Gospel Perspective on Politics Part 2

And the topic this morning is how do the state and church relate?

How do the state and the church relate?

Maybe a better way of framing this is how does religion interact with government?

Now I use that word religion because religion is much broader than just the state.

I'm defining religion as all good attorneys do to define their terms.

Religion is how do we answer ultimate questions about our life and then prescribing actions based on those answers.

So how does religion, these ultimate questions, interact with government?

Let's pray and then we'll dive into this question together.

Father in heaven, we thank you for this time together.

We thank you for your Lord, the Lord Jesus.

Give us insight.

Lord, this topic is often confusing and complex.

Lord, give us clarity.

Bind our hearts together.

Love the church.

Father, give us an anchor in these church lives.

Father, for your namesake, would the church live as you call it?

Father, for your namesake, would the church live as you call it?

As a people for your own possession.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So how am I going to answer this question?

Thankfully, Christianity was not started the year you and I were born.

In fact, there have been Christians who have carried the same burdens we face today.

Who have thought through these questions and made mistakes.

And we can learn from them.

There's no phrase, those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

So, in light of that, I want to have this discussion in light of church history.

Through the lens of church history.

And one of the lessons you often find in church history is that you realize that old errors are so often recycled and repackaged in new forms.

Right?

There's nothing new on this side.

So to face the challenge of a culture that might be unraveling like a cheap sweater, we can go further back in time to men and women who have thought through these things, carry the same burdens, and have wisdom for us.

And so for the second half of the class, I'm going to reference Augustine.

Augustine.

One of those early church fathers in the 5th century from North Africa.

Now, you might not agree with everything Augustine has to say.

But he does have a wonderful way of framing the issue for us in the 21st century.

So to give us a road map of where we're headed on this journey, we're going to talk about the context of the early church.

Then Constantine.

Third, the crisis.

And fourth, the Magnus Otis.

And what's Augustine's Magnus Opus?

The City of God.

That book, The City of God.

It took him 13 years to write that.

The City of God.

So let's start with the context of the early church.

So I want to picture yourself in 5th century Rome.

You're going to take a time machine.

We're going to travel to about 410 A.D.

If you were living then, you may have heard stories of the horrible, twisted, violent persecution that Christians faced.

Because of their allegiance to Christ, Christians were slandered, mocked, misrepresented, nailed crosses, lit on fire, and made and torn apart by animals.

Christians often were scapegoated in Rome.

To describe this time, a 2nd century pastor, Petulian, once said,

If the Tiber River rises too high or the Nile too low, the cry is,

The Christians to the lion!

These Christians were scapegoated.

And to face a death, they were witnesses of the risen Christ.

This was reality.

And often this persecution would be top down from the emperors.

Top down from the emperors.

So unlike today, there was no voting for the emperors on election day.

No consent of the governor.

In this context, Paul would tell Christians in Romans chapter 13, verse 1, to give the government their due.

Romans 13:1

He writes,

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.

For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

And so scripture says, earthly governments are ordained by God to administer justice.

And believers are to be subject to their authority.

Even unjust governments.

Even unjust governments.

Peter writes, honor the emperor.

Yeah, even the corrupt one, like Nero.

Honor the emperor.

Christians are to honor the very governments that later would arrest the next week then.

Why would anyone do this?

1 Peter 2, verse 21 tells us,

1 Peter 2:21

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

So submit to the civil authorities, pay your taxes, honor the emperor, and when reviled, do not revile in return.

That's the rule.

Now, of course, there are limits on disobedience.

Some of us want to immediately go to the exception.

We collaborate, but we never compromise.

We collaborate, but we never compromise.

There are places where we cannot go.

Like our modern day, Romans consider themselves inclusive and tolerant.

And tolerant.

So inclusive and tolerant.

But there's a catch.

Rome was tolerant as long as you accept the status quo.

And the status quo involved taking part in religious worship of the emperor.

You know, bow down.

Offer some incense.

It's not a big deal.

It's a big deal, Christian.

Be a good Roman citizen and bow down to the emperor.

And this is where Christians ran into trouble.

And does anyone know what Christians were called for their refusal to worship the Roman pantheon?

Atheists.

Atheists.

Why were they called atheists?

They didn't seem to believe in the gods.

Right.

They worshiped this god who was invisible.

They didn't worship the visible pantheon of gods.

They were atheists.

And many consider Christians to be dangerous to the unity of the empire.

Threats to society.

I mean, you can almost picture, like, imagine yourself a Roman official.

Right.

These Christians were gathering together.

The upper class slaves and women were calling each other brother and sister.

Right.

We even heard that they drank the blood and ate the flesh of this king Jesus whom they worshiped.

What in the world is going on?

Right.

These Christians were odd.

They're weird.

They're suspicious.

Now, we live in the 21st century, but we have first century problems.

Right.

But we also have an opportunity to live out first century Christianity.

When Christianity becomes increasingly weird and suspicious in our culture.

But as you listen to these stories, in the 5th century Rome, of the context of the early church,

maybe you hear how everything changed under Constantine.

There was the Constantinian moments where things suddenly turned upside down.

In 312 AD, Christians found a champion in Emperor Constantine.

In some ways, this is a very paradoxical age.

So we're going to break this down by looking at the beautiful and the good,

and then we're going to get into the ugly.

So let's start with the beautiful and the good of Constantine.

Now, picture yourself.

Imagine witnessing family and friends martyred.

And then very suddenly, Christians are supported.

To illustrate how sudden this was,

Roman officials kissed the broken hands of the Christians whom they had tortured.

And understand, Constantine didn't just proclaim freedom of religion for Christians,

but initially it was for everyone.

No longer fearing for your life.

That's good.

Constantine restored property and legal rights to Christians.

He subsidized the building of new church buildings.

He even organized church councils.

A force in the passing of the Nicene Creed,

which brought unity to Christians,

declaring that Jesus is Lord over and against the heresy of Arianism.

For Constantine, it brought unity to the Roman Empire.

For Constantine,

and most historians recognize this,

it represents a turning point in the Western world.

Previously marginalized Christianity began to be a driving cultural force in the Roman Empire.

And even Emperor Constantine at this point claims to be a Christian.

So imagine yourself in that context.

What do you do when now the leader of the emperor claims to be a Christian,

and Christianity is now a driving cultural force in the Roman Empire?

So this is the advent of Christendom.

What do you do?

What would you do

where the majority in society

now call themselves Christians?

Now, I think we need some intellectual humility in the 21st century.

Philip Yancey, a Christian author,

once recounted a conversation with a Muslim,

who said,

I find no guidance in the Koran

on how a Muslim should live as a minority in the society,

and no guidance in the New Testament

on how Christians should live as a majority.

Now, that might be overstated.

Right?

But he's touching on something there, isn't he?

Right?

If you approach the Bible with the question,

what's the right political order,

you're not going to find the answer.

It's the wrong question.

But it does answer this question very clearly.

What is the church?

The Bible has a lot to say about what is the church.

So your understanding of ecclesiology

is going to influence your thinking on political theology.

And Nick touched on this last week.

And initially, I had 30 minutes of just expositing

what is the nature of the doctrine of the church this morning,

but I took it out.

But your ecclesiology is going to influence your political theology.

So a lot of Presbyterians and Baptists

have different political theologies

because of based on how we understand the church.

And we understand Christianity is not just about

having your sins forgiven.

Right?

Christianity touches our political life.

Remember we said last week,

this is important, but not ultimate.

The Greek word polis,

from which we get the word political,

simply means city.

How is the city working?

Right?

And we're serving on the mount people.

Poor in spirit.

Mourning and thirsting.

After righteousness.

Christians care about what God cares about.

Human flourishing.

Protecting the innocent from being falsely convicted.

Protecting the vulnerable.

Caring for the poor.

Christians now bring in their values

to advocate for what is right and good in Rome.

And this begins to influence the Roman Empire

in good ways.

Right?

Women were second class citizens back then

in the ancient world.

And because of Christianity's influence,

the lowest in society started to gain

some more legal protections.

Women now could control property.

Women now were protected from sexual assault.

Mothers were given legal rights over their children,

whereas former women and adopters had those rights.

Not to mention, you know,

the efforts to protect slaves,

the poor.

The practice of infanticide was outlawed,

where unwarranted babies

were left to wild animals

and cast into sewers.

Abortion was a common medical procedure.

The early church had plenty to say about that.

And so from the beginning,

Christians believed these people had value.

Made in the image of God.

Money from the imperial treasury

was used to help desperate parents

who couldn't afford to keep children.

And the church acted as sort of a distribution system

that the Roman government would use.

So this is something we can thank God for.

Right?

Today we have a lot of non-Christian politicians

who say, you know,

of course human rights.

But friend, there was no

of course human rights in ancient Rome.

If you believe in human rights,

then you can thank Christianity for that.

Now for us,

this doesn't necessarily mean

being involved in institutional politics.

through the government.

But it might.

It might.

Maybe God will call some of you

to run for mayor,

or city council,

or a senate.

So how would this kind of public witness

work today?

Christians in the public square.

Well, a senator or citizen

can argue for a policy

on the basis of your Christianity.

But the government cannot adopt that position

because of Christianity.

So influence,

but not to institutionalize Christianity.

That would violate

the anti-establishment clause

of the First Amendment.

That's the soil in which

our representative democracy

was founded.

Christians can and should influence

government for the common good.

As someone once said,

the early church wasn't a thermometer.

They were a thermostat

that transformed society.

Does anyone know who said that?

Does anyone know?

Sounds really good to anyone?

That was Martin King Jr.

in a letter

in Birmingham jail.

The idea that Christians

brought their values

for the common good

was the civil rights movement.

So just laws are a good thing.

But remember,

laws cannot change the human heart.

Laws cannot do the works of culture.

Now, one of the reasons

why we don't institutionalize Christianity,

which John is going to get to next week.

Does anyone know why

we, in our accounting,

we didn't want to institutionalize

one specific denomination?

They didn't want the religious strife

from Europe to come here.

Right.

Yeah.

And that religious strife was here.

It was here.

The Baptists were the ones

who were exiled in the Commonwealth

of Massachusetts

because they refused to practice

the baptism.

So the legacy of religious liberty,

John's going to get to next week,

but that, in part,

was due to the fact

that Baptists were on the wrong end

of religious persecution.

Now, some Christians believe

if we just pass the right laws,

if we just institutionalize Christianity,

that will solve the moral decay

of our times.

But that's chasing after a mirage.

Laws cannot do

what only the gospel can do.

So that's the good side.

I mean, let's get to the ugly.

So we're going back to Constantine.

There was a darker side.

Remember, Christians found a champion

under Constantine.

Constantine was called

the capital-L liberator of the church.

He was called a Christian emperor

by men like Eusebius of Caesarea.

The church began to have power and wealth,

and so nominalism skyrocketed at that point.

If you wanted a career in politics,

you were expected to be a Christian

under Constantine.

But that wasn't the only problem.

You may recall hearing

in some Western civ class

that he took in college

the story where Constantine

saw a sign in the sky,

and when he and his entire army

looked up,

he saw a Cairo, or a cross,

with the words,

conquer by this sign.

Conquer by this sign.

You find meteorologists

trying to figure out,

how did this all work?

How did they find that apparition

in the sky?

But Constantine put the sign

of the cross

on the shield of his soldiers,

crusading and conquering

under the banner of the cross.

He hardly ever lost a battle,

and he was a ruthless man.

In John 18,

Peter is rebuked for drawing the sword

after Jesus' arrest.

And what does Jesus tell Pilate

when he's at his trial?

My kingdom's not of this world.

My kingdom is not of this world.

If it were of this world,

my servants would be fighting.

So the Christ kingdom

does not advance

through course of power,

but through the word.

We don't fight fire with fire.

Civil governments

cannot cause conversions.

You know, the sword,

convert or die!

That doesn't happen.

That cannot happen.

So now you see

what's happening here

under Constantine.

Now there's confusion

of categories.

The church and the state

are now molding together.

And theologians at that time

began linking Constantine's rule

with the rule of God.

Jerome, one of the church fathers,

said,

Rome was an earthly reflection

of the kingdom of heaven.

You know, someone once said,

I think Nick Vizenti told me this,

this is like Trump on stairways.

Right?

You hear this rhetoric today.

Right?

Ronald Reagan,

in his farewell address,

famous,

he said,

America is the shining city

on a hill.

Drawed upon Matthew 5,

Matthew 5:14

verse 14,

in the top of the last week.

You are the light of the world.

A city on a hill,

set on a hill,

cannot be hidden.

And the you there

is not referring to America,

it's referring to the church.

But the temptation

to confuse categories

is bipartisan.

Unfortunately,

blasphemy is bipartisan

on both sides of the aisle.

In 2021,

President Biden,

speaking of the American military

going to Afghanistan,

quoted Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6:8

verse 8.

The Lord says,

Whom shall I send?

Who shall go for us?

Biden then said,

The American military

has been answering

for a long time.

Here I am,

Lord,

send me.

Here I am,

send me.

God's saving mission

is not a military campaign

to blow up buildings

in Kabul.

Let me ask this question,

what kind of problems

does this create

for the gospel witness

in places like Afghanistan?

Where God's purposes

are American military campaigns

overseas.

What kind of problems

does this create

for Christians

for the gospel witness

overseas?

Well,

if you look at Nazi Germany

where the church

caved to Hitler

and did not stand up

as a witness

against the government,

terrible,

terrible confusion

over what Christianity is

and what it meant.

And my sister-in-law

who's Jewish

and she really

doesn't want to hear

about Christianity

because of her parents

and her parents' experience

in Europe.

she quakes

Nazism

and Christianity.

That's that.

That's what he said.

So,

if I were

into the Taliban,

Christian

and American

would mean

the same thing

to me.

And both hateful.

Yeah,

that's true.

Afghan Christians

could be

pro-America

because

what else

could they be?

Yeah,

it seems like

you justify violence

on the other side

to tell them

it's all power politics.

There is no alternative.

Yeah.

Right.

Tom pointed this out

to me that

when Rome

identified

as a Christian empire,

a great persecution

arose

amongst Persian Christians

because the governments

thought native

Persian Christians

must have been

with Rome.

Yeah.

So now there is

suspicion

for Christians

in Persia.

And there would be

suspicion,

I mean,

this kind of rhetoric

would cause

suspicions

for Christians

in Venezuela

whose government

doesn't align

with American interests.

So,

we do a lot

of damage

to gospel witness

overseas

if we're

aligning America

with Christ

and they're

both the same.

Now,

in 2021,

a lot of us

heard the term

Christian nationalism

all over the news

and you hear it today.

Most people

have no idea

what it means

but it sounds

scary,

right?

It sounds

aggressive,

authoritarian,

Christian nationalism.

After January 6th,

don't get me wrong,

there was a lot

ugly

in America,

but after January 6th,

I think it became

a dog whistle word

in a smear campaign

among some of the media.

Why?

Because it is a way

of lumping together

those in the crowd

that broke

into the capital

with normal Christians

who are engaged

in politics.

Guilt by association.

I mention that

because there's

such a temptation

to just slap a label

on someone,

right,

rather than to listen

to them

and to ask questions.

You think

governments should

promote traditional

family structures?

You're a Christian nationalist.

You support police reform?

That sounds

really woke to me.

So you don't really

engage with someone,

you just slap a label

on them.

And we should not

do that as a church.

Right?

Let's listen to each other,

ask questions,

rather than really

assume that someone

is a Christian nationalist

because of their

political preferences,

not necessarily

a theological

commandment.

Any questions?

And then we're going

to get to the crisis

and then Augustus.

Any questions?

How long was

Constantine's reign?

That's a good question.

Anyone know?

Okay.

I was just wondering

how quickly

everything degenerated.

Yeah.

I noticed conversion

was unexpected.

Long enough

to change things.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Someone can look

to Google it

and then look at that.

Well, probably not

31 years.

31 years.

31 years.

Okay.

That's fine.

Thank you.

So, we have the

context here

of the church.

Constantine.

Let's get to the crisis.

Let's get to the crisis.

Fast forward the years

410 AD.

We're back in the Roman Empire

and the empire is

teetering on the

verge of collapse.

So imagine 50 years

from now,

America is no longer

a country.

That would be shocking

for a lot of us.

But America is a toddler

compared to Rome.

Rome had been around

for almost a thousand years.

And the barbarians,

the Visigoths,

later the Germans

would sack Rome

and things began

to unravel in Rome.

This was a crisis

of the culture.

And maybe some of us

feel some of that

crisis today.

You know,

God's providence

is a sign of

those very Germans

would later become

Christians.

So, and a thousand

years later,

there was a man

who came forth

from the Germans.

Martin Luther.

So, Fred,

maybe those radical,

crazy, pagan,

non-Christian neighbors

of ours,

maybe there's a

Martin Luther

among them.

I don't know.

Alright, but now

during this crisis

in God's providence,

many refugees

fled to North Africa

who would meet

and talk with

one North African

bishop,

Augustine.

And Augustine's

magnus opus,

the city of God,

it took him 13 years

to write this.

And he started

writing it

pretty soon after

Rome collapsed.

Augustine's

and it's been

a foundational text

for Western

political thought.

This is why

I'm referencing

Augustine.

And you could draw

a direct line

of Augustine

thought,

especially of

human depravity

and original sin,

to the founding

fathers of the

draft of the

Constitution.

What do I mean

by that?

So if you look

at Augustine,

Augustine influenced

Martin Luther.

Martin Luther

taught Calvin.

Calvin taught

John Edwards.

John Edwards

taught John

Witherspoon.

And John

Witherspoon

taught James

Madison.

And Madison

wrote the

Federalist Papers,

which has a

very strong

Augustinian

bent to it.

And Madison

would draft

the Constitution.

So Madison

and the framers

had a very

realistic understanding

of man's

fallen nature

when creating

our system

of government.

And John,

again,

is going to

talk about this

next week.

Now,

Augustine doesn't

start out to be

a political

philosopher,

but as a

pastor.

He is doing

a couple of

things in the

city of God.

First,

he's refuting

the contention

that Christianity

is responsible

for the collapse

of the Roman

Western Empire,

the Western

Roman Empire.

And second,

he's comforting

the sheep.

These are

refugees that

are coming,

and he wants

to comfort them.

And if you

want to start

reading this

in the city

of God,

book 19,

start there.

The most

bang for

your buck.

Book 19,

chapter 17,

that's where

you should

start.

So,

there are

six thoughts

from the

city of

God applied

for today.

And here's

what I think

Augustine would

want to tell

our church

in a cultural

crisis.

One,

do not

panic.

Do

not

panic.

The loss

of any

Christian

influence

in America

does not

follow him

to question

God's

faithfulness.

Because he

would say,

don't confuse

America

with the

city of

God.

The city

of God,

he writes,

is invincible,

eternal,

and everlasting.

And the

gates of hell

will not prevail

against it.

Augustine gets

the title

from Psalm

97,

Glorious

things of

you are

spoken,

O city

of God.

Speaking of

Zion,

the dwelling

place of

God.

And he

would say,

look,

America is

just like

Babylon,

Assyria,

and Rome.

It's the

city of

man.

Right?

These

rise and

fall,

the earthly

cities

passing

away.

We are

pilgrims

and exiles

who have

a heavenly

citizenship.

That's where

our allegiance

lies.

And we

get afraid

because we

often confuse

the two.

In the

city of

God,

Augustine

has a

conversation

partner

named

Scipio

Africanus.

Scipio

is asked

the question,

what is

a society?

What makes

up a

culture?

Scipio

responds

with,

well,

it's an

assembly

united

in

fellowship

by

common

agreement

as to

what is

right

in a

community

of

interest.

So,

in other

words,

a society

that has

the same

values.

Or we

could say

it's a

nation

that has

biblical

values.

The same

sense of

what is

right.

But

Augustine

would say,

Scipio,

that's

great.

But that's

the city

of God.

A society

of people

united

with the

conviction

of what

is right,

that is

the city

of God.

It's not

the city

of man.

So,

number one,

do not

panic.

Two,

low

expectations.

Low

expectations.

America

will

disappoint

you.

When

Augustine

was

preaching

to

refugees,

you

would

probably

say

something

like this.

Look,

you've

been

through

tragedy.

Many

of you

have been

mistreated,

slandered,

harmed by

others.

Rome

and the

culture

has

collapsed.

But

remember

this,

Rome

was

always

disappointed

and

disappointed.

So,

I say

the same

to you.

In

the same

way,

this election

season,

America

will

disappoint

you.

Have

low

expectations.

Modesty

of

ambition.

Three,

there's a

spiritual

conflict

between

these

two

cities.

There's

a

spiritual

conflict

between

these

two

cities.

His

entire

argument

can be

summed

up in

this

sentence,

in the

city

of

God.

He

writes,

accordingly,

two

cities

have

been

formed

by

two

loves.

The

earthly

by the

love

of

self,

even

to

the

contempt

of

God.

The

heavenly

by the

love

of

God,

even

to

the

contempt

of

self.

The

former

in

the

word

glories

in

itself,

the

latter

in

the

Lord.

So,

what

he's

saying

is,

the

city

of

God

and

the

city

of

man

are

in

conflict.

I

mean,

this

is

the

message

we

saw

in

Revelation.

Remember

that?

Christians

attempting

to

worship

the

beast

of

the

political

power

in

Rome.

Now,

some

might

say

at

this

point,

okay,

I

agree

with

you,

Augustine,

so,

Christians

should be

like the

French

resistance.

We'll

go under

and we'll

start

fighting

the

Nazis.

We'll

just go

underground.

So,

you hear

some of

that today.

But,

Augustine

wouldn't

go that

far.

He

wouldn't

go that

far

because

the

fourth

principle,

and here's

the twist.

There's a

conflict

between

these

two

cities,

but

Christians

occupy

both

cities

at the

same

time.

Christians

occupy

both

cities

at the

same

time.

We

have

a

dual

citizenship.

So,

the

earthly

city

also

contains

members

of

the

city

of

God.

And

so,

that's

why

Gustine

would

say,

this

is

not

like

the

Nazis

fighting

versus

the

allies

in

World

War

II.

We

also

are

citizens

of

the

earthly

city.

So,

there is

both,

and here's

the wisdom

of Augustine

here.

He's

saying

there's

both

an

involvement,

but there's

also a

detachment

from the

earthly

city.

There's

tension in

that,

isn't

there?

I think

that's

what the

balance that

Nick was

really trying

to get

at last

week.

these

things

are

important,

but

they're

not

ultimate.

And

there's

a tension.

Be a

citizen

of

Babylon,

but

remain

in

exile.

Engage

in

politics,

but

don't

succumb

to

political

idolatry.

Obey

the

emperor,

but

above

all,

obey

God.

How

desperately

we need

the

Holy

Spirit

to do

this

while

in

our

public

life.

One

example,

I love

how one

person

illustrated

this

in the

second

century,

the

letter

of

Diocatis.

And

the

author

wrote

this,

Christians

are not

distinguished

from the

rest of

humanity

by country,

language,

or custom.

From

nowhere do

they live

in cities

of their

own,

nor do

they speak

some unusual

dialect,

nor do

they practice

an eccentric

way of

life.

They live

in their

own

countries,

but only

as

sojourners.

They

participate

in everything

as citizens

and endure

everything

as

foreigners.

Every

foreign

country

is their

fatherland,

and every

fatherland

is foreign.

They

marry,

as do

all others,

and they

have children,

but they

do not

destroy

their

offspring.

They

have a

common

table,

not a

common

bed.

They

are in

the

flesh,

but they

do not

live

according

to the

flesh.

They

pass

their

days

on

earth,

but

they

are

citizens

of

heaven.

They

are

cursed,

but they

blessed.

They

are

insulted,

yet

they offer

it.

I just

love how

he captures

how Christians

are in

both cities

at once.

We're in

the world,

but we're

not of

it.

Fifth

principle,

work for

the welfare

of the

earthly

city.

Augustine

says,

work for

the welfare

of the

earthly

city.

So this

is the

Daniel

principle

where God

told the

Jews in

Babylon,

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 29:7

29,

verse 7,

seek the

welfare

of the

city

where I

have sent

you into

exile,

and pray

to the

Lord on

its behalf.

For in

its welfare

you will

find your

welfare.

I'm going

to repeat

that last

part.

For in

its

welfare

you will

find your

welfare.

And so

he understood

politics was

seeking the

good of the

city that

God placed

them in.

In the

city of

man's

welfare,

Christians

will find

our

welfare.

So although

there is a

conflict,

there is also

common interest

in life in

the earthly

city.

So in

earthly

political

life,

Christians

can be

united in

these earthly

goods with

non-Christians.

And Augustine

will use

illustrations like

seeing society

prosper,

food,

shelter,

these are

good things.

things.

A well-run

police

forest is a

good thing.

Stable

families are

good things,

laughing together

over a

meal.

He sums

it up in

this phrase,

earthly peace.

Earthly peace

is a good

thing.

In the

earthly city's

welfare, we

will find our

welfare.

So Augustine

saw that we

could be united

by common

interest with

non-Christians

and there will

be a spiritual

conflict, both

at the same

time.

Now of

course, and

Augustine

recognizes this,

our society

doesn't share

the same

values of

what is good

and evil,

right?

But we

can work for

areas of

common ground

that we both

can work

toward.

And we

love these

things in

different ways.

Christians

love is

always in the

context of a

greater love

for God.

So we

love earthly

peace not

for earthly

peace in

itself.

We love

these things

because

God is the

one who

gives them

to us.

They are

gifts from

God, right?

So we

can be

thankful for

the many

good gifts

that God

has given

to us as

Americans.

I'm one of

the types

that I get

choked up

singing the

National Anthem.

I don't know

why, I just

start getting

teary-eyed.

And it's

okay to

thank God

sincerely for

being an

American.

There's

nothing wrong

with that.

But ultimately

we thank God

for those things.

And our

allegiance is to

God.

And the

sixth principle,

and then we'll

open up for

questions and

comments,

the sixth

principle is

ground your

hope in

the heavenly

city.

Ground your

hope in the

heavenly city.

There's a

story, again,

of Scipio

Africanus.

He conquers

Rome's most

bitter enemy,

Carthage,

at the site

of the city

perishing amidst

the flames.

it is said

that Scipio

burst into

tears.

He had just

destroyed Rome's

greatest enemy.

And someone

asked Scipio,

why are you

weeping?

He replied,

this is a

glorious moment,

but I have a

dread foreboding

that someday

the same doom

will be

pronounced on

my own

country.

Scipio was

weeping because

one day what

happened to

Carthage will

happen to

Rome.

Augustine would

agree with

that.

What happened

to Carthage,

what happened

to Rome,

we pray that

this doesn't

happen, but

one day it

will happen to

America.

The earthly

city is

temporary.

Politics are

temporary when

you measure

them against

the city of

God.

That's where

our hope lies.

ground your

hope in the

heavenly city.

So those are

the six

principles.

Do not

panic.

Low

expectations.

Spiritual

conflict.

Christians

occupy both

at the same

time.

Work for

your welfare

in the

earthly city.

And above

all.