Are you finding yourself a bit disappointed in the American political process these days? Wondering how our system became so divisive, so polarized, so … nasty? Me too. More troubling, I’m finding Christians around me — be they adherents of the Red or Blue — dragged into allegiances that foster fear, deepen conflict and create the sort of entrenchment that drowns out all other allegiances.
In less conflicted moments, all of us would readily agree that as Christians we are “citizens of another kingdom” (Philippians 3:20), and that the kingdom of God is way bigger than American politics. But in this age of extremists and empires, in the heat of the moment, we forget. Partly because we are Christians, who care deeply, and partly because we live in a democracy where our voices matter, and it would be irresponsible not to speak.
But somehow these excellent motivations get twisted into postures that unconsciously fuse our American identity with our Christian identity, luring us into believing that we can “bring the kingdom” by getting the right party into office. And although merging one’s faith identity with one’s national identity is a very human reflex, it is not who we, the Church, are.
It was who Israel was. Under the Mosaic covenant, Yahweh was Israel’s king. Her political boundaries were the boundaries of the “kingdom of God”; prophet, priest, and (human) king were divinely appointed federal officials; and national law was religious law. So when Nebuchadnezzar II captured the nation in 586 B.C.E., the citizens of Israel (i.e., the people of God), became “exiles” — strangers in a foreign land. This is where our term “exile” comes from.
A Kingdom Not of This World
With the inauguration of the New Covenant, the theocracy of the Mosaic Covenant comes to an end. There is no longer a nation-state that can be identified as the “kingdom of God.” Rather, the Church is declared “a holy nation,” ruled by the one seated at the right hand of the Father, and the sole requirement for citizenship in this nation is allegiance to Christ. His kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36), and neither is ours. Thus, the New Testament teaches us that as Christians we are to live our lives as “foreigners and exiles” on this earth, recognizing with every step we take, every social media post we make, this is not our home (Hebrews 11:13).
Integrity in Exile
The Bible offers us several examples of what it looks like when godly men and women live their lives as “exiles” in a foreign land. Let’s start with Joseph.
A young man of means, Joseph is betrayed by his own, ripped from his home, and winds up a domestic slave in Potiphar’s house. Falsely accused, he lands in an Egyptian prison for 10 agonizing years. But even under these horrific conditions, Joseph chooses a life of integrity and service. In the end, his God-given gifts shine through, he is freed, elevated to a position of influence, married to a woman of substance, and gifted with two healthy sons.
And what of Daniel? Dragged 900 miles from his home as the political prisoner of Babylon, like Joseph, Daniel chooses integrity and service. But also like Joseph, Daniel’s successes are met with slander and sabotage. His friends are thrown into the “fiery furnace.” He is sentenced to the lion’s den. But Daniel’s God-given gifts also shine through. His integrity is unassailable. His wisdom is profound. And Daniel is elevated to positions of tremendous influence serving under as many as six foreign kings.
Both of these men chose to maintain the codes of their true citizenship in a foreign land. Even when maintaining that allegiance threatened their very lives. Both served their foreign masters with loyalty and integrity, and both lived lives that daily testified to the character of their God.
God’s Rule Endures
In these stories (and so many more) we find a remarkably unified message: Human empires rise and fall, but God’s rule endures. Those who build their lives upon this truth are wise. Does it surprise us then that the Apostle Peter opens his letter: “To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia …” and then urges us to remember who and whose we are (1 Peter 1:1, 2:11–25)?
Beloved, let me challenge you to live today as though you truly are a citizen of another kingdom. As Joseph and Daniel have modeled, and as Jeremiah urged the first exiles, “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:7). Our first allegiance is neither Red nor Blue, but it is to him whose “kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:33).
Sandra Richter is an Old Testament scholar, author and professor. She serves as the Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College. Richter is an expert in environmental theology, Hebrew language, Deuteronomy, the Deuteronomistic History and the intersection of biblical studies and archaeology. She has taught at Asbury Theological Seminary, Wesley Biblical Seminary, Wheaton College and Westmont College. Richter serves on the New International Version Committee for Bible Translation and is the author of several books, including “The Epic of Eden,” “Stewards of Eden” and “The Epic of Eden: Psalms.” She graduated from Valley Forge University, earned a master’s degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and received a doctorate in Hebrew Bible from Harvard University’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
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