We might align ourselves with a party or candidate in ways that distort our identity in Christ. We might allow politicians to identify our neighbors as enemies. On this election day, let’s remember who we are.

We Are Kingdom Citizens

We are citizens of the Kingdom of God. To understand the meaning of that citizenship, we need to grasp some of the essential differences between the Kingdom of God and our countries. Where the Kingdom of God is eternal, countries are temporal. Only God and his Kingdom are permanent. Unlike earthly countries or empires, God’s Kingdom has no enemies at the gates, no risk of internal corruption, and no possibility of collapse. Even as we work to preserve and protect the stability of the United States, we must not pretend it is eternal. Countries are temporary, perishable, impermanent by nature. The permanence of God’s Kingdom has been and should continue to be a source of profound comfort to the people of God whose countries are perishable.

Where the Kingdom is universal, countries have boundaries. No realm of heaven or earth is beyond God’s sovereign jurisdiction. As creator of all things, seen and unseen, all powers and principalities exist within and beneath God’s authority, not in an autonomous realm beyond God’s reach. The United States and all other countries, kingdoms, or empires sharply differ from the Kingdom of God in that they have geographical borders. Boundaries shift — empires expand and contract, countries are created and divided — but the boundaries exist. God’s Kingdom, on the other hand, simultaneously transcends and encompasses all earthly realms, and God’s reign extends over all that he has made.

The Kingdom and the United States both value freedom, but they define freedom differently. In the United States, freedom primarily refers to personal autonomy and individual rights. I am free to do as I please, as long as it doesn’t cause harm to another person or violate their freedom to do as they please. The contrast between the American usage of freedom with the freedom for which Christ sets us free is stark. In the Old Testament, freedom most often refers to setting captives free. The New Testament adds an emphasis on spiritual freedom from the oppression of sin. The way of Christ is not the way of individual autonomy. Instead, freedom enables Christians to “do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). Freedom from sin turns the heart outward toward God and neighbor, instead of inward toward the self. America conceptualizes freedom as for self; the Kingdom conceptualizes freedom for others.

These opposing foundations and values demonstrate the differences between God’s Kingdom and remind us that our citizenship is in heaven.

We Are Dual Citizens

The divergent natures of the Kingdom and the country begs the question: How are we to live out our citizenship in both? Jesus calls us to seek the Kingdom of God, which has direct implications for the ways we live as citizens of the country. Scripture provides a few principles that guide Christian political participation: we can engage with government without compromising our convictions, seek the common good, and do Kingdom work on earth.

Daniel offers an example of engaging with the government without compromising our convictions. Daniel was taken into exile when Babylon conquered Judah in 586 BCE. King Nebuchadnezzar conscripted him for service in the Babylonian government, and Daniel placed firm boundaries around his work. He would work for the king only up to the point that it violated his religious convictions. When King Darius commanded people to pray to him, Daniel continued to pray to God alone (Daniel 6:6-10). Daniel’s example demonstrates that it is possible to serve in government without violating religious convictions. It also shows us that boundaries must be firmly in place and we must be willing to suffer the consequences of our faithfulness.

A second biblical principle centers in our responsibility for seeking the common good. In a country with a representative government, we can serve our communities through political participation. The prophet Jeremiah demonstrated this principle in a letter to Israelites who were exiled in Babylon. He told them to, “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” (Jeremiah 29:5-7 NRSV) The word translated “welfare” in Jeremiah’s letter is the Hebrew word shalom, also often translated “peace.” Thus, the Israelites were not merely to seek survival. They needed to promote the shalom of the Babylonians, as their own shalom depended upon the shalom of their land of exile. Jeremiah provides guidance for all Christians as we relate to our countries and communities. Work for their shalom, because our wellbeing is inextricably tied to the wellbeing of our neighbors, our political leaders, and our civic institutions.

A third biblical principle challenges us in our call to do Kingdom work here and now. Jesus taught his followers that citizenship in the Kingdom has implications for our countries. When Jesus’ instructed his followers, “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” he inextricably connected heavenly citizenship with our lives on earth (Matthew 6:9-10 NRSV). Similar to Jeremiah’s instruction to seek shalom, Jesus’s teaching makes it clear that God does not expect Christians to abandon the world while waiting for the Kingdom of God to be realized. Like Jeremiah, Jesus encourages us to do the work of God’s Kingdom here and now.

We Are Salt

We are the salt of earth, providing essential flavor to a bland political world. As salt in the world of politics, Christians ought to add flavor that is lacking without us. The flavor may be subtle or surprising, but our salty participation should make politics better. Saltiness does not come naturally; we have to cultivate it intentionally. Christians should bring something to political conversation, advocacy, policy proposals, and even candidacy that others can recognize as beneficial, valuable, and missing without us. Saltiness requires us to be clear about when our Christian convictions compel us to deviate from the party line. Salty participation should leave people with a good taste and a desire for more — even when we disagree. 

When we lose our saltiness, we become bland — we add nothing of value or distinctiveness to the public square. Christians who are bland align with a party on every point, mirror its rhetoric, turn opponents into enemies, and ultimately equate party loyalty with godliness. If our identity is firmly located in Jesus Christ, then we should be able to participate in party politics without reorienting our identity around partisanship. We must intentionally cultivate spiritual and intellectual dispositions that resist bland partisanship. Jesus gives us our identity: “you are the salt of the earth.” He also gives us a warning: if we lose our saltiness, we are “thrown out and trampled under foot” (Matthew 5:13).

Go, Therefore

The results of the election might change our circumstances, but they don’t change our identity or our mission. Our citizenship is in heaven, and we can live out that citizenship in ways that are consistent with love of God and neighbor. As dual citizens, we can intentionally add the missing flavor that can make our political lives better for everyone.

Excerpted and edited from chapters 1 through 3 of Faithful Politics: Ten Approaches to Christian Citizenship and Why It Matters (IVP Academic, 2024) by Miranda Zapor Cruz.

Photo by Brandon Day on StockSnap