MOVE | Week 4 | Daniel Goulding

So let me kind of set up where we're going. Again, if you're just joining us this morning,

this is a message that can be taken kind of out of context, right? We're in a series called Move where we're looking at section of the book of Romans, but really for the last few months if you've been with us, we've been walking through

probably the most important book in for sure the New Testament, if not the entire Bible for us to really truly understand our faith as Christians and the implications of what it means for you and I to live this life out. And Paul

has been walking through kind of this dissertation in this letter that he wrote to the church in Rome. And he's been talking about what Jesus has done for us and how it changes everything. And then as you and I accept this invitation that Jesus offers us that is one of grace and not one of works,

then he begins to go as you begin to be this new person and the old person that you were dies and the new person comes to life, he starts to talk about how we then begin to live it out. And he talks about how we engage

with the world, right? And we looked at last week in Romans chapter 12, how we love people who believe different than us and how we love the people around us and we're called to do a supernatural thing. Well today he's going to flow into how we engage in politics and again it's a singular thought where it's this

outflow of our love and because of that love and because of who we are, here's our ultimate responsibility. But before we get to Romans 13, I kind of got to set up the context that will frame why Romans 13 is so important, right?

To do that, let me start by just telling you a story. My daughter was the greatest gift that my wife and I had ever been given, right? We were kids when we had her. I was 21 and she was 19 and when my daughter was born,

I learned a few things. Like number one, there's no background check to have a child, right? I was shocked at that. There's no vetting process. They don't verify that you even have a house to live in. They're just like, here's your baby, good luck, don't blow it, right? And then you walk out of the hospital and you have the most terrifying drive of your life on the way home, right? You've never realized how fast cars around you are going until you have a new baby in the back seat of the car and you're like, would you people just slow down, right? And somehow you get home and you start going through the process of learning how to navigate life with this new little being. And there's all these really fun seasons of going through life with a newborn. And when my daughter was like 18,

she again just was a really smart kid and when she was like 18 old, she would do this thing that was really funny for us. Honestly, was kind of like a party trick for a little bit when we would go out in public. When you would ask her what her name was, you'd go, oh, what's your name? She would go, you.

And we were like, what? Anytime somebody asked her what her name was, she would respond with you and we at the beginning were like, no, your name is McKenna, like you doesn't even sound anything like McKenna. Like I don't know how you got there. But then we started to listen to ourselves

and we started to hear us say, oh hey you or hey come here you, right? And so what did she do? She inherently attributed to her what she heard mom and dad and the people around her calling her. So she just assumed because this is what everybody was saying

to me that this must be my name, right? And so she just would tell everybody her name was you and we thought it was funny and cute and obviously eventually she grew out of it and realized that her name is McKenna, not you. And the reason that I start there is it illustrates this thing that can happen to us as humans when things are spoken over us.

We have this uncanny ability after we hear things so many times that we will eventually take on that identity. My fear is that as the church the same thing can happen to us corporately.

And all of a sudden because we've heard something so many times, we will begin to regurgitate something about who we are and who we stand for that actually isn't the truth of who we are. And when you're 18 old, right, it's cute, it's

funny, it's a party trick, but if my daughter was 18, you guys would go, hey, there's something wrong with her. She needs to really figure out her identity. The reason that I start there

is because I think one of my greatest fears is the church is becoming known for something that I don't think Jesus ever asked the church to be known for.

And I think a lot of times maybe it was not even us attributing the name to ourselves that is something other than what it's supposed to be, but when outsiders look in at who we are,

they are attributing an identity to us that I don't think is real and true. So the question that we have to begin with, the foundation of all of this that will set up the conversation we're going to have in Romans chapter 13 is for you and I sitting here today who have placed our faith in Jesus, what is our primary identity upon which we will then engage in culture and engage

in politics? Here's what the Bible tells us.

The big idea if you're taking notes is this, before we're Americans, we're called to be ambassadors from heaven. Here's the thing that we have to first see to make Romans chapter 13 make sense.

We are what one Peter says on this earth and in this world, we are in the world but we're not of the world. He says we're supposed to be like aliens that are just passing through a foreign land. This is not our forever home.

So we have to be very careful not to try to get more out of this temporary home than it was designed to give us. What you and I, for those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus, our primary identity before we identify as Americans is that we are ambassadors from heaven.

If you don't know what an ambassador from heaven is, here's what Paul tells us in two Corinthians chapter five. The same Paul that is writing the letter to the church in Rome, he says this in Romans or in two Corinthians chapter five, he says, For God was in Christ.

God was in Christ and Christ was reconciling the world to himself. Okay, this is important to see. The primary mission that Jesus came to fulfill on this side of heaven was reconciling the world to the father.

We have to stop and pause for a moment and realize if Jesus wanted to change the world through a political uprising, he would have done it. But he didn't. In almost every chance that Jesus had to gather a crowd and it got big enough to do something with it, he would leave.

And he would constantly remind the people asking him, the kingdom that I'm building is one not of this world. What was Jesus' primary purpose on earth? It was to reconcile the world to himself by doing what? By no longer counting people's sins against them.

Here's the part that we have to see this morning. This is what Jesus' primary purpose was on earth and then when he left earth, he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. Here's what Paul is starting to say to the church in Corinth.

You've to remember the primary purpose, the reason Jesus came here was not to change the world through a political party or through a political system.

He did it one heart at a time with the message of reconciliation saying, hey, your sins are no longer counted against you. There's a God that loves you in spite of you, no matter how you vote, no matter how you identify, no matter what your background is, God loves you.

Will He probably change some things about you over time? Yes and amen. But right now he loves you. And when Jesus left, the ministry of reconciliation that he came, the primary reason that he was here, when he left, friends, that mantle was taken off of the person of Jesus

and it was handed to you and I as his plan A to reach this world. As his people, as Christians were many Christs, were little Christians, right? We are his hands and feet. That is our primary function. Paul goes so far to say this in verse 20. He says, So now what that means is that we are Christ's ambassadors.

Is now making His appeal to bring people back to him through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, vote for this person, vote this way. That's not what we plead. Our message is come back to God. This is the foundation upon which we have to start if we're going to have this conversation.

Do I love the fact that I live in America? Yes and amen. If you don't believe me, come to my house on the July 4 and I'll show you the big fireworks that we blow up to prove it, right? I

am grateful that I live in this country. If you gave me a choice to let my kids live in any country in the world, I picked this one a thousand times over. Even though we are far from perfect, I think it is the greatest country the world has ever seen and the best place that we can live if we want to have a chance of pursuing life, liberty and freedom.

Yes and amen and all of us should be grateful that we're here, but for those of us who are in Christ, we have to not make this our primary identity and our primary home because this is also not the promised land that we read about in the bible. In our western minds this is where we begin to make some mistakes. America

is not God's chosen people. We're just a nation that has gotten some things right and we're getting better over time. But what Paul says is the primary function that we have on this side of eternity is we're called to be Christ's ambassadors. So the question becomes what is an ambassador?

Okay, the basic definition of an ambassador is this if you're taking notes. An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat sent as a representative from one nation to another. Most of you already know this, but as a country,

the countries that we're allies with, we have embassies set up there, right. And the embassy though it is in Chile or it's in Russia or it's in China or wherever the embassy is, though it's physically in another country, that part of their country, it's actually not a part of that country. It's an American

soil. It is actually part of our country and the people that live in that embassy, they're not ruled by the laws of the land that they're physically in. Why? Because they're not actually part of that country, they are ambassadors from another

country that has a totally different set of rules, laws and standards upon which they will be judged. What Paul is saying is this is how we are called to engage in politics, understanding that yes, we are here. Yes, we physically live in America. And yes, this is our government,

but you and I are ambassadors to another king representing another kingdom. Don't forget it. And the king that we represent, friends, we've got to remember, he does not ride a donkey, he does not ride an elephant. The Bible says that he's a conquering king,

right? He is like a lion. He is one who is coming to bring what message? Come back to God. That is our primary message. That is the place that we have to start. If we're going to have any conversation about politics.

We have to start from the understanding of going, hey, for those of us who are in Christ, man, do we love the fact that we're here and we're in America? Yes and amen. But we're never going to try to get out of this world more than it was meant to give us. Why? Because we're ambassadors from another kingdom and ultimately

we will be held to account to a set of standards that are completely different than the standards that are here in America. You know ambassadors, you can go so far, these guys are so set apart from the country that they're in that they have this thing called diplomatic immunity.

These guys can actually commit a crime and as long as it's in part of their duty ambassador, they actually can't even be prosecuted in the country that they live in because they are so set apart. That is us. Does that make sense? You guys tracking with me so far?

Awesome. I got two of you. The rest of you will have to catch up. All that to say, this is where we pick up in Romans chapter 13. Here's

how as ambassadors for the kingdom of God, this is how we engage in politics. Romans chapter 13, here's what Paul says. He says that everyone must submit to the governing authorities. Okay, let's close in prayer. Father, we thank you. I'm just kidding. Paul starts with a bold statement

and the entirety of Romans 13 can be summed up in the very first sentence that he says, that every single person must submit to governing authorities. Again he's talking to Christians, he's talking to people who put their faith in Jesus.

He's going to essentially say all of us need to submit to the governing authorities. He's gonna tell us why, he's gonna give us some insight into why we do that, but his basic premise is as an ambassador from heaven,

submit to the authorities that are around you. Here's the first thing we're gonna see that he continues in. He says, For all authority, all the authority from the government, it comes from God. And then he goes so far as to say that those that are in positions of authority, they've been placed there

by God. If you're taking notes, here's the first reason that Paul says that you and I as Christians are called to submit to authority. Paul says that the government is actually divinely ordained.

There's three institutions as we look through the Bible that we see that God created. In the book of Genesis, we see the family unit. There's an institution that God created that has specific order. And then in Genesis chapter eight, we see the government. The first instance of the government is actually created

by God and then in the book of Acts, see the church, the ecclesia, the thing that we are a part of today, the three institutions that are in the bible of which one is the government. And Paul is saying the reason that we as Christians

don't have to get freaked out about who's in the White House is because we understand we know who's on the throne and there is a plan that he is orchestrating that we don't know all the details of.

And we can't get so freaked out to think that somehow God is not in control because the wrong person got voted into the White House. Jesus, when speaking to the emperor who was going to kill him, he told him, he tried to get Jesus to give him an out, like I don't want to crucify you.

And he was telling him like don't you realize that I have the power to take this away? I have the power to make this not be a thing? And Jesus looked at him and said don't forget, the only authority you've been given is what my father in heaven has given you. Paul is reiterating something we see throughout scripture

where the people who are in positions of authority over us in every arena at work, at home

and in the government have been placed there by God. And some of you are like there is no shot that the person that is in the office right now has been placed there by God and that he has any authority from God, right? And maybe this made sense for Paul, but no way for us. Have you seen the gas prices, Daniel? Come on.

And just for a moment, consider the context upon which Paul is writing this letter. Paul is writing this letter to the church where? In Rome. And Rome is being ruled by an emperor named Nero. If you don't know anything about Nero, go do some research on him. He will make whatever politician

that you're thinking of right now look like a literal saint. This guy murdered his mom because they got into a fight. He didn't like his wife who was pregnant, he beat her to death and then got another one to replace her. This is the guy for Christians who had literally declared

open season on murdering anybody who claimed to follow Jesus. Why? Because they refused to acknowledge his deity. He thought he was a god. This is a guy who famously

had these chariot races that they would do and would create this entire courtyard where they would do these races at night, and you know how he would light the courtyard? He told his soldiers to go gather the Christians in the area,

tie them to a pole, pour gas over their head and light them on fire so we can get upset about gas prices, but Paul is writing to an audience that was literally being burned with gas. And yet Paul says to them, submit to the authorities over you. Paul and Jesus

never called for a political uprising. Now again, here's what we have to be really careful not to do this morning. Don't hear what I'm not saying. The most dangerous part of this message is for you to hear what I'm not saying. Are there limits to where this ends and where we as Christians where we stop submitting? 1000%

yes.

We see in the Old Testament, in the book of Daniel, right? These guys were taken into captivity and they had a very clear standard that God had told them to live to. And the king tried to get them to eat food that would make them have to actually be in a position of sin before God. And so what did they do? At that moment, they did not obey. They went to civic disobedience

and they said no, we're not going to do this because to do this would actually violate the moral law that God has placed on my heart and respectfully I can't do that. As Christians, the place where we stop submitting to the government is where what we're asked to do begins to cross into a sin issue for us.

If you and I are asked to do something by the government governing authorities over us that forces us into an issue that is sinful, that's the point that we are able to say, look, we have to honor God before we honor men. But here's the challenge of what I think a lot of us fall into. What we do is we take our preferences,

we take the things that we just naturally like or that we don't like and we make those a big issue

And because of that, we go, well, I'm just not gonna listen to the people that are in authority. And all of a sudden we just kind of get into our camps and we start to go, hey, this is who we are. And then the church starts to pick up this narrative and it sounds like to the outside world, there's a bunch of 18 year olds who have a name and who have an identity and have a purpose but they're going around thinking their name is you.

It's like how did you get so confused to think that was your primary function? What Paul is saying that we have to be careful not to do is to take things that are of preference and confuse them with something that we need to actually take a stand for. Friends, we have to be really careful understanding

that Romans chapter 12 that we looked at last week is that our primary function is to love this world in a way where they will see Jesus through us. And right now, one of the biggest arenas where we are think are getting a bit confused is we're trying to legislate the change that we want to see in the world

through politicians. I don't know if you knew this or not, but politics is actually a Greek word that is made up of two words. The first word is poly, which means many. The second word is ticks, which means blood sucking organisms. It's not actually a Greek word, I made that up.

We can all agree, right? The reason that I say that is it doesn't matter what side of the aisle you end up on, I think all politicians, they're going to say what they need to say to get elected and then they're going to do what they want to do. But what Paul is saying is that the government was set up

by God and the only authority that they have is from him. And don't be so confused and shortsighted that just because things get difficult and change and our fear of loss comes in, that we forget that God is still in charge. And the beautiful part about our governing system

is we have survived some really terrible presidents and we will survive as bad of a president as you might think we have now. That's the beauty of the country we live in. We have this thing called checks and balances, but what we're called to do is to submit because they're divinely ordained. Here's where Paul continues

in verse two. He says, so anyone who rebels against this authority, you have to understand you're actually rebelling against what God has instituted and you're going to be punished. Here's how Paul continues. He says, for the authorities don't strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong.

He said, would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Well, then do what is right and they will honor you. And in verse four, he continues with this. He says, The authorities are God's servants. They're sent for your good, but if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid

for they have the power to punish you. They are God's servants sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. Notice two times he says right here that they are God's servants. The word that he's using in the Greek, we only see again in the book of Hebrews where in the book of Hebrews,

the author of Hebrews is talking about what the angels in heaven do before God. It's a holy act. It is a deeply spiritual act. Paul calls our politicians God's servants and I know what you're thinking, you're like there's no shot that this is actually being played out.

But that friends is the standard upon which it was created and politicians will have to give an account for what they've done with it. And here's the beautiful part for you and I, unlike Paul, we have the ability to enact change in our world. If you want to go into politics and to become the government, you can do that.

If you don't want to do that, you still have the ability to vote. And should we as Christians engage in politics? 150% yes and amen. Our voice has to be heard. But what we can't do is to go, if you're a Christian, it means you have to vote this way. You have to see this issue this way. Here's the truth of what I know.

I have had so many conversations with people who love Jesus and they're like man I know if God was here, if Jesus was walking this earth, he would be a democrat because of this, this, this, this, this and this.

And then ten minutes later I'll have a conversation with somebody and go, if Jesus was here, he would be a republican because of this, this, this, this, this and this. And here's the truth of what I think we need to come to understand.

We serve a king that is not of this world. We will never be able to put him into the confines of a singular political system. So what do we do? Well, we vote with our conscience.

We do what we're supposed to do and we understand that the government is there to serve a very specific purpose. The second thing that we see right here,

the reason that Paul says that we submit to it is because the government serves a purpose. Here's the second reason that we submit to the government is because if you want to avoid consequences, you should listen to them.

It's not rocket science, This is the message I needed to hear as a 16 year old boy. I don't know why these cops keep liking me, it's because it's a red car, it's like no, it's because you do 100 on the freeway every time you get on it. If you don't want a speeding ticket, don't speed.

Remember again what we saw last week in Romans chapter 12, Paul says that you and I as we live this new life and as we really fulfill the mission to love this world the way that God has called us to love it, he says when somebody wrongs you, your instinct will be to get vengeance but don't do it. Bless them.

And in blessing them and praying for them, you will do what? You will heap burning coals of shame on their head. And he says remember that God will get vengeance for you. God is a just God, yes and amen. It is why Jesus had to go to the cross because God is a God of justice and justice

will be served. What Paul tells us in Romans 13 is part of how God gets vengeance for us is through the ruling powers that are in place. One of the biggest functions of government is to uphold the rule of law. She says, you're doing wrong, you're gonna have consequences.

But our responsibility is those who are Christians is to understand we're going to submit to them because they have a holy duty from heaven to fulfill. And again, I know we talk a lot about politicians, but this represents the entirety of the government.

What he's talking about is the people that are police officers and firemen and first responders and our military, All of the people who we really do see as doing a holy service. Remember that they're part of the government that we're called to submit to. And even though we might disagree with some of the politicians,

these people are a part of it and as Christians our ultimate responsibility is to submit and to go listen, there's a lot that we can't control. So we're going to actually just let God be in control.

And what Paul has talked about up until this point are all the external motivators of why we submit. This next part that he's going to go into, this is where this gets a little bit throat punchy. So just full disclosure, if you need to go to the bathroom, this is a great time to do it.

You can exit stage left with no judgment. Here's how Paul continues here. He says that it's not just submitting to them because you want to avoid punishment, but we also have to do it to keep a clear conscience. Paul is going to go into something that I

don't know if we connect the dots to when it comes to why we as Christians submit to the people that are in authority over us. Paul says there is actually a sin issue at play. If you look at a lot of Paul's writing,

he does this thing that seems like you can almost read over it, he'll write a letter to a church and say, hey it's Paul and I write to you with a clear conscience. Paul was constantly reminding the audience that he was listening to that everything he was doing was coming from a place of purity.

We saw last week in Romans chapter 12 that if we're going to love this world at all, we have to do it from a place of sincerity, we have to do it from a genuine place. What Paul is going to go into is saying our unwillingness to submit to the government that God has appointed over us,

at some point it's going to start to become a sin issue for us. It's going to actually blur our conscience and maybe for you and I, we go, well my conscience seems fine, I'm good, I sleep great at night. But what he's saying is that there's non Christians in your circle of influence that are watching you and

they're wondering where the duality came in. I thought they were Christians who talked a lot about love, but it seems like the majority of their platform is about these politicians or these political issues. This is the point that I hope we're able to really see and truly these next few verses, this is my ask for you.

I might offend you with what I'm about to say, but my question for you that you have to sit with is are you mad at what I'm saying or are you mad at what the Bible is saying?

When we find ourselves in positions where for whatever reason we have an internal conflict and go, you know what, my knee jerk reaction is I disagree. That's okay. But we have to process through that. We have to go why am I having this reaction?

Why is this coming up? Because those are some of the greatest moments and the greatest areas of opportunity that we have to draw nearer to our Savior and to begin to look more like Him. Amen. Here's how Paul continues. He says, Therefore pay your taxes for these same reasons, for government workers need to be paid.

They are actually serving God in what they do. Okay, the first thing that he goes after is our money. He says pay taxes. Don't avoid paying taxes, just honor the government and pay your taxes. He's famously referring to what Jesus in Matthew 22 reiterated, right? The trap

that they tried to trap Jesus with, the people who were mad at Jesus for not overthrowing the government, for not creating a political uprising, for not changing the world through enacting a certain political reform, they were mad. The Pharisees and the Herodians,

the only thing that they could agree on was that they thought that Jesus was going to come and create a political uprising and as it became clear that he was not going to do that, they tried to trap him and they said, okay, awesome, this kingdom that you're building

and we're citizens of this new kingdom, does that mean we don't have to pay taxes to Rome? So what does Jesus say in Matthew chapter 22? He asked one of them, what coin do you have in your pocket? And they pulled out a coin and he said, who's on that coin? And it was the emperor Caesar. And he said famously,

you give to Caesar what is Caesar's, but also give to God what is God. He says, give the governing authorities what they want from you, but don't forget that what God wants from you is the rest of your life, He wants all of you.

And I know for us there are some of us that like man we should pay so much in taxes and the reason that I vote this way is because I just don't want to pay more taxes, And I'm with you, I'm not like, hey I just want to pay a bunch of taxes, that's not my spiel.

But we also have to remember again the audience upon which Paul is writing this letter. The effective tax rate for a Jew living in Rome or a new Christian living in Rome at this time was about 80% of their income. They were one step above slaves. Nero famously,

whether he did it or it just happened under his leadership, but a big part of Rome burned down And Nero did what any really good politician will do and go, hey, don't waste the catastrophe, right? And he used it to his advantage to catalyze the Roman people against the Christians living amongst them.

And he said that they did this, this was their fault. So what did they do? They enacted another tax on the Christians to pay for the rebuilding of Rome that they did not destroy. And here's the craziest part, is Paul writing to them says, honor them, submit to them, pay your taxes as unfair

as it feels. Vote for us, we can vote and change as much as we want, but here's where Paul kind of wraps this section up in verse seven. He says, Give to everyone what you owe them. Pay your taxes and the government fees to those who collect them and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.

The final thing that Paul says here is I think the most important for us to see this morning, the third reason that we submit to government is to make sure we have a clear conscience, that we have a pure heart before both God

and our friends. But Paul says something at the end of this verse, if we can put that verse back up there. He says that we're supposed to give something to the leaders in authority over us, the politicians, the president. Something more than just a heart that says whatever,

I'll submit. Alright, I don't like it, I don't love it, but I'm going to submit because I guess that's what God asked me to do. Paul goes so far as to say that you and I are called to actually respect them and honor them. And here's the real crazy part as I studied this this week, if you look throughout the New Testament,

there's all types of people that are in authority over us as Christians. And it's very clear to us of how we're supposed to engage with them, and honor and respect is a big one. What Paul is talking about here to politicians

is the exact same thing that we see in other parts of the New Testament where Paul references how we're called to honor and respect the people who lead the local gatherings of the body of Christ, the ecclesia, the church. What he's saying is that we're called to treat and honor and respect our politicians the exact same way that we respect Bill Bush.

Imagine for a moment, just imagine for a moment with me that somebody walked into church on Sunday and they held up a big sign that said, F Bill Bush. We would all go, yo, that dude is going get shot by security for sure, you know what I mean? Like

that dude is wilding out. It would be a crazy thing, it would be offensive. Yet week after week after week, I see people walk into church, raise their hands and worship God and wear a shirt that says F Joe Biden. Now it doesn't say that, it says a really creative thing, It says let's go Brandon.

But we know the sentiment behind it. And friends I don't say this to go if you have that shirt and that sweater you should cross your arms and feel like a horrible person right now.

But I think we have to understand at some point I understand the sentiments in being frustrated because certain things are happening or they're not happening. But as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus, you are not just representing your own beliefs.

You are an ambassador from heaven that is held to a higher standard and at some point you are actually losing the leg that you have on to be the hope of the world and to show your friends the God that loves them because you're so bent out of shape over a politician that's lying and conniving and doing what they all do.

Don't lose the platform that you have to share with the world the hope that you have because you've gotten so frustrated that you've started to cross over a line where this has started to become

a sin issue. Two years ago, you can clap, right? Awkward, relieved attention.

Two years ago it wasn't let's go Brandon, it was the hashtag not my president, right? It was the other 50% that were upset and they were doing the exact same thing. What I'm not saying is that one party is guilty of doing it over the other. All of us

get frustrated and we have legitimate reasons that we're frustrated and we do have to vote with our conscience and we have to search scripture and go, okay, in light of that, how do I vote? How do I engage in these things? Who best represents me? But the truth is as a Christian, when I look at what is out there, I go, man, there is a lot of the Republican stuff that I really like and resonate with.

But there is also a bunch that I don't like and I don't agree with. And then I look at the democratic party and go, man, there's a lot of things that I like and that I agree with.

And then there's a lot of it that I completely disagree with and I don't like. And here's what I've come to realize as a follower of Jesus. I think that we are called to be more liberal than our most conservative friends

and more conservative than our most liberal friends. Friends, we are somewhere in the middle. Why? Because we represent a God that is outside of this world.

And that is okay.

That is okay and what we have to do is go look, no matter how much I disagree, what I refuse to do is allow my frustrations to lead to a point of sin because this world, it's always going to let us down. It's always going to fall short. We're always going to be frustrated.

Even in two years when we vote and we're happy that the guy that we wanted is in the office, it's still not going to get you what you ultimately want which is a deep sense of peace. Friends, that is only found in the king of kings and the Lord of lords, it will never be found in a president or political system.

So the question then becomes what do we do? How do we do this as ambassadors? I think that what we've been given as Christians is a holy responsibility that we have to take seriously,

but what we cannot do is be forced to pick a side. I think there's another way, there's an alternative way. One of my favorite stories is in the book of Joshua.

Joshua is this incredible leader. If you've never read the story of Joshua, would encourage you to read it. Joshua took over leading the people of Israel, the nation of Israel from a guy named Moses.

And Moses had led the nation of Israel for some forty years. And at the point that Joshua was going to take over the nation, they were about to enter into the promise land, they were going to actually finally step into the promises that God had for them. But they were nervous that they weren't going to actually be able to do it because of some of the things that were in their way. So what Joshua did is he led an excursion of a few men to go out and see, can we take this land? Is it safe to lead our people here?

And on that journey he encounters somebody that I think gives us the insight into how we navigate this world in this political arena as ambassadors of another kingdom. In Joshua chapter five, here's what we see. It says that when Joshua was near the town of Jericho,

he looked up and he saw a man standing in front of him with a sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and he demanded, are you friend or foe? Notice what Joshua does, he does the same thing that we do. He falls into the same logical fallacy that our country is falling into right now. He assumes there's only two choices.

You're either friend or foe. You're Republican or Democrat. You're red or blue. There is no middle. And friends, what we have to understand as ambassadors is we do not have to pick a side. There's an alternative. Look at how he responds to Joshua. He says, neither one, I am the commander of the Lord's army.

And at this Joshua fell to his face to the ground in reverence and he said, I'm at your command, what do you want your servant to do? Notice what the commander of the Lord's army does. He says, you want to force me into one of these two boxes, but I represent a completely different kingdom. I'm not your friend or your foe.

I actually am the commander of the Lord's army and I listened to his instruction and I go to what he's told me to do. On some issues, I'll probably be your friend. On some issues, I'll probably be your foe, But what I refuse to do

is to pick a side. As ambassadors, here's what I believe you and I do as we navigate this political arena that we live in today. As ambassadors, we don't have to pick a side. What we can do is we can actually take a stand. This is what is abundantly clear in scripture. The issues upon which we should engage are very clear.

We're called to be a voice for the voiceless. We're supposed to stand for the people who are subjected, the people who have been maligned. That's who Jesus always aligned himself with. That's who Jesus stood with. And my hope and my goal for every one of us is that we would walk out of here and that we would spend time reading our Bibles and spending time in prayer and live in community with other believers. Preferably believers that don't see the world the exact same way that we see it. And together we would work this out. The scripture say that we work this process out with fear and trembling, understanding that there are massive implications to what we do. And then what we do

is we go and vote in accordance with what we believe God is telling us. But friends, we have to understand. I know some incredible people who love Jesus, who look and search the scriptures and pray and seek God and they come to a conclusion about an issue. Watch this, watch this, it's different than mine.

And I can still love them and I can still engage life with them because you know what we agree on? Like 99% of the things, and here's the truth of what I hate about the world that we're in right now, is the world would tell you that we're more divided than ever, yet if I had a list of 100 things that we all wanted,

I bet you 90 to 95 of those things we would all agree on.

Maybe some of the how we get there, we would have some discrepancies on, but I think we have more in common than we do apart. And we as the body of Christ have to remember that and lead with that and go look, just because you vote differently than me doesn't mean you're worse than me.

Here's the reason that any of this even matters.

I know what you're saying is you're like, Daniel, this is what you have to say, right? You've got to get up and do this, I get it, that's cute, but after I leave here I'm going back into my political corner and I'm going to keep posting the same stuff I've been posting on social media.

Here's the other question that I would ask you, is do you really think that any of the things you're posting on social media are actually changing anybody's mind about any issue?

I don't know about you, but I have yet to have had a single conversation when it comes to politics and somebody during that conversation that believed differently than me walks away going, you know what? I had never considered that. That is revolutionary.

You're right. I'm no longer a democrat. I'm now going to vote this way. It's never happened.

Why? Because as humans we just naturally go into our corner and we attack and we attack and we think that somehow posting this stuff on social media, that's how we're going to change the world. It's not friends, it's just how we become more and more and more divided. Let the world do that. But as we do it in here,

man this entire thing that we're supposed to be, we are going to destroy from the inside out. I don't know if you know this, it blew my mind this week as I was reading it. You know the number one thing that Jesus said would destroy the church? The number one thing that would stop us from being who we're supposed to be?

The lack of unity. It's division. It's something that you and I have to sow from the inside. It's not an external threat. I know a lot of times we get freaked out about the threat out there. Jesus never prayed for resistance from the things out there. Jesus' prayer in the

Garden Of Gethsemane is what I want to wrap this whole thing up with this morning because I believe it gives us all the insight into why this matters and what the stakes truly are. Here's Jesus' prayer in John chapter 17. Jesus prayed, He says that I'm praying not only for these disciples

but also for all whoever believe in me through their message. He said I'm not just praying for the disciples that are with me, but every single one, you and I sitting here today that will believe this message. Here's Jesus' prayer request for his disciples

and for you and I sitting here. He says, I pray that they will all be one just as you and I are one. He says, as you are in me father, I'm in you and may they be in us so that the world will believe that you sent me.

He says, I've given them the glory. I've given them the Holy Spirit that you've given me so that they may be one as we are. He says that I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity

that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Friends, Jesus said the most important metric of our success to fulfill the great commission, to be God's plan a to reach this world. It's not how we vote, it's how we unite despite how we vote.

I wonder if Jesus showed up here today, walked into our church in Queen Creek, Arizona and he scored us on one metric. How are they doing when it comes to unity? My fear is that as a pastor, we wouldn't get as high of a grade as we think we would. I don't, I truly, honestly, I don't care how you vote.

I think the beautiful part is that we live in a country where you get to vote with your conscience and I get to vote with mine. Do I have opinions? Do I have belief systems? Yes and amen, you should too. But friends, what we have to refuse to do as ambassadors

to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is to allow those issues to become something that sows division anywhere. When your friends, when your family, when your circle of influence thinks about you, if they think about your political beliefs more than they think about how much you love Jesus,

as we do a self reflection to go, am I posting more on social media about a certain issue or certain politics more than I'm posting about how much Jesus loves this world, maybe just maybe we have to go. God, would you check my heart? Would you allow me to go through the process of sanctification

and become more like you because we know the stakes that are at play. The world will know who Jesus is by His church uniting and the big things are the big things. Friends, my hope, my goal this morning is that we would all walk out of here loving and embracing the fact that we are Americans. Yes and amen.

But before we're Americans, we are ambassadors of an entirely different kingdom. So Father, I ask God for every person that's here this morning, that God that we would remember who we ultimately are, our primary identity is in you

and that God no matter what has been tried to put on us as our identity, that we would remember who we really are And that father unity is our goal. Our message

is repentance because the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords is coming again and He loves you and He has a plan for you. And that God that we as the people of God would begin to take hold of the promises that we have, that in you we can have peace. Three sixty five times in the Bible it says, fear not

because it doesn't matter who's in the White House, we know who's on the throne. Father, would you challenge us? Would you convict us? Would you allow us to search our hearts and to begin to make changes no matter which aisle we find ourselves on this morning?

Jesus, we need you in a powerful way. Would you do the supernatural thing of continuing to unite us and make us one? It is in your mighty name that everybody said, amen. Thanks for joining us online this weekend. Let us know if we can help you in any way. Make sure to follow us on social media and connect with us on rockpoint.io

for prayer and everything happening here at Rock Point.