The other day I went to an IQ enhancement session at McDonald’s in Asheville. In the group was a respected local preacher. When I got a chance, I asked him this question: Do you believe that Franklin Graham and Sarah Huckabee Sanders really know what God wanted to happen in the 2016 election of Donald Trump as president? They both claim to have some inside scoop on that topic.
The preacher thought for a moment before he replied, “My kingdom is no part of this world.” Puzzled, I asked him to explain. He said, “That short, clear statement from John 18:36 should be stuck in the minds of all Christians. I encourage my church members to focus their energy on the work suggested in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount rather than getting entangled in worldly political activities.”
Then that preacher got up and left, smiling at me as he went out the door. Those eight words stuck in my mind, “My kingdom is no part of this world.”
What do you think they mean?
― Dave Waldrop
Webster
I think you knew the answer to your question prior to asking it. Namely, “Graham and Sanders are simply trying to justify and legitimize their desire for personal aggrandizement and proximity to power.”
This is hardly a new or novel motivation for people of any political persuasion. That they attempt to shroud their perceived self interest with religion is just the device that works best for them given their professed beliefs.
As for the preacher, he was just attempting to artfully dodge the question by also cloaking the real answer in religion. If the very people who presume to view the world in the context of some kind of higher code of conduct are reluctant to speak out plainly and simply against abhorrent behavior, then IMO they sacrifice any moral authority. In fact attempting to hide that reluctance to address the question clearly and plainly by resorting to vague religious rhetoric seems much the same tactic as that used by Graham and Sanders.
“When you see me in the Congress of the United States of America and I say ‘reclaiming my time,” Waters said. “I’m reclaiming my time because you got to know that I’m here to do work that I’ve been sent to do. And as Pastor said to me when I came here this morning, ‘when God sends you to do something you just do it.’ “ (Maxine Waters, July 2018, First African Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, DC)
Of course, neither Graham nor Sanders have a hand in governance of our country. Maxine Waters, however, as Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee (despite an investigation by the Ethics Committee a few years ago of improper using her influence), has tremendous power over how our country is managed.
Mr. Waldrop appears to doubt that God had anything to do with Trump winning the Election.
I agree. It did have a lot to do with the fact that Hillary the Crooked turned out to be just too much for the voting public to tolerate.
It seems to me the question you should have asked the pastor is, “what do you believe God desired for the American people in the context of the Presidential Election of 2016?” To ask an existing pastor to comment on your words “claim of another pastor” may not be appropriate in that moment for the recipient of your question.
As for me, I believe God desires for our country to stop killing our unborn children and to receive his gift of life, currently and everlasting through the belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and died on the Cross in our place to redeem believers from their sins. Christ desires for us to Love Him, Love our Brothers and Sisters, and worship him eternally in his kingdom which is not of this world.
I suspect the response you received from the pastor was designed to be a peaceful to all, respectful to all, and thought provoking response for you. God has used many, surprising to many, people through out history to achieve His purposes. Perhaps, that is what we are witnessing now. Thanks for the question.
“IQ enhancement sessions at MacDonalds…” Asheville takes that stuff seriously, ya know?
“My kingdom is no part of this world.”
It means nothing. It was derived from a work of total fiction.