Christianity and Politics

From the beginning of Christianity, Christians have said that "Jesus is Lord" (meaning Jesus is in charge).  The point of this is to highlight something unique to Christianity that sets it apart from everything else.  

Only Christians believe Jesus is Lord.

That comes as a total shock, I know.  But, think about that for a minute.  If only Christians believe that Jesus is Lord, that must be because He is not currently ruling (an earthly kingdom, anyway).  If Jesus were ruling on earth, everyone would believe that He is Lord, even if they didn't like it.  So, why do Christians say this?   

In Christianity, we speak of a partially-realized eschatology (technical term).  What this means is that Christ's death and resurrection announced the way things will be, but they are not that way yet.  Christians choose to live as if they were in a world that is not here yet.  It is meant to foreshadow the way things will be, but God's will is not yet done "on earth as it is in heaven" (Matt 6.10).  

If God doesn't force us to live like Christians, why would we force others to?

Even Christians are not forced to live the Christian life.  If we were, there would be a lot less hypocrisy in the Church.  But if God doesn't force us to live like Christians, why would we think we have the right to force others to live like Christians?  

The point of living differently is to be an example.  Christians are supposed to encourage, inspire, and reason with people, but nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus or anyone else say we are supposed to force non-Christians to live like Christians.  

America is not the Kingdom of God.

We do not live in a country with religious rule (thankfully).  The funny thing is, Christians will say they don't want religious rule and they will say they don't want Christian values forced on everyone else, yet the way they talk and vote says something else.  

Is this really what Jesus intended?  The last time I checked, He told us to be the Church not a political party.  I'm not saying that Christians should never be involved in politics.  To the extent that we are citizens, I think it's perfectly fine.  But I think we have our priorities backwards.  

We are meant to be examples not enforcers.