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Read: Matthew 22:37-39
Listen: Matthew 22

And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39

The early church viewed Jesus as king over everything and Jesus’s kingdom as their primary citizenship. This view radically altered how they lived. They were countercultural. They took Jesus’s command to love your neighbor as yourself seriously. The early church was multiethnic and strove to be unified across racial lines. They prioritized the poor and suffering, taking care of widows and orphans. They valued the sanctity of human life, rescuing exposed babies from the trash heaps. They were sexually countercultural, believing sex is a gift from God to be enjoyed only in a marriage relationship between a man and a woman.

The countercultural views of the early church aren’t just for the first century. These are biblical values that don’t map perfectly onto one political party. No political party can claim to embody all of Jesus’s values. As Jesus followers, we’re called to care about these things and work to be countercultural as well. Our first citizenship is to Jesus’s kingdom. It doesn’t mean we don’t vote. However, it likely requires a nuanced approach to politics that acknowledges neither party has all the answers. As Jesus followers, our allegiance is to Jesus, not a political party.

TODAY: Confess to God that it can be easy to place our politics over our allegiance to Jesus. Write “Jesus is king” on a sticky note and place it somewhere you’ll see it regularly. Or, change your lock screen for the remainder of the political season. Choose something to remind you that Jesus is king and that he doesn’t belong to either political party.

JESUS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:

Read Jeremiah 19-20. Highlight anything that points to Jesus.