๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข Which city do you live in? Whatโs your neighborhood like and what do you like most about it?
โข Did you ever have to leave a cinema or theater before the ending? Why?
โข Who is the best storyteller you know? Why do you think he or she is the best?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
โ๐๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ; ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด; ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด; ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ง, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ.โ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ต:๐ฑโ๐ณ
We started talking about civil government by saying that the Bible is better understood if we read it as a narrative divided into four acts: Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration.
God created a good world (Act One) but that world was broken by sin (Act Two). The biggest chunk of the biblical record covers redemption (Act Three, from Genesis 3 to Revelation 20), while the last two chapters of Revelation show us a preview of the restoration of all things (Act Four). We live in the middle of the story.
What does this mean? We are living in a time when redemption has already begun but is not yet completed. We are in the middle of the โalready but not yet.โ Like living through a pandemic, the end may be in sight but getting there takes time. It is, in many ways, a very real expression of โalready but not yetโ in our time.
As a church, what do we do from the middle of the story?
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฎ ๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐ต๐๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ฎ:๐ตโ๐ญ๐ญ
When we gather as a church every week, we are declaring that Jesus is Lord and Caesar is not. That truth has implications on how we live the rest of the week. The church is a formation center for righteousness, both private and public. This is where we grow in our discipleship. As our lives are shaped by the gospel of Christ, our inner convictions will eventually affect the way we approach political issues. How did you become part of a local church, and how have you grown as a disciple?
๐ฎ. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐น.
โโ. . . ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.โโ ๐๐๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ณโ๐ญ๐ด
A nationโs true hope lies in the transformation of individual lives. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring about this transformation. We engage in politics not to score political wins, but to preach the gospel and make disciples so that the nations will come to know Christ. How do you think society and even interaction online would be different if we bore witness to the gospel of Christ in everything we do or say?
๐ฏ. ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐.
โ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ง, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ.โ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ต:๐ณ
For seventy years, the Jews lived as exiles in Babylon, where they were surrounded by political enemies every day. However, God did not instruct them to destroy their enemies. He told them to build houses, plant gardens, get married, and have families. The Jews were to go about their social and cultural activities in a way that would benefit the broader population. They avoided two extremes: they neither adapted fully to the Babylonian culture nor withdrew completely from it.
As believers, we are citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20). We are strangers here on earth and are only passing through. But for the sake of our Christian witness, we seek our societyโs common good. We need to do good whether we are at home, at school, or in our workplaces. Christians should be excellent accountants, waiters, bosses, and politicians. What does seeking the good of the city look like for you where you are?
๐ฐ. ๐ง๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐โ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ง, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ . . . ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ:๐ญ
As ambassadors of the King, we do not put our hope in politics or expect it to save us. After all, politics is only one sphere of society. Instead, we can work faithfully to renew every sphere and institution of cultureโnot only politics, but also banking and finance, marriage and family, the arts and sciences, education, entertainment, and sports. Our combined Christian witness in all spheres of society will make those who donโt know Jesus yet even more responsive to the gospel. Why is transforming every sphere of society, not just politics, important?
๐ฑ. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐
๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
โ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด; ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด; ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ . . .โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ญ
Instead of putting our hopes on short-term political activism, we should commit ourselves to consistent political engagement over a long period of time. Godโs purposes outlast empires and kingdoms. He is the one who sovereignly ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด. Because of this, our political vision should not be limited to our lifetime. We need to work towards comprehensive and sustained cultural witness over generations. How do you think this might look? What are some steps you can take to achieve it?
๐ฒ. ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐.
โ๐๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ. ๐๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ช๐ต๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ฑ:๐ฐ
Doing politics from the middle of the story is difficult. We run the risk of disillusionment, distraction, and discouragement. Our constant connection with God is what will keep our hearts tender, our eyes on the prize, and our hands and feet ready for the task. We must be especially consistent in our prayer and worship. How have you learned to take your concerns and requests to God, and to set them aside to worship Him alone?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข How have the four acts of the biblical narrative (Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration) affected your understanding of the world and Godโs plan for it?
โข Consider the action points discussed today. Which of these do you think you need to apply most? What is one way you can do this?
โข Having discussed these topics, what do you think is your role as a Christian in society? What is the role of civil government in our lives?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for making sure Redemption and Restoration are part of His overarching narrative for us. Declare how much you need Him in every area of your life.
โข Pray that you would seek the good of the city and live out righteousness both in private and public. Pray for Godโs strength and grace to carry this out every day.
โข Ask God for a longer and broader view that carries over to future generations. Pray that you will do your part in being Christโs witness to your community, nation, and the world.
Doing Politics from the Middle of the Story
Week 25
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