The irony of praying for the leaders of our countries is this: they aren’t Christians. We can never expect them to make God-glorifying decisions when their hearts are everywhere else. So we pray, but understand that if our prayers are answered, it’s a marvelous intervention on God’s part; and marvelous interventions are few and far between.

In this light, maybe the church is much better off understanding that it works within a secular nation. Is it not possible that the greatest wakeup call for the church of this age might be that we don’t, after all, live in a Christian nation? Or that it’s not enough to merely be called a Christian Nation when instead we need to be a nation of Christians?

It’s the nature of democracy, isn’t it, that our leaders reflect who we are as a people. The question becomes, “Who are we as a people?” And further in, “How do we change who we are as a people?” And higher up, “How will that change add to the spiritual revolution of God?”

Tags: questions, ruminations, the kingdom