“What if Jesus is asking us to choose between following Him and our U.S. Constitution?”

A sharp, Jesus-loving, ministry friend posed this piercing question on his page yesterday. From some of the responses he got, you’d think he had questioned the divinity of Jesus…

The challenging question to those on the political left is little different: “What if Jesus is asking us to choose between following Him and forcing our own definition of social justice on our neighbors?”

I believe these questions will be all the more relevant to us Americans as we see the Day of the Lord approaching.
Another way of asking the same questions is: “What are we counting on to hold ourselves strong when our world is shaking? Rights (either conservative or liberal) promised to us by our nation, or the love and authority of our King?”

One of these is imperfect. The other is not. One may be attained by the demanding self. The other is coming, whether we’re ready or not, and can ultimately only be attained by experiences of love and faith.

It’s a mark of Jesus’ goodness that He would address us with this question today. Much like a father would tackle a son who was about to go to sea in a boat with holes in it. 　

When Jesus came the first time, He challenged the besieged Jewish nation with the same question: “Choose today what you’ll put your faith in: the law, your own power to overthrow the Roman occupiers, a self-indulgent self, or… Me, and the increase in My government.” (See Isaiah 9:7)

As the day of His return draws closer, He’s confronting 7.4 billion souls with the question of “Who do you say that I Am?” 350 million of us are specifically receiving the probing, idol-dethroning question: “When all that you love is threatened, will you look to the constitution, socialism, Islam, humanism, self, guns, or ___?___ to keep you secure?”

Make no mistake. He will encounter the Church more and more pointedly with this question in the days ahead. He loves us too much to let our hearts be enmeshed to the inevitable tyranny of democracy. (See Romans 3:9-23)

Today, I don’t know of a better form of government on earth than ours. However, one day we’ll know a better one face to face. Before it fully arrives, that’s the one I want to be found abandoned to. That’s called “faith”.

From where I sit, what I read in the Word and what I hear in prayer, the enemy has just watched the Lord shut down 195 nations – over Passover – AND provided a ready-made “space” for all of humanity to respond to Him. The devil knows his time is running short (better than we do), and he’s doing everything he can to distract us from entering into that deep, self-abasing dialogue with the Lord.

Beloved, if the enemy of our souls can stir up the hostility between us, get us fearfully protesting each other for our rights, filling ourselves with offense and bitterness, when we could be humbling ourselves before God – he wins.

It’s only our Lord’s incredible patience and incomparable kindness that doesn’t allow our hostile, self-demanding protestations be our final word…

It’s an hour to seek His face my friends. There IS an hour soon coming when we will no longer want, nor be able to.

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JSB • May, 2021 (Reprint from May, 2020)