• The release date for
Kingdom Over Empire is Tuesday 30 June. If this overview entices you to get the book, it would be best if you wait until the morning of June 30th.
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Kingdom Over Empire: Recovering the Gospel from Political Captivity by Brian Drinkwine on Amazon
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Brian's Website
Page numbers are from the ARC PDF and are not the same in the print copy.
Poetic, pastoral, and probing,
Kingdom Over Empire provides scripture and history to help you sort out your allegiances. Pastor Brian Drinkwine doesn't advise is. He trusts us. I need this book! Whether you live in a Western-style democracy or elsewhere, you need this book!
Kingdom Over Empire. Particularly in politically blue circles in the USA, one major reaction to goings-on in the current presidential administration has been an active, vocal No Kings movement. The general idea is American colonials broke away from royal rule and chose elected leadership rather than hereditary monarchies, and we continue on that path.
Related to not having kings, in protestant mainline churches, especially some individuals in so-called professional leadership in local churches or judicatories have come close to conflating deep blue politics and progressive Christianity. Though I've hovered on the edge, I haven't quite gone there. Brian's book shows us what a Yes Kings affirmation is when the King is Lord of the Universe, Lord of Life Jesus Christ.
I plan to take seriously assessing how outside forces and influences have affected our (my) perspectives and our (my) fears. That's called
formation as in the shape, the traits, instincts, love, convictions, assumptions that intrinsically are part of us—that motivate us, too.
And what we are willing to excuse! Brian offers us "companionship from nearby" because according to one of his blockquotes,
You do not need a movement. You need companions.
Two critical definitions:
page 33: "Patriotism is love of place without allegiance to place." It's "grateful stewardship of the land, people, and institutions where God has planted us … At its best, it seeks the welfare of the city."
page 34: "Nationalism happens when love of country becomes something it was never meant to be. Nationalism is what happens when patriotism crosses the line from stewardship to identity."
In the church we casually talk about belief, which too many equate with intellectual assent. But first century
pistis belief is allegiance, loyalty, trust; it's a whole body-essence of your being posture. [page 44]
Although it's political, social, and economic, in its essence empire is a way of organizing power over time. You likely can list biblical empires such as Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Rome; you can add in more recent Spanish, British and others. But educational, ecclesiastical, consumer, and other entities also operate in an imperial manner because Babylon/empire is pattern rather than place. It is out there. It is in here. Think about it!
Brian provides a short list of lifestyles and religions you could call Christian Pretenders because they're not the good news Mark, the earliest gospel announces to open his proclamation. They aren't Theology of the Cross; many are theology of glory that humans find appealing and humanly doable.
For the Apostle Paul, the gospel is death and resurrection. In
Kingdom Over Empire, the author traces the subversive power of the cross and God's faithful actions that paradoxically create new life out of death.
Brian beautifully reminds us Jesus came announcing, "Not a kingdom built on dominance, but on restoration. Not a kingdom advanced by force, but by faithfulness. Not a kingdom that secures itself through control, but one that grows through surrender."
"In this kingdom, blessing begins with the honest recognition of need. The poor are lifted up. The imprisoned are set free. Those far from God are not threats to be managed but treasures hidden in a field. …This kingdom promises not control, but resurrection." [page 84]
"Writing to a church confused about what faithfulness meant, Paul does not appeal to their influence or their success. He appeals to the resurrection."
“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).
"Firstfruits. The first sign of a harvest that is coming, proof that more is on the way. If Jesus has been raised, then death does not have the final word. And if death does not have the final word, then neither does empire. Neither does failure. Neither does obscurity." [page 162]
Short summary:
"The call is not to disengage from society but to disentangle from idolatry. You can vote without making the vote your hope. You can advocate without making advocacy your salvation. You can be present in the public square without giving the public square the allegiance that belongs to Christ.
"The call is an echo of the Exodus. It is a summons to live as exiles—in the empire but not of it.
"This does not mean we abandon society. It means we refuse to be seduced by its idols. We resist its economy, its nationalism, its violence, its counterfeit hopes.
"We live as if Jesus is King, because he is. And we hold loosely to everything Babylon promises, knowing that it will not last." [page 178]
Kingdom Over Empire is a workbook. It's devotional. It's heavy-duty theology. It offers a direction for us to travel together in order to restore life and hope to a world dominated by empires. Throughout the book, Pastor Brian offers his own testimony. Will your life testify of a King who reigns from a cross?
Disclaimer: As a member of the launch team I received an Advance Reader Copy with no expectation or obligation to write a positive review. As always, my opinions are my own (and you know I wouldn't have it any other way).
