This intro is usually written on the day the digest is sent. That may not be evident because current events and political subjects are rarely mentioned. This is by design. 

Some Christian organizations are called to be directly involved in political reform. Some are called to social justice work. Some to evangelism. We celebrate all good work that advances the Kingdom of God in the manner of Jesus. For Renovaré, our calling is specifically to encourage and empower people from all corners of Christendom to become more like Jesus from the inside out. 

And what was Jesus like? How did he interact with the politics of his day?

Subversively.

He rarely addressed political subjects directly. He refused to be made king. (Can you imagine any modern political leader doing such a thing?) He encouraged people to ​“give to Caesar,” yet his words enraged the religious elite and led to his government-sanctioned death. His was a revolution of the heart. Dallas Willard comments: 

This impotence of ​“systems” is a main reason why Jesus did not send his students out to start governments or even churches as we know them today, which always strongly convey some elements of a human system. They were, instead, to establish beachheads of his person, word, and power in the midst of a failing and futile humanity. They were to bring the presence of the kingdom and its King into every corner of human life simply by fully living in the kingdom with him.

I’m thinking this week about those corners of human life.

I’m remembering Martin Luther King, Jr. — who inspired by the Sermon on the Mount led what was in his words, ​“a spiritual movement.” I’m thinking about big corners — the new abortion law in New York and the mass incarceration of people of color. And I’m thinking about little corners — how to help my kids be less selfish than I am. It can feel overwhelming. Yet I know Jesus is not worried and the Kingdom of God is not in danger of being overcome. 

In tumultuous times, more than anything we need God’s guidance, his living and active word to illuminate our every step. May you listen for it this year, this day, this moment, as Brother Lawrence did—and as you hear his invitations may you have the courage to obey.