“He said to them, ‘Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’” (Luke 20:25, NIV) When I did supply preaching on a regular basis, I was often called on to preach the Sunday closest to the Fourth of July holiday. It was a popular vacation time for many pastors. My default sermon was built on this text (found in the three Synoptic gospels). The role of faith (church) and state (empire) was as much an issue then as now. My usual approach was to point out that Christians are actually citizens of two kingdoms. One is the Kingdom (or Reign) of God which is emerging among us--almost but not yet. The other kingdom is the secular state in which we live. I always argued that both are important to believers, but we should never confuse the two and our Christian citizenship always takes priority. I write this, first of all, from the perspective of being a citizen of the United States of Ameri...
Comments from a Christ-follower on things that matter to him