quote
here is another one from “Jesus for President” by Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw
“He [Jesus] didn’t pray for the world in order to make governments more religious; he called Israel to be the light of the world - to abandon the way of the world and cultivate an alternative society in the shell of the old, not merely to be a better version of the kingdom of this world.”
this book is changing the way i think…i think.
grace and peace
Interesting. Sounds a lot like the Lutheran doctrine of the two kingdoms, the upshot of which is that there are two areas in which God exercises his power, and they have different purposes. One area is the government and other authorities, which God established for civil order (Romans 13). The other area is the church (that is, all believers), which God established to spread the good news of forgiveness for the purpose of making disciples of all nations.
When the church tries to run the world (the idea of “Christendom” in the Middle Ages), or when the state tries to preach religion (the current state churches of northern Europe), things go horribly, since those aren’t their jobs.
Anyhow, sounds like an interesting book.
todd, you really should read it. its a great read. i wish i could just sit for a day and read, but alas…