Modern geopolitics with a veneer of Christianity is not what Christ’s Kingdom is about

Geopolitics are a tricky business when you are a citizen and ambassador of a Kingdom that is not of this world. The calculus that the regimes of this world use to justify their actions simply does not compute in Christ’s domain.

We can easily enough acknowledge that Maduro was almost certainly an illegitimate ruler due to election interference, that his regime was brutal and corrupt, an economic disaster, and arguably part of a wider axis of powers involving drug cartels, Cuban forces, Russian mercenaries, Islamist groups, and more.

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But his being removed is the easy part of change. SEBIN (the National Intelligence Service), the colectivos (generally, far-left armed paramilitary groups), Diosdado Cabello (who brought Chavez to power) and Padrino Lopez (handpicked by Maduro as Minister of Defence) all remain, along with the military and police. As precise as the operation might have been, Maduro’s abduction is the low-hanging fruit. And historically, the USA does not have a glowing CV for what comes next.

Quite apart from the argument that the removal of an illegitimate dictator is good, the flouting of international law and the mental gymnastics of labelling such an operation as “law enforcement” mean that the blatant hypocrisy of the USA is being exposed. “Rules for thee but not for me” is this administration’s approach to foreign relations, immigration, economic policy, justice/jurisprudence/lawmaking/law enforcement, and moralizing, all the way down the line and all the way to the top.

We can’t call it unprecedented, either, given the US-backed coups or invasions of Cuba in 1906, 1917, and 1961, Nicaragua in 1911-12 and 1981, Haiti in 1915 and 2004, Puerto Rico in 1950, Guatemala in 1954, Ecuador in 1961 and 1963, Dominican Republic in 1961 and 1965, Brazil in 1964, Chile in 1973, El Salvador in 1981, Grenada in 1983, Panama in 1989, and Honduras in 2009. I probably missed a few. The Monroe Doctrine is a doctrine of Empire.

 Disciples of Jesus can’t ethically legitimize an illegal or criminal action that removes a dictator, nor a coup that leads to greater religious freedom, nor a genocide that somehow catalyzes a revival

We can also speculate about what moral argument now prevents China from justifying their ambitions in Taiwan, or Russia justifying its own actions in Ukraine, Georgia, Transnistria, and Europe’s eastern flank. Not to mention the choices of Israel, Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Syria, Thailand, and who knows who else. Might does make right, it seems.

The prophets of Scripture certainly did not justify the wickedness or corruption of their own rulers and elite with the excuse that those rulers were ostensibly on Yahweh’s side. If anything, the prophetic edge was even sharper against those who should have known better. And they most certainly “got political”.  God brought low the proud who boasted that they were His chosen ones while they indulged in idolatry and injustice. He allowed their religious establishment to be shattered and they themselves scattered into exile.

Going back to my first thought, however, I want to sort of undermine everything I just wrote. Modern geopolitics with a veneer of Christianity is not what Christ’s Kingdom is about. Quite the opposite! We cannot use “the end justifies the means” as a rubric, even in light of God’s providence. Disciples of Jesus can’t ethically legitimize an illegal or criminal action that removes a dictator, nor a coup that leads to greater religious freedom, nor a genocide that somehow catalyzes a revival. Our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. Jesus sends us out as lambs among wolves. To become the greatest, we must become the least and the servant of all. Our King’s coronation ceremony was a shameful crucifixion. Our realpolitik is upside-down and backwards, in the world’s eyes.

 Yes, we still have beasts of iron led by boastful little horns today, but their existence does not change our mission

In the new cosmic order inaugurated by Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension –and, I daresay, including the Great Commission – the priority becomes the evangelization of the entire world. Herod’s progeny, the brutal and reprobate Caesars, their corrupt governors, and every other human puppet of the deposed Powers, all of them become subjects of our prayers and of our sharing the good news. All are invited into Christ’s Kingdom. Yes, we still have beasts of iron led by boastful little horns today, but their existence does not change our mission.

The apostles – modelling Jesus’ own example – did not copiously editorialize on the many well-documented flaws and evils of the regimes that were persecuting, imprisoning, torturing, and martyring them. They sought to prove through their preaching, their character, and their new-formed communities that Christ truly was Lord and Caesar truly was not. We must think that “even in such a short time, we can persuade them to become a Christian” (Acts 26:28).

2 Peter 3 reminds us that God is not willing that any should perish – and His slowness in judgement is in truth His patience in giving people time to repent. God did not want Caligula to perish, nor Tamerlane, nor Hitler, nor Pol Pot, nor Ayatollah Khomeini, nor Jeffrey Epstein. Neither does God want any person alive today to perish – not Nicolas Maduro, not Donald Trump, not Kim Jong Un, not Xi Jinping, not Vladimir Putin. No, He wants all to come to repentance.

The empires of our time will act as empires do.  Yet the thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities have been ousted, and the way of domination is obsolete. Our part as disciples of Jesus is to speak truth to power (a term coined by a Quaker), to speak the truth in love, to pray fervently, to witness faithfully, and to keep building the new community of the King everywhere that it is not.

Jason Mandryk, Canadian and British dual citizen living in South Korea, where he helps to lead Operation World, a ministry of WEC International. Operation World seeks to use research and information to mobilize prayer and global mission.