You're not invited to the party…

not the Republican, the Democrat, Libertarian, Communist, or any of them. None of them will completely capture the fullness of Christianity.

You see, if you choose to be an observant Christian, you are, in fact, a kind of monarchist. Now it’s not the monarchy of say the British royals with all the uniforms, fancy cars, and shopping mall openings. That, like all the other pomp and circumstances that come with the kingdoms of this world, is just that, a spectacle for the sake of power, a pseudo liturgy for the kingdoms of this world.

No, you’ve chosen to ally yourself with Jesus, to make him a king not like the world makes kings but rather for the sake of love. He invites you to belong to a Kingdom, to be citizens, not simply of a nation that may or may not be here with the tides of history, but of eternity where the things we humans seek are found not with endless bureaucracies but simply in His presence.

This Kingdom, for the observant Christian, becomes, out of love, the first loyalty, the true nation, and the ultimate destination of the world. It’s precepts live within us in this world but come from beyond it and stand in critique of every other human attempt to organize ourselves, even those which are seen as just.

That doesn’t mean we don’t “taint” ourselves with the affairs of this world or absent ourselves from its workings. What we have to offer as followers of Christ is valuable for the common good and often is the only sanity in the crazy swirl of things. We give allegiances, honor human authority, and seek the best for the places in which we find ourselves along our journey.

Yet it’s not ultimate loyalty, not ultimate involvement. No country, no politician, no political party, owns our soul. None deserves our ultimate allegiance. We can and should be good citizens but we know that we belong to something more, a Kingdom where the humble and often maligned Christ already rules, a Kingdom that is destined to be the ultimate reality of the universe as we know it.

It’s that Kingdom which comes first, last and always, and everything less, no matter how good it can be, is still just that, less.