The Party CrasherSýnishorn

THE NEW RELIGION

Politics has become the new religion. We have become like the people of Samuel’s day, who demanded, “Give us a king, that we may be like the other nations” (1 Samuel 8:19-20). They wanted the power, pres­tige, and peace of mind offered by the world’s ruthless political powers. Yet God responded, “They have rejected me as their king” (verse 7).

Placing such great trust in the mighty Caesars of our day is—whether we recognize it or not—a rejection of God as King. This is true even if we use God language to justify the real Caesar we serve.

This helps explain why it seems everyone has gone so crazy: We’ve lost the horizon of the kingdom. To paraphrase political theologian Oliver O’Donovan, when you have God “above” you (as a higher authority over the public life of our world), and his kingdom “before” you (with the assurance of future hope that things will ultimately be put right in the end), it puts things in proper perspective.

You can be involved in politics, but it’s not everything. If your side loses, God is still sovereign and in control. The world may be a mess, but God’s future is coming. If your side wins, you can be humble and gracious—there’s a bigger matter at stake.

When you reject God as King, however, politics can turn out to be your only hope. Without the grand horizon of his king­dom, the world becomes more compressed, shrunk, restricted. Everything’s riding on the next election, on getting this policy enacted or that person in office. So we take off the gloves and fight for victory no holds barred.

Politics is important—but not that important. It can’t bear the weight of transcendence, pressure of meaning, and assurance of hope that a world without God places upon it. Only God’s kingdom can handle that.

How does Jesus provide what political parties and leaders can’t? How can our lives reflect that truth?