Fighting For The Wrong Cause

Getting Closer to Jesus: Those around the world who claim Christianity as their faith would do well to think deeply on Jesus’ response to Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world!

Jesus was standing before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who, in a sense, had the power to set him free or to crucify him. So, it would have been expected that Jesus would lay down a defense for his life at this point. Yet Jesus chose not to, instead informing Pilate that if it were about winning his freedom, or winning this turf war against the Jewish religious leaders, or throwing off the yoke of the Roman Empire to establish a new religious kingdom that would rule Planet Earth, his followers would be putting up a fight right about now.

But they weren’t. And Jesus wanted it that way. He had bigger things in mind—like the spiritual revolution that would be set afoot throughout the world by his death for the sins of humankind and his victorious resurrection from the grave as Lord of life. Gaining and maintaining power in the current world order was not what Jesus was about. He knew that humanity had been so totally corrupted by sin that a whole new, recreated world would be the only answer. Now make no mistake, until the time for that arrived, there would be kingdom work to do, but with Jesus, it was never about political, military, cultural, or philosophical domination.

Jesus’ disciples struggled with that at first—but they eventually got it. Following his death, resurrection, and ascension, they set out to take Jesus’ message to the ends of the earth. In 300 years that followed his ascension, without fielding an army, without firing a bullet or swinging a sword, without financial backing, without a huge voting bloc, without academic systems, without TV networks, printing, and marketing campaigns, they subdued the mighty Roman Empire when Emperor Constantine declared Christianity to be the religion of the very empire that had done its best to snuff Jesus out. And all Christ’s disciples did was to do what Jesus had done: they loved fiercely, served humbly, proclaimed boldly, and died sacrificially.

It is too bad that around the world today, especially in the Western world, Christianity is known more for its politics than its love. We fight rather than die. We protest, leverage power, build a constituency, and “yell” on social media rather than sacrificially serve and humbly surrender. In Eastern Europe, Christians wage war to cleanse their land of ethnic impurities. In the Middle East, Christians take up arms against the Muslims bent on destroying them. In the United States, Christians flock to a political party and a candidate friendly to their views and use all means at their disposal to tout their platform.

Now, am I saying that Christians should not use all means possible to influence their culture, to defend their families against harm, and to get their person elected? Not necessarily. But there is a fine but firm line between fighting for a system that will soon be destroyed by fire and laying down their lives in the same manner their Savior did to redeem the world.

What I am saying is that true Christians need to think long and hard about what Jesus said—that his kingdom is of another place—and make sure they are not fighting for the wrong cause. What does that mean? It will mean different things in different places. But in your place, like the early disciples, you must figure that out and then begin to live within your culture as Jesus did.

And if the untold thousands of us around the world who claim Christ as Savior did that, we would set afoot a new wave of Christian influence that would capture Planet Earth in about three months, not three centuries.

Take the Next Step: What are you putting your hopes in—a political party, winning an election, an enacting certain laws? Think about that in light of what Jesus said: My kingdom is of another world. If it weren’t, my followers would be putting up more of a fight. Are you fighting for the right cause?