Misconceptions About Jesus’s Mission
Many Christians don’t understand the mission of Jesus…and therefore our mission.

The primary mission of Jesus is the salvation of humanity. A very broken humanity… To combine that with understanding how we should engage in politics as a Christian…how should we look at it?

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” (Col. 3:1-4).


Paul wants our attention upward on Christ and heaven.

Heaven. Christ. The throne. Union with Christ. The presence of Christ. Fellowship with Christ. Worship. Eternity.

Followers of Christ participate compelled by two burdens: a civil responsibility (as a citizen of the United States) and a spiritual responsibility (as a recipient of common grace). The level to which any particular person participates is a matter of wisdom, discernment, and conscience.

In his recent book Live No Lies, John Mark Comer presents “five distinctive features of the early church which he argues caused Christianity to stand out boldly against the cultural systems of the Roman empire in the first three centuries. I will summarize those quickly here:

• The Church was an ethnically diverse group and valued people of varying cultural backgrounds, extending them dignity in accord with their creation.
  
• The Church was an economically diverse group and included, sometimes even elevated, those who were poor and outcast.
  
• The Church stood in strong opposition to the practices of infanticide and abortion.
  
• The Church embraced a radical sexual ethic, believing that God had called them to sexual faithfulness and purity, and to honor Biblical marriage well.
  
• The Church embraced a stance of nonviolence, as Comer indicates, on both “a personal and political level.”
  
  
  

1. You cannot be a Christian and

Mutilation of bodies, the annihilation of babies in the womb, and the sexualization of your children. This is an evil agenda…it is demonic and is driven by Satan’s hatred for human beings created in the image of God.

• Vote for the option that best stems the tide of evil. I want you to also understand that there are no perfect candidates in this election. They’re both broken people. As a Christ-follower you must vote for the candidates that preserve life and uphold the family.
  
• A failure to vote is a failure to express our gratitude to the men and women that have died for our country and given us the freedom that we have today. It’s also a failure to, I believe, obey the calling that we have, to uphold the righteousness in our land.
  Romans 13:1: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”

  You don’t have to like the candidates personality. You just vote for the best option between the policies.

  God IS in control … but he doesn’t vote. We do. God moves when we act on our faith.

  Proverbs 29:2: “When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.”

  Christians have a theological basis for participating in democracy, with practices that reestablish God’s designed order. However, every person’s involvement here will be somewhat different based on preferences, discernment, wisdom, and opportunity. This is an issue of stewardship.
  
  
  

Who is in the White House is far less important than who is on the throne in heaven.

The reason our world is crumbling, the reason we’re under the judgment of God is because we’ve turned our back on God.

2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

If you want to see political reform, you need a spiritual revival. It’s not the other way around. You don’t pursue political reform so that there can be a spiritual revival. So when people say things like, we need to get this person in office, and then there will be a spiritual revival in our land. No, there won’t be. No, there won’t be. That’s not the way it works, and that’s never been the way it works.

Psalm 146:3: “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.”

You can call out the policies, call out the issues. I can speak against the horrors of abortion…it makes God weep.

That’s why you’re here…And if you don’t understand that, you don’t understand what your mission is as a Christian.

Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world…”

We should engage thoughtfully and compassionately, maintaining dignity and respect for everyone.

If people know you more for being a Republican than they do for being a Christ follower…something isn’t right.

You should vote, but understand our hope is not in who’s in office. There’s ditches on both sides.



For those who are Christ-followers, our starting point should always be Scripture. Which means: You should choose

Reveal Answer
over
Reveal Answer
every time. We cannot allow an ideology to shape our worldview more than the Bible does.

Philippians 3:20: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul is choosing Kingdom over nation.

Jesus was equally plain as He stood on trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and declared, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place” John 18:36.

Listen: As followers of Jesus, we are first and foremost to be a not-of-this-world kind of people.

So…how do I know if I’m that? Here’s a couple questions:


1. Which keeps you up more at night: the direction of the country or the advance of God’s kingdom?
2. Which animates your conversations more: what a certain politician just did or what God is doing?

The mission of Jesus was never to reform the systems of the world through political revolution, but rather of partnering with God as he seeks to reconcile the world to Himself one redeemed soul at a time.

Never forget where your ultimate allegiance lies. We are kingdom people. Don’t ever forget it.


For all the sermon resources from the How to Talk to People Series, visit www.connectionchurch.info/sermonresources