Citizens of God's Kingdom in an Earthly Empire

Paul talked about how to be a citizen of God's kingdom, while in an earthly empire. Throughout Acts and the Epistles, we see how Paul uses and refers to his Roman citizenship.
-He used his earthly citizenship for the benefit of God's kingdom, as we see when he pulled out the Roman citizen card to get out of an unjust beating and back to the mission field.
-He taught that we should be good earthly citizens and obey what we can.
-Yet at the same time, Paul taught that we should civilly disobey laws that contradict God and we should always resist empire idolatry.
-He showed through his life and the suffering he endured that we should follow God's law above all else, but expect to be punished by the pagan empire for such obedience.

But I have trouble imagining Paul writing a letter to the early church full of patriotic pride.
-I can't picture Paul encouraging them to put trappings of empire in the church.
-He instead encouraged them to focus on God's kingdom through reaching the people of the Empire.
-Paul taught that we should pray for the empire's leaders, but we should make sure to pray for God's kingdom to come at least as much as we pray for the empire, if not more.

Paul recognized that his cultural empire and God's kingdom were going in different directions and he decided to follow God's kingdom instead of the earthly Roman Empire.

As I reflected more on biblical-era Roman culture, I realized something profound...The USA is a modern-day Rome. We are not in a Christian culture, but rather we are in an Empire culture.

We are the Empire

An empire doesn't value young lives (Rome allowed infanticide; the USA allows abortion), but Christians should value all life, whether that life is unborn, newborn, prisoner, elderly, or enemy.

An empire celebrates violence (Rome gloried in violent games in the Colosseum; the USA revels in violent football, wrestling, and other sports in a variety of arenas), but Christians resist conforming to the patterns of the world and instead strive to overcome evil with good.

An empire practices idolatry (Rome worshiped its leaders; the USA worships its leaders and their political parties), but Christians worship the only One deserving of praise, honor, and glory.

An empire uses its military to achieve its goals (Rome prioritized and honored its strong, active military; the USA outspends the rest of the world in military spending), but Christians are peacemakers. (Look up the difference between a peacekeeper and a peacemaker). Christians love their enemies, pray for their persecutors, and turn the other cheek when attacked.

An empire encourages a hedonistic atmosphere (Rome had rampant homosexuality, prostitution, and fertility cults; the USA has the LGBTQ movement, prostitution, pornography, and the free love movement), but Christians put to death their sinful natures and keep the marriage bed pure. Christians do not participate in degrading and dehumanizing acts because they value humanity being made in the image of God.

An empire boasts of its power (Rome was thought to be the greatest empire in the world; the USA's citizens will tell you that this is the greatest country in the world), but Christians know that the Kingdom of Heaven truly is the greatest.

An empire oppresses the weak. (Rome achieved its "greatness" through oppression; the USA built its greatness on the backs of slaves, discrimination, and oppression), but Christians follow their Servant King's example as we honor one another above ourselves.

An empire's citizens are more concerned with their rights than if they should do something (Rome promoted individual rights-Paul needed to give his "you have the right to do anything, but not everything is beneficial" pitch for a reason; the USA declares that they have the right to ______ because this is the land of the free), but Christians value others above themselves as we look to the interests of others.

An empire promotes many idols. (Rome loved money, pleasure, and comfort; the USA has the same values. We consume more than our fair share of resources, in the name of our "right" to do so because of our hard work. We work long hours to earn more money to spend on ourselves), but Christians love God so much that we do not let ourselves get entangled in the trappings of the world.

You may be thinking that because you don't endorse or want the empire priorities, that therefore we are not in an empire. There were Christians back in the Roman Empire. They didn't endorse the empire's methods or priorities, but followed God's Kingdom priorities, even though they suffered for it. Our American culture values the same kinds of things that the Roman Empire valued.

But there is hope. When Christians, who live within an Empire, begin to faithfully serve God's Kingdom, lives are changed. We live in an Empire, but we have the choice to serve the Kingdom instead.