DISCLOSURE
I begin with self-disclosure. I find myself in agreement with many of President Trump’s stated objectives: the elimination of waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending; the right-sizing of the federal bureaucracy; the establishment of control at the southern border; the promotion of a rational, science-based, and transparent health policy; the end of war between Russia and Ukraine; the establishment of peace in Gaza and Israel. But, I find myself in almost total disagreement with the means by which the President, his cabinet, and his aides are attempting to implement those objectives and the attitudes with which they are doing so. I do not believe I am alone in this tension between objectives and means. How then are we, as Christians, and, in my case, how am I as an Anglican Christian and priest, to navigate this ideological no-man’s land? My reading of “The Challenge of Acts: Rediscovering What the Church Was and Is,” by N. T. Wright has prompted some reflections, though I do not suppose for one moment that Dr. Wright would endorse what follows. In further self-disclosure, I write what follows more as priest than as citizen, though I am irreducibly both. What are we to do?

NOT YET
First, we must avoid the error of triumphalism, of over realized eschatology, the presumption that God’s good end has, or will, come upon us in and through this current — or any — administration, that this current — or any — administration will be the one to usher in God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Anglicans are fond of saying that we live in the already but not yet of the kingdom: that Jesus is already reigning at the right hand of the Father, but that his reign is not yet fully implemented on earth. It is this “not yet” that we must lean into in this moment. While some earthly governments are more righteous than others, none will be the means by which God ushers in the kingdom. To pretend otherwise is a category mistake and a misunderstanding of the Gospel. Governments are responsible under God for the just and righteous use of the power entrusted to them by God himself, in the case of democracy, for the power entrusted by God acting through the consent of the governed. Even the best of governments can only enforce laws consonant with kingdom justice — no small thing. But they cannot change hearts. They cannot offer the life of the kingdom or the sacraments of grace. Nor can they build the kingdom of God. The best that a government can do is to be a good government, but not a surrogate for the Church, and not an instrument to be used by the Church. I pray that the current administration will be the most righteous and godly, the most just, these United States have ever known. And, if it is, it will, at best, allow the Church to be the Church unencumbered and will ensure the best of human justice for all people. It will not usher in the kingdom.

THE PRAYERS WE PRAY
Second, we — the Church — must take seriously the prayers we pray, not least the Post Communion Prayer:

And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do,to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord (BCP 2019, p. 137).

We have work to do, not least to do mercy, to love justice, and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8); to love God supremely and to love our neighbor as ourselves; to

show forth [God’s] praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives,
by giving up our selves to [his] service,
and by walking before [him] in holiness and righteousness all our days (BCP 2019, p. 25)

If we embrace this vocation fully — if we live the prayers we pray — we will not have time to be enthralled by either the triumphs or failures of government. We will simply be focused on the work that God has given us, as Christ’s Church corporately and as Christ’s disciples individually, to do. Sometimes that work will bring us in league with the government, and sometimes it will place us in opposition to it; we should expect nothing else. I do not see the Apostles, the first deacons, the disciples obsessing over the latest news from Rome or Jerusalem or expecting either to aid them in living their own Christian discipleship. If the authorities — political and religious — inadvertently facilitated Christian evangelism, then thanks be to God. Roman roads were useful, as were Roman chains and trials. Roman citizenship had its benefits, even though St. Paul’s real citizenship was in heaven. Synagogues were convenient meeting places and presented opportunities to present the Gospel; they were also venues for beatings and exclusion. Glory to God for all things. To the extent the Church can work with and benefit from government without capture or compromise, let it do so. But, sooner or later — likely sooner rather than later — the Church will find itself against the grain of government, running afoul of its methods if not is objectives. Securing the border and enacting just immigration policy is in line with the Church’s social teaching; separating families is not. The Church may support the former, but not the latter. And the Church must stand in the gap to care for those affected. Right-sizing the governmental workforce is reasonable; doing so arbitrarily, with gleeful abandon and with no compassion for those negatively impacted, is not, nor is it consonant with loving one’s neighbor. And the Church might well need to provide tangibly and charitably for those affected by loss of employment and income. In other words, the Church must not define itself in relation to the government — neither unquestioningly in support of it nor stubbornly in opposition to it — but rather must get on about the business of being the Church.

WATER IS THICKER THAN BLOOD
Third, we must insist that the water of baptism runs deeper than the blood of political tribalism and nationalism. “We the people,” is not an alternate creed to “We believe.” Republican Red and Democratic Blue are not liturgical colors. St. Paul was clear in his letter to the Galatians, and in others of his writings, that the cross of Christ has abolished the cultural barriers that separate people: Jew and Gentile, slave and free, rich and poor, male and female. As important as our common citizenship may be, it is subordinate to our common humanity and especially to our common baptismal identity. I must make common cause with my Republican or Democratic brother or sister in Christ — common cause in and for Christ — beyond the divisiveness of partisanship. If being across the political aisle from a brother or sister in Christ makes it difficult to kneel side by side one another at the altar rail, then I have robbed the Gospel of its power and I am presenting false witness to the Church and to the world. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

DO NOT BE AFRAID
Fourth, we must temper the news and social media — CNN, Fox, NPR, mainstream, alternative — with Good News, the Gospel. Perhaps it is past time to spend more time in the pages of Scripture than on the screens of doom. Media are fear mongers who stoke division. The true herald of God so often begins, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news.”