The kingdom of the Church is that of Christ’s and that kingdom is not of this world. The rulers of this world have only a season. We should pray for their souls, for they are in peril.
But they put their jeans on one leg at a time, just like us. They are flawed, just like us. They are ntot saints, they are not righteous, and they are not worthy of respect and worship.
Our kingdom is to come. What we do in this world matters, as we are the hands and feet of Christ: but we are travelling through the nations of this earth. As Tolkien got Gandalf to say to the Hobbits, the shire is yours now, and you love it, but peoples inhabited it before you were here and others will inhabit it after you have gone. The land of the Hittites and the Anatolian Byzantium is now Turkish.
Not only rulers are fungible and fallible, but so are our nations.
13But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture – “I believed, and so I spoke” – we also believe, and so we speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence.15Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
16So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
I am going to quote Matt Walsh, but there some caveats. I do not live in the USA, but in a Monarchy. The next king will be Charles, then William, then George. And I’d prefer that we kept the Hanoverian royals and a governor-general because it is a simple, cheap solution. I find it ironic that her Majesty (who truly does deserve our respect: she has now done her duty from the time she was crowned as a young woman into her late old age) will travel on commercial aeroplanes. We have one of the heirs (and his son) in New Zealand at present: they will be in the Dunedin Cathedral this weekend. They had a playgroup for their child with locals in Wellington a few days ago. And his entourage is at most ten people. The US president, because of security, or the dignity of his office, travels with a few hundred.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with their @EmiratesTeamNZ skippers Dean Barker and Grant Dalton. #RoyalVisitNZ pic.twitter.com/ifyw7FUThe
— EmiratesTeamNZ (@EmiratesTeamNZ) April 11, 2014
I would suggest that Princes William and George are bigger targets to Islamofascists than Mr Obama. I also think the US presidents cower behind their secret service, because they have not been trained into courage and duty. And Queen Elizabeth did manage to get that drummed into her progeny — in part by ensuring that they all served as junior officers (but one: who is well out of the line of succession).
So I think we should pray for our leaders. But respect? There is a little too much of the roundhead, and the kiwi, in me.
The office is also not a divine birthright. This is not a monarchy. They are not royalty. Why should I respect the ‘office of the presidency’ anymore than I should respect the office of a plumber or a secretary? If a plumber or a secretary lied all the time, I’d call them a liar.
It’s true that we shouldn’t hurl racial slurs and dishonest ad hominem insults at the president — regardless of who he is — but that isn’t because of his office. That’s just because he’s a person, and we shouldn’t do that to any person. It’s not the dignity of any office that we have a responsibility to uphold, but the dignity of a human being.
Coincidentally, the dignity of the human being is the precise sort of dignity that this president desecrates when he promotes infanticide and wishes ‘God’s blessings’ on a room full of wealthy abortionists, or when he brutally murders hundreds of women and children via drone attacks and then brags that he’s “really good at killing people,” or when he arms terrorists and drug cartels without a thought as to the innocent lives that will be lost as a result.
It’s a sad state of affairs, indeed. We’ve reached a point where a wide swath of the country finds itself more concerned with respect for a political office than for life itself.
Of course, I’m sure there are some people who vehemently disagree with Obama, yet would sing in the ‘respect the office’ choir, and would consistently apply the principle to all presidents, regardless of affiliation. I respect that. I actually respect it. I respect it because I honor it, and I honor it because it is a conviction born of integrity and pure intention. A politician’s job, on the other hand, is born of mere necessity, and I feel indifference towards it, until I’m given a reason to feel disgust or admiration (usually it’s the former,
We are told that within the church that the leaders are accountable for those in the flock, and for that reason we should give them honour. This is something that keeps me awake at night: the fear that I will be held to account not merely for my own sins and faults, but for my children, or my ex-wife. In these days, when children are destroyed in the womb, and the lines of accountability have been shattered within society, people are left adrift. They have no one to protect them, no cover. The elite have disavowed their duty, but want the nonour that came with performing those very acts which they must, not what they want.
I would suggest that one of the duties of a leader is to have the moral courage to be in public, to be seen, even at the risk of death. Even the Hasburgs knew that. An elite that is cowardly loses respect, and is a sign of a failing nation.
So, when we pray for our leaders and rulers, in these fallen times, we need to pray for revival among us, obedience to our true ruler which is Christ, and the courage to stand for our beliefs and not follow the example of the elite. For them, we need to pray that they will repent, or leave us alone.
