This question is from Faith Seeking Freedom: Updated & Expanded, available in paperback, PDF, and Kindle.

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an open bible on a wooden table — Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash

A major theme of the New Testament is the contrast between the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world. Jesus says one seeks to dominate and the other to serve (Matt 20:25–26). Which do you think Jesus wants us aligned with?

More importantly, Jesus’ temptations in the desert give us a special insight into the nature and allure of state power. We read in Matthew 4 that Satan offered Jesus the Kingdoms of the world if only Jesus would bow down and worship Satan. Did Jesus respond with “What do you mean? They don’t belong to you; you couldn’t give them to me if you tried!” Nope. If that were the case, it wouldn’t have been a temptation at all. Instead, Jesus gives tacit recognition that Satan could do what he offered, and retorts with “worship the Lord your God and serve only him” (Matt 4:10). The message to us, evidently, is that the state is inherently on board with Satan, not God.

Interestingly, Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 that our struggle is “not against flesh and blood” but against “the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Even if we take that list as being primarily spiritual, we must still try to understand how Paul could say this while knowing that the Roman government was oppressing so many, especially Christians. We then realize that Christians can show godly love toward those in government positions while still seeing their power as evil.

If the Old Testament is not favorable toward…