CHRISTIANS AND NATION BUILDING

God is the creator, sustainer and redeemer of this world. Christians are a privileged group of
people, who have been saved from sin and transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the
kingdom of light, which is the kingdom of God (Col. 1:13; 1 Pet. 2:9). We are, in a spiritual sense,
already in the kingdom in the present though the perfection is yet future, when the entire creation
will b e completely restored (Rom. 8:18-21, Col. 1:19-20). Though our citizenship is in heaven
(Phil. 3:20), still we are placed in this temporal and perishable world with a purpose primarily to
live out the kingdom values in the here and now and to serve the world out of love and turn as
many people as possible from sin with the life giving and life changing gospel of Jesus Christ.
Each Christian has, therefore, a mission to do in the present in this world. The mission
given to him by Christ as recorded by John was: As the Father sent Me, I also send you (Jn.
17:18; 20:21). By saying so, Jesus was reinforcing a similarity to our mission by referencing to His
own (accomplished) mission. We should, therefore, deliberately understand and pursue our mission
in line with the perfect mission demonstrated by Christ. As the redeemer, He was sent by the Father
God to be crucified on the cross and thereby to bring salvation and liberation to the w o r l d as
a whole including the universe(1 Jn. 4: 9, 10, 14). He came to seek and save the lost (Lk.
19:10). Mark 10:45 says that the Son of man [Jesus] came to serve, and to give his life a ransom for
many. He said I am among you as the One who serves (Lk. 22:27). In order to fulfill His mission,
He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, humbled Himself, and
became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Phil. 2:7-8). Thus, the sacrifice
of Christ on the cross of Calvary was the climax of His service for mankind.
Our mission, therefore, is primarily one of service. By stating so, we should not undermine
the importance and urgency of the Great Commission (Mt. 28:19-20; Jn. 20:21). Our mandate is to
reach every -people, -race and -culture, with the living gospel of Jesus Christ. However, it is the
Great Commandment of love, agape (Mt. 22:34-40), which is the greatest, the basis and the
foundation of God's dealings and relationship with man both in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18)
and New Testament. The love of God is the sole basis which relates us with God meaningfully and
with others in a redemptive way. God himself is agape (1 Jn. 4:8). God has demonstrated His love
through His Son, Jesus Christ (Jn. 3:16). The fortified essence of the teachings of Bible is love (Mt.
22:34-40) love God and love others. Love is the concrete basis of both the God-man (vertical) and
the man-to-man (horizontal) relationship. The former is therefore an essential pre-requisite for the
latter; one could not exist without the other per se. Mathew 5:43-48 is the supreme passage, which
interprets the meaning of agape. The church has to respond to Christ's sacrificial love with
similar love and sacrifice. Incarnation and earthly life of Jesus serves as a living example of the
sacrificial or agape love.
Biblical mission is holistic. Jesus addressed the physical, psychological, and spiritual needs
of the people He met (Mt. (9:35-38). He entered into the experiences of those to whom He was
relating (Lk. 15:11-32; Mk. 1:40-45; Mt. 14:13-21; 20:29-34). Let us, therefore, maintain in balance
the Great Commandment and the Great Commission remembering that God is at all times the
Creator, Sustainer and the Redeemer. Ephesians 2:10 says we are Gods workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus to do good works. As John Stott wrote: The Great Commission neither explains, nor
exhausts, nor supersedes the Great Commandment. What it does is to add to the requirement of
neighbor-love and neighbor-service a new and urgent Christian dimension. Forgetting this priority
will naturally make a Christian self-serving-rendering him insensitive to the immediate needs and
concerns of others and thus jeopardise the priorities of God.

As the creator and sustainer of this world God is the most authoritative. He is the sovereign
ruler and king. He reigns over this world (Ps. 97:1). He possesses all authority (Mt. 28:18). There is
no authority except from Him, and the authorities that exist are appointed by him (Rom. 13:1-7; cf.
1 Pet. 2:13-14). He approved the Human Government under His sovereignty (Gen. 9:6; Ex. 21:2324), because man is created in His own image (Gen. 1:27-28). He is the real ruler and authority
behind all human governments. He is the one who removes kings and raises up kings; who changes
the times and seasons (Dan. 2:21). He is the Lord over every area of man's life. It is through him
everything were created (Col. 1:16-17) and a l l things will be brought to fullness (Rom. 8:19-21).
He is controlling and ruling over the entire universe, taking care of it and now he is preparing
the world so that He can establish his eternal kingdom upon this very earth, by defeating all the
known enemies including the evil powers of the dark (1 Cor. 15:25). Being the creator and sustainer
of this world He is concerned about all the affairs of this world and humanity. And He
wants man to participate with him in this effort.
Being Christians, we have a responsibility not only to ourselves, o u r own family,
church and society, but also to our nation. God wants us to submit and obey t h e authorities
(1 Pet. 2:13-14) so that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and reverence (1 Tim.
2:1-2). They are considered as God's ministers (Rom. 13:4) to maintain law and order in the
country so that communal harmony is maintained. God expects the human governments to maintain
public order to restrain human evil, and to promote the common good of the people. We support
democracy because it allows us the ability to check the misuse and abuse of power by the selfcentered power hungry politicians. It is our Christian duty to create a healthy society. God instructs
us to support and pray for the government who are shouldering the responsibilities on our behalf
(1Pet. 2:13-14). God created everyone, including those belonging to other religions and faiths ,
in His own image. We have, therefore, a common responsibility both to God and to the nation.
We should make use of this commonness with them to work together for our common goal of
progress and development. Christians are, therefore, to seek opportunities, wherever and so far as
possible, to join hands with the people of other religions and faith and to cooperate with them to
work together for bringing solutions to the burning issues and problems of this land and to put in
whatever efforts we can towards the overall progress and development of this nation for the sake
of all at large. We are to serve as a corrective force against all kinds of injustices,
oppressions, and corruptions of this land.
We have, in the past, undermined the Gospel by reducing it as a means to enter the kingdom.
If salvation is assured, we think our Christian responsibility is over. It is a self-centered spirituality.
If that is the only objective of a Christian - to somehow manage the entrance into the kingdom then we should suspect whether we really entered o r will ever enter it (1 Cor. 15:19). This is a
truncated view of the gospel. Because kingdom is not for self-serving people. It is for the followers
of Jesus Christ who sacrificed Himself for the salvation of others. What we need is a God-centered
spirituality which is agape centered with a self-sacrificing mentality to serve the other. If we do
not serve the other person we do not love him. We are not to seek an easy escape from this world as
the people of Israel sought an immediate escape from the land of their captivity in Babylon. God,
through Jeremiah, said to them to "seek the peace and prosperity of the city [Babylon] to which I
have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper" (Jer.
29:7). God wants us to remain here on this earth till we fulfill our mission, despite the difficulties
we may have to face over here. Our Lord is not a redeemer only but also He is still the creator and

sustainer. Let us be holistic in our vision and mission . Let us seek the harmony and prosperity of
our nation and pray and work for its growth, development and progress. When our country
prospers, we Christians prosper.