Are you familiar with the story related to American self-awareness historically?
It’s about the Pilgrims, the Founding Fathers, manifest destiny, etc. If so you will know that there has long been a sense of ‘exceptionalism’ in America regarding its disproportionate blessings, as well as responsibilities to the rest of the world. The Puritans thought of it as a ‘city on a hill’, taking of course cue from Jesus’ language to that regard, Matthew 5.14.
Trump-ism
It is then, for many Bible-believing Christians, perplexing to observe (at least at this point in the election cycle) the rise of Trump-ism, and more to the point the kind of discourse that that reflects in each of the parties and in each of the candidates to a greater or lesser extent. There is less gentility, more fire-y-ness, less meekness, more might. The rancour is rebuked by various sides, and then (perhaps?) emulated in the responsive mechanism to the other candidates in other ways.
How are Christians, of any nation and all nations, to think of the church’s relationship to the state?
A question like that, huge in its proportions, with vexed disagreements down through church history, and contemporary questions may seem impossible to raise, let alone answer, in a brief column like this one. Granted that in a few hundred words or so, I nor anyone else in all likelihood could have the wisdom of Solomon to solve the Church Established or non-conformist, the church separated and involved or isolationist, and come up with new language that could appeal to all Bible-believing Christians, let alone all Christians or all people of good common sense.
Calling for higher standards
But I wonder whether there is not something simple (not simplistic) that may nonetheless be said. Did not Jesus show the way? ‘Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s’. The Old Testament: ‘Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people.’ At the very least we can say that we should let the church be the church – focus on its unique calling – but at the same time, as Christians be ‘salt’ in the world and call our nations to higher standard of morality. That will be good for them, and for us, and will more likely answer the honest prayer that we are encouraged to pray that there would be peace that the gospel may flourish (1 Timothy 2.1-7).
