I am currently reading the desire of Israel for a king (1 Sam. 8), and clearly something so deeply disturbing going on. The request is so that they might become as one of the nations (ta ethne – the Gentiles) and that the king might go before them and fight their battles for them. Even if we removed ‘God’ from our world view the alternative to there being a monarch (or dictator) is an awesome vision. (I think there are some keys in the ‘meals’ of the New Testament where they take place at so many different levels – another post, another day.)
Jump forward to the NT and we have the ‘we have no king but Caesar’ proclamation in that first Easter week; on the cross is nailed ‘king of the Jews’; Paul seeks to release in city after city an ekklesia when there already was an ekklesia present there. The city ekklesia being more than a city council as it had more powers than any current council and was mandated to implement Roman values and Roman culture into the territory where it held jurisdiction. To suggest that the Gospel at heart is not political is surely to miss how Paul’s proclamation was heard – ‘these people are proclaiming another Caesar’!
I am deeply troubled by our global crisis and without something that arrests its direction we will in a few short years be living in a world that has a few kings that seek to subjugate other lands.
Europe. Those who have been touched by heaven’s grace within this continent. I guess for some 25+ years many of us have been calling for something fresh in Europe, for something to appear that knows that we can learn a lot from the past but that the past cannot shape us as we move forward. I am deeply grateful for the advancements of the Gospel within this continent in the past, but we also need to understand that those were contextualised. The Reformation was not the final word! Theology and practice has to be revised; what it means to be Christian community and what it means to be community likewise has to be revisited.
We do not need a king; truth is no country needs a king / dictator, the result of such a move will only be oppression and we should not be surprised when such a person exhibits demonic behaviour… the story of Saul. We should not look (in the body of Christ) to where there are great claims of success (though there is much we have to learn). What can we do? Where will we go?
The history books will tell us what we chose when we look back post-2040. I sincerely hope that it will not be a few political voices that seek to call for a new order within Europe. Let the body of Christ in Europe stop following the kings we anoint (when we do we come under that ‘anointing’) and be brave enough to dream, pray, and eat our meals that demonstrate the Roman way has indeed been rolled up.
The future of the globe as is means that Europe will be sidelined. The globe will be carved up 3-way and those who centre on technology will at some levels transcend the carve-up. On both counts Europe will be sidelined and become irrelevant. Seems like a wonderful context for those who want to live out their lives for something this world needs.
Not a king to be like the other nations; but let us move away from our dictators (king) and learn from Europe where the old way of dividing people has diminished. I do see a ‘new Europe’.
Thanks Martin the results of elections, court cases, trade deals and so on can push us to despair or to hope but ultimately hope cannot be held there. I’ve never known so many people around me affected by the news- and that includes me if I let it. Revisiting what Christian community looks like as you say,the ability to renew hope-I’d like to know and see more about that…