Last week, I posted an illustration of the kingdom confusion of the American religious right as I see it. It was a hastily composed flow chart, and not thought out as well as it should have been. In my defense, I did say it was a work in progress. As I’ve thought about it over the last week, I’ve modified it some, and although I’m still not completely satisfied, I think it’s a pretty good representation of the religious right’s thinking. However, when making sweeping generalizations like this, it’s inevitable that someone will be misrepresented. So as I said last week, I’m open to suggestions for improvement and refinement.
The next chart shows how I think the Christian view of religion and politics should look. I see myself as having dual citizenship — one citizenship here on earth, and another, ultimate, citizenship in heaven.
In this view, political action has comparatively little ultimate value to the Kingdom of God, while the gospel, which is the focus of Kingdom activity, is important in both realms. This also shows the distinction between saving grace and common grace. While common grace — that grace which benefits all of creation — is temporal, ending when [fill in your particular view of the rapture/second coming], saving grace takes us into the fulfillment of God’s kingdom.
Again, any suggestions for improvement or refinement are welcome.
TrackBack URL: http://www.thirstytheologian.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1397
Share this post:
Posted in:
Link · 0 TrackBacks
← Previous · Home · Next →
Comments on this post are closed. If you have a question or comment concerning this post, feel free to email us.