"Kingdom Justice: Politics, Partisanship & Pursuing Peace" S1 Ep15

0:00 Everywhere we turn, we're confronted with politics, round the clock, partisan spin, campaign smears, and yes, commercial. We even get political ads on our smartphones and social media apps. There's no easy place to be anymore. It's so true that our political canvas is so covered with angry voices on talk radio and cable shows. Politics has a gravity that pulls on people and it's time we become attentive to what it may be doing to us. In this episode of Keep It 100, we talk about Kingdom Justice, the coming election and the Leaven of Herod, and we have an incredible interview with Pastor Jennifer Toledo that will blow you away. Welcome to the Keep It 100 podcast with Sean and Christa Smith.

0:59 We are here. We're so excited for yet another week and this week I'm really excited as always because we're talking about a really important topic, Kingdom Justice. Sean, you and I know that this time in history, there could not be such an important topic. That's absolutely the case right now. It seems like there's more at stake and there are more things that we feel the pressure of around us that's making this election and even where people stand that much more significant. Come on, I tell you what, so I'm excited to dive in but before we dive in, let's talk about what we've done this last week because God's been doing some really cool stuff and we wanna share with the Keep It 100 tribe. Yeah, Keep It 100 tribe. Both of us very special to be at Bethel at the Open Heavens Conference and we got a chance to be there and do some ministry and hang out with Bill and some of the other leaders up there and they end up showing our service to for their Sunday morning service which I was really amazing.

1:53 And I tell you what, to the Keep It 100 tribe, if you haven't heard the message that Sean preached and they played on Sunday morning for Bethel, I wanna encourage you go to YouTube, check it out. It's about the sovereignty of God, peace. It's such a powerful word and one that I believe is a national word. Thanks, boo. It's so good. Right after that, I left. We went separate places, right after that, I left and did a conference, that was a revival conference actually which obviously loved that theme in the Phoenix, Arizona area and you went to North Carolina. Yeah, I did. I was in Charlotte, Canapalus to be specific, Refuge Church, one of our favorite churches. Dear, dear friends of ours, they have an annual women's conference and the power of God was so special.

2:34 What the Lord did. And I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time Maria D'Urso who has now become officially a hero in the faith of mine. The woman is a powerhouse in the spirit and we saw women get free and truly true freedom. I saw the spirit of suicide legitimately leave women. The prophetic ministry was deep. Just the power of God in the meetings was special. I feel like what we're seeing right now and it's hard to articulate, it's hard to communicate, especially to people that weren't in the services. But God is doing something new, you guys. I tell you what, God is doing a new thing in our nation. There is a new hunger and it is so exciting. The church is getting awakened.

3:15 I really believe that in the times that we live in, there's such a desperation. Yeah. And we think that God is using that to our advantage because he's answering just a desperate cry in the hearts of his people. It's so true. You know, speaking, obviously in this episode on the election 2020, last week the LA Times reported that already one million Californians have returned their mail in ballots. Wow. The reason why that's significant, it shatters all records for it to be this far in advance suggesting that voters are especially engaged in this election. Isn't that so interesting that we are having unprecedented historical engagement and participation in this election?

3:56 It shows you whatever side you land on, everyone recognizes the significance of this moment. It's so true. And the reason why I think the moment is so significant is it's pretty evident that we are increasingly divided. Yes. It's like that old Matrix movie where they put out a blue pill and a red pill. And obviously people recognize that there are red states, blue states. Now we have red shows and blue shows. We have red sports and blue sports. But right now I think more important than anybody taking the red pill or the blue pill, we gotta get back to the gospel. I love that. That's so good. And you know, really seeing people walk in such division, that's really actually what's so concerning at this time.

4:38 Yeah, they even have a term right now called lethal mass partisanship. This term describes a person that actually wants to see violence occur to the other side. So that has gotten so out of hand. And the more you look at it, politics comes with its own tenets to capture our attention, to shape our affections and inflame our hearts. And we know that Christianity does that. And Christianity, obviously a whole different level, everybody, but politics sometimes goes under the radar and that it demands an allegiance that I think for a lot of people, it's inflaming hearts in this time of year. And we're being told there's so much on the line in this election, which I actually believe that, but also feel like for some people, they maybe have gotten to the point where it's more driven by things that are not the peace of God and the will of God.

5:23 That's so good. You said a key phrase, politics comes with its own tenets. I'm looking at the political arena right now and the current spiritual atmosphere. And the main tenets I'm seeing is the culture of accusation and fear. And with accusation and fear, it creates its own culture within the political arena. And you and I know if that's what you're feeding on, right? That's what's gonna manifest in your life. It's so true. You know, right now, and I think it has to be said, your core identity has nothing to do with the donkey or the elephant with the line of the tribe of Judah. Your core identity is a child of God. And so it's so important to be reminded that our citizenship is not of this world.

6:07 That we're not to glue our entire allegiance or to hook the caboose of everything we are and are about to any political party whatsoever. I'm not saying that there aren't political parties that cannot be used. I'm not saying that there aren't political candidates that are used. I absolutely believe that. God has vessels. But I also believe that God is in this season calling us to have an undivided allegiance and that we do and approach election 2020 in a kingdom way as children of God. I love that. If people actually grab ahold of what you just said, it really will change everything. Cause you can vote responsibly, vote biblically, but the end of the day, your alliance is kingdom.

6:49 Your alliance is Jesus. Cause we know any human system, it's going to have its flaws. There is no human system that should receive our ultimate loyalty. The only person in kingdom that should receive our ultimate loyalty is Jesus. And when politics become greater than your faith, that's where idol happened in our life. And I think that's what we're seeing in the current culture and climate, in the political arena and the church, is this idol where people are having a greater allegiance to their political party than to their faith. And that's really what we want to address because we believe in voting, we believe in being responsible, but we have to keep kingdom first. So we want to begin, keep it 100 tribe by giving you several guidelines for the coming election.

7:31 So number one, decide what the Lord requires of you first. There's this phenomenal passage, Micah 6-8 says, what does the Lord require of you? And it says to act justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly. So the first thing you have to decide is before you even get to the ballot box, before you even send in the mailer ballot, you got to decide what is the Lord require of you? Cause you're a first to child of God. And God calls on us to act justly. So our voting, even though it's just the beginning of our ability to be salt and light in the earth is to act justly. And God obviously has a different definition of justice. To love mercy. I think sometimes we love justice and we just act out mercy, but the Bible tells us to act justly and to love mercy.

8:17 And so I think when you love mercy, it changes the package. And it really is about character. And that's the reason why I think that passage ends with to walk humbly. And I think if we act justly, love mercy, walk humbly, I believe that it will be one of the greatest guidelines, as well as one of the greater standards that we could walk out as children of God. And you can't let political views be emphasized at the cost of spiritual ideas and truth. And a lot of times I feel like we're so rabid on trying to get out a political view that we've done it at the expense spiritual ideas and spiritual principles. That's so good. I love that.

8:57 That's so well said. You know, another guideline for this coming election is really talking about issues more than personalities. And I think this is what's so important, because we all know it's easier to throw dirt at politicians than it is to take apart and examine the real issues. You know, this is maybe how the Twitter world works, the news networks do it, but you and I represent a different kingdom. We have to take our cues from Christ, not political candidates. So good. If someone is sitting watching four hours of cable news and only reading 30 minutes of the Bible once a week, barely spending time with the Lord, the cable news is what's gonna inflame your heart more than the gospel.

9:39 We have to be sure what is actually the primary thing that is filling our lives is the word of God and the presence of God were being led by the presence of God greater than the narrative that we're hearing from the networks. I think that's so important what you just said. That point might be as strong as any of our points because it wasn't that long ago, but about a week or so ago that you had believers on one side that literally couldn't mourn Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death and her family's loss. And on the other side, you have believers that couldn't pray for the president and his family to recover from COVID-19. And so when I saw that, I thought, wow, you literally have allowed the political machine to get in the way of basic things.

10:20 And I saw different spiritual leaders call for this. And then I saw people come in and begin to say, I don't feel like I should do that. And so they already had put feeling above the word of God. And so that's the reason why we're talking about kingdom justice, politics, partisanship, and pursuing peace because in this time, God is a purpose for what it is that we're doing. That's so good. And the third point that we wanna give you guideline is don't avoid politics altogether. Yeah, that's true. Get a disciple the nation's mentality. Come on. Because avoiding politics as a believer is like avoiding being a light. You can't do it because avoiding politics altogether is a tacit endorsement of the status quo, which will at the end of the day, continually perpetrate injustice.

11:08 At the end of the day, it will allow certain social conditions that aren't right to continually go on. So I think what we have to understand is that we don't avoid politics altogether. In fact, we're very cognizant, unconscious, and active, but we do it as children of God. We do it with, this is the key phrase, the demeanor of the father. It's so important that we have the demeanor of the father because the church doesn't have a social strategy. The church is the social strategy. Come on. Ooh, I love that. That is so good. Well, keep your 100 tribe. You guys are going to be so blessed. We are about to have an incredible interview with an amazing friend of ours. And so take it from here, Christam. I'm so excited.

11:55 So much on, I tell you what, I'm so excited you guys, the keep it 100 tribe. Get ready. This is one of my best friends. We've asked Jennifer Toledo to come on today, talk about some topics we feel like are so pertinent for right now. They could not be more essential in this hour, but I want to just also give you a little bit of a backdrop about who she is and what she carries. And she truly carries a revelation of justice. God has given her, I feel like a plumb line to his heart in the area of justice. And she's done justice initiatives in the US, in many nations abroad. The stories and the testimonies that come through her life are incredible. They'll change your life when you read about what God's done in hers. She's authored two books.

12:36 They're incredible. And also heard her husband pastor currently, a church in Glendale, California called Expression 58. And they are killing it in the LA area. It's an incredible diverse community of industry-filled people, but also justice people that carry the heart of God for this hour. And I know that we're not all together, but can you guys just give a round of applause to Jen Toledo? Because it's such an honor to have you here. Thanks for taking time, Jen. Thanks, Christa. It's so good. I'm so excited you guys are doing this. Can we jump right in? Totally. OK, cool. Thanks for having me. It's an honor to be here. Right? This is so fun. So one of the things I love about you, many things, is truly your revelation of justice. And I want you to break it down and take the time.

13:18 Take the time to break it down. What is kingdom justice? And what is the difference between God's justice and man's justice, and really breaking it down for our listeners, to give them an understanding of God's heart concerning the word justice? It's used so often, but it's so often misunderstood. It's understood. Yeah, totally. Break it down for us. For sure. I think this is such an important conversation right now, because this is something we're hearing so much about in society, justice, justice, justice. And the reality is we need to rally around a biblical understanding of justice, because there are so many different cultural definitions, especially depending what generation you come from, what maybe what political party you're a part of. There are so many definitions, and we need to be really clear and rally around a biblical definition of justice.

14:03 Absolutely. I often think about the verse, Isaiah 61, 8, where the Lord says, for I, the Lord love justice. And I think, OK, I want to love what God loves, number one. Yes. Number two, we have to know what justice is, because if we have a wrong definition of justice, if we think justice is judgment, we go around telling the world, God's all about judgment, right? Or whatever. And so we need to really understand what that is. And so when you really look at the word justice, here's what's so interesting. We translate it in English as justice. But in scripture, that word, like when you look at the Old Testament, it's used 425 times. Just in the Old Testament, it's the word mishpat. That is the Hebrew word for justice. And it's so much bigger and more beautiful than our English word for justice.

14:45 And you can see it absolutely traced all throughout history. You hear this word talked about in scripture. It's rooted in the nature of God. It's who God is. It's what he does. It's the foundation of his throne. I love that. It's the culture of the kingdom. It's what Jesus is all about. And so it's absolutely who God is. At the same time, it's what we're called to do. Come on. So it's so vital that we really understand what mishpat is. And so mishpat, the Hebrew word for mishpat, it was understood that mishpat was God's order, God's government, God's dream over humanity, God's way of doing it. It was all about what God says people deserve, not just, we think of justice like you get what you deserve.

15:29 Right. But this is like what God says. And God says people get Jesus. Redemption, restoration, healing. And this is all about God setting his agenda, his order, his ways, his government on the earth. And so it's really, really beautiful when you think about this word. Now, something you need to know about this word in scripture is it's always paired so often with righteousness. And you see that in the Hebrew, it's the mishpat paired with sedeq, the righteousness. And I think sometimes we have an understand either one of those words. And so when you think about righteousness, I think an easy way to explain it is righteousness is being in a right relationship with God. Therefore, you go and make every other relationship right. It's being right with God. Therefore, you set things right in society.

16:11 That's good. And so I think so often in the West, we have such a private morality kind of mentality of righteousness. It's very personal. But the reality is biblical righteousness is deeply social. It's deeply social. So when you see these two words together, it's not surprising that you see them paired always with the orphan, the widow, the lame, the outcast, the foreigner. And so when you begin to look at the heart of God, oh, this is about God setting the world right again. This is about God stepping into the broken, the hurting, and reestablishing the order to be right for humanity. And so it's really beautiful. So I think the best way is I've kind of studied scripturally, like what is mishpat?

16:52 The best definition I can give is this. Justice is the restoration of every violation of love. Oh, say that again. Justice is the restoration of every violation of love. Anywhere where love has been violated, anywhere where God's original dream and intention over a person, over a community, over a people group, right? Right. Anywhere where that's been violated, justice comes in to restore, to make it right, to set it right again. And so it's so powerful. That is so powerful. It moves me. I know. Me too. And you know what's really interesting, Christa? Because when I really begin to dive into this, I'm just going to throw this out there for anybody listening. If you want to dig more into the theology around justice, my favorite book for this is a book called God Loves Justice by Jessica Nicholas.

17:37 That is a great book. It's so good on really breaking down the theology. Something that was really interesting to me, first of all, when I started looking through scripture and realizing, oh my gosh, justice isn't, justice is so core. Justice isn't optional in Jesus's gospel. It is central to the gospel. Yes. It's who we are. Yes. And I started looking at our history. And I was thinking about how in Genesis 18, where God speaks to Abraham, I want to do a great thing through you. And he begins to say, I want you to teach your children and your grandchildren a culture of justice and righteousness so that through that, the world can see who I am. And it was always in the heart of God that he would have a people who would model a culture of justice so that the world could see how beautiful and good God is.

18:22 The prophets, always reminding us, we'll put ourselves in that position, always reminding the people of God. Return, return back to who you are. What's true fasting? What is true religion? What does God require of you? Do justice, love mercy? It's always the reminder to the people of God. Don't get caught up in all the junk going on in culture in society. Come back to who we are. I look at the life of Jesus, and he modeled it so perfectly. I think about in John 3, 17, I love it in the message. It says, for God didn't go to all the trouble sending his son to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was, he came to help, to set the world right again. That is the mission of Jesus, setting the world right again.

19:04 And so I think because we haven't maybe understood that, we've kind of maybe bought a lie that setting the world right again is less than or humanistic or not kingdom. And the reality is it's the very mission of Jesus. And it's who we are, it's what we're called to do. And so that's what we get to participate in. When we do justice, what we're called to do, it creates an opportunity. It's like we become the canvas on which God paints his appeal to the world. Because they see a good God. And so we're a privilege. Yeah, what a privilege we have. And so to me, you know, even I know for many of us, maybe we have a different definition of social justice. But when you understand how core it is to who we are as followers of Christ, it's not surprising then that you see all these things of social justice, like deeply rooted in the theology of Augustine of Hippo.

19:53 Actually, the term social justice was created by a Jesuit priest. You begin to understand, oh, this is our realm. I'm not going to let anybody else define for me or call humanistic or whatever. What we are called to do as people of God. And so I think it's just something, I'm excited that I feel like the church is waking up too. But we also really have to understand that this isn't about just our agenda. This is about God's agenda and his ways and his order and setting the wrong places right. Oh, Jen, you dropped some serious nuggets there. I mean, I've been one of your friends for years and I'm getting rocked right now. And I know our listeners are too because it's profound when we have a revelation of the privilege that's available to us to partner and co-labor with the Lord, to bring justice, to overturn every violation of the love of God.

20:44 Yeah, totally. And I think even reminding ourselves, it's like, oh my gosh, I think I don't know about you. I found myself many times like, what can I do? I'm one person. Absolutely. I'm just one person. And we forget, this is who we are. This is our legacy. We're anointed to do this. We are salt. We are like, Christ in us is the hope of glory. We are anointed to do justice. We're anointed to step into messes and see order brought, see restoration. And so to me, this is, it is an honor and a privilege. And we should be so empowered and understand how God is with us. This is the work of the kingdom. And so when we step into those spaces, to bring to get God's heart, to see restoration in areas of maybe racial injustice or economic injustice or whatever, it's like we understand we are moving with heaven.

21:32 And it's powerful. And when you made the statement just a moment ago, we're anointed to bring justice. When we understand we're actually anointed, which means we carry the mandate of heaven to release it, it shifts it from feeling overwhelmed as I'm just one person, what could I do? It shifts you from being overwhelmed to actually becoming expectant of, Lord, you're going to give me the answer for social, racial injustice that's happening in our nation. I actually expect you to give me creative, heavenly ideas to execute and release it because I'm anointed to do it. And you recognize it's God through you, but he's anointed you to do it and partner with him.

22:15 And there is, I feel like a revelation that's available to us that we're called to come with strategy, with answers. And I know so many people like yourself, because you're currently in the process of gathering over 1,000, am I correct in that number? Churches in the Los Angeles County to reform the foster care system in Los Angeles. You were sharing it last night with me, and it was incredible. Well, that is the mandate of justice that you're executing in a very practical way, but you've been given a download, a heavenly strategy that I believe is going to totally be a model for the US and every other state, county, even possibly other nations, that is going to bring justice to so many kids that are neglected and overlooked.

23:01 That's a very practical way that you can bring justice, and you're doing it on a large scale, but our listeners can even do it on an everyday scale. Everything starts small. That's right. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's this place where the church, we have to move away from the sidelines. Yeah. The church has been known for just telling everybody what's wrong, what's not working, that doesn't take any level of faith or hope or maturity to point out what's wrong. The people of God, we are anointed when we get in the ring, when we roll up our sleeves, when we get into the mess, and so we can't worry about our reputation, we can't worry about how it might look to wade into the hard issues. That's where Jesus is. Jesus is in the mess. And let me tell you, when Jesus waded in in his day, I'm sure there were some religious that had a whole bunch of things to say about how he waded in, and that can't stop us.

23:49 We have to get into the heart of these things, and that is where the strategy lies. And there's always, it's always, what? Just bring me your fish and your bread. I will feed the multitude, right? So it's like, what's in our hands? Let's just start with what we have, and we're going to watch God. Every justice initiative I've ever been a part of, every transformative thing I've witnessed, has always started with something small, and just a simple person who said yes. I love that. I love that. Everyone. For our listeners that are going, I'm moved, I'm provoked. I want to understand justice more. What are some really practical things they can do in their life to number one, partner with God? If they're listening to this today, and they're like, wow, I am anointed. Well, I've carried the cry for justice. They can look at their life and see this fingerprint throughout their life that has been like, I come alive when I hear this.

24:35 I just don't know what to do with it. What do they do with it? Yeah, that's a great question. Let's kind of think of three different things. Number one is we need to have a revelation. We need to get in the heart of God. We need to let our hearts be actually broken for what breaks God's heart. We need to feel it. Come on. It's one thing to know God's a God of compassion. It's another thing to feel his compassion, which is going to require you to look at some things and talk to people and let your heart feel. So that's encountering God's heart for that is really important. I think the second thing that's really important is we have to educate ourselves. Good. We're talking about articles you're reading on Facebook. That is not where you educate yourself, friend. I mean, actually educate ourselves on these issues.

25:16 And I'm talking about don't educate yourself with a political lens. Whatever side you fall on. Come on, Jen. That's so good. Don't look at the agenda. Don't let somebody else define to you what's going on, because the reality is there's going to be truth on both sides. And so you've got to really dig in. If you want to know what's happening with abortion, you need to go talk to your local teen pregnancy center and find out who are the women that are dealing with this. How do we walk alongside of them? How do we love them? That's the kind of education I'm talking about. Find out whatever your area of passion is. Find out what's really going on. Yeah, what's happening on the ground. What's happening on the ground. And talk to people who put some blood, sweat, and tears in the game. Getting educated. And my third thing would be just do something.

25:57 Get involved. And you don't have to go out and start an on profit. You don't have to go out and move to India to serve orphans. There are just things you can do right now, right where you are. There's incredible organizations you can go be a part of. Go find out the issues in your own neighborhood. Is there what are the complexities of your own community? And just start taking simple steps. And those are the things. As we encounter God, we get educated. And we just start taking simple steps of what isn't happening in my community. That is where, to me, that's where the magic begins to happen. I love that. That's so good. So now taking it to the place of understanding kingdom justice in today's church right now with the current climate, so many people connect justice, even kingdom justice, with a political party.

26:44 How can we not partner with a political spirit, but stay in kingdom and do justice? Maybe the best way to answer it is, is justice connected to a political party? Sweet Jesus. OK. I think the best way to even begin to tackle that is to understand what are we talking about when we're talking about a political spirit. What does that even mean? What is that? Mark 8.15 says, Jesus repeatedly ordered them, his disciples. Jesus repeatedly ordered. Orders us repeatedly. Jesus is like dramatically can't stop doing it. He just has to keep saying it, right? He repeatedly ordered them. Watch out, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

27:25 Interesting. Why did Jesus feel the need to repeatedly over and over? Over and over and over. Like get it through your thick heads over and over, right? Like repeatedly warn his people, guys, don't drink the Kool-Aid. Yeah, come on. And when you look at the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod, most of us, maybe we've heard of this concept leaven, right? Leaven gets in. It just starts small. It seeps in. It begins to just teeny, tiny bits, but then it begins to spread. And it begins to affect every thought you have in your whole world view and your lens and how you see things. And it just spreads and spreads and spreads. That is what leaven, that's why he used that analogy. But leaven of the Pharisees, that's the religious, right? That is in our own way, our own righteousness, our own.

28:08 It's like following all the rules, but missing the point of them, right? Love not being the most important thing. It's self-righteous. When you think about the religious, the leaven of the religious, and then the leaven of Herod. And Herod was the political figurehead, right? And so what does this mean? And we don't have time to kind of break down the whole Herodian dynasty, but this was, for the people that are hearing Jesus say this, they understood Herod had calculated relationships. It was all about partnerships. And Herod repeatedly partnered with the religious to push his agenda. Herod met in secret private back rooms with the religious. Hey, tell me where the savior's been born. Tell me the prophecies. And it looked to the religious like Herod was one of them. Like Herod had had an awakening.

28:50 Like Herod was part of them, but it was a very calculated alliance where Herod was going to use the religious to do his dirty work. And when you look at the whole history, right? And Herod was about killing Jesus. And the religious really convinced, they probably went home and told all the people in there, you know, temples, you know, Herod is on our side. Herod is religious. And it was deeply demonic. And so they understood this culturally, but when you think about the political spirit, okay? And this is where it's important to understand the political spirit is all about man's agenda, man's government, man's order, what man wants, what man sees is right. And here's what we have to understand. The political spirit stands in direct opposition to Mishpat, to justice.

29:35 Because justice is all about God's order, God's government, what God says is right. So when you take a stand for justice, you better expect the thing that's gonna try to stop you is actually the political spirit. And it operates in intimidation, trying to get you to be quiet, get in line. You know, the political spirit tries to convince people that the problems are solved politically. It tries to get people to make alliances and allegiances. Is this not shocking that we're seeing in our day? Come on, yes we are. We're seeing massive partisanship. We're seeing massive polarization. We're seeing people who are literally Christians, who are, you know, if I could be as honest, they literally like just losing their mind at the thought of who they think or what they think has to be, I mean, to the point that they're violating kingdom values, they're violating love because they're so desperately believing that their political party or their political perspective is gonna fix it.

30:29 And we have to get in line, right? So Jesus is warning and Jesus is saying, guys, we don't operate at this level. You know, I don't need man's government. God has never, guys, God has never ever been limited to man's government. The kingdom has advanced with monarchs. The kingdom has advanced with socialist countries. The kingdom has advanced with dictators and tyrants and democracies and every kind of government because God is not limited to our government. And so I think what's really important with this is understanding that our allegiance cannot be to a political party. I actually hold a belief that as Christians, we cannot be too closely associated with any political party because we belong to a higher realm.

31:11 We belong to a higher party. We belong to a higher government. Come on. And so I think about, you know, Hona, my husband, he is born in Guatemala. And when he became an American citizen, he actually, to become an American citizen, he had to renounce his Guatemalan citizenship. Wow. He couldn't be a dual citizen. You have to renounce to become an American. You have to renounce your former citizenship to show your true allegiance. And I think there's some value to that. Like for us, we have to be more kingdom. Not that you can't belong to a political party, not that you can't have political ideas. Sure, sure. Hope can't be there. Sure. Right, because God can use anybody. And the reality is, if we can just speak really honestly, there's corruption on both sides. And there's beauty on both sides.

31:51 That's right. And there can be, there's mishpot and a passion for mishpot that is found in both sides. There's elements of kingdom on both sides. And there's elements of deep gross sin on both sides. So because they're man-made systems. And they're about man's agenda. There's not, the kingdom of God can never, never be subjected to, can never be squished into the box of a man-made political party. Amen. Amen. God is so much bigger. Yeah. So for us, I think we're keeping our allegiance and our loyalty to be more kingdom than anything else. And I think Jesus really models that for us. Because when you think about it, Jesus was a Jewish man. Fully Jewish in culture. Right. Had around Jewish customs, it was raised in the Jewish way.

32:32 But Jesus was always more kingdom than Jewish. Yes, he was. And whenever his Jewishness was in conflict with his kingdom, as he knew how to put it in the back seat. Right. He always chose kingdom. Always. Over his Jewishness. Yes. So when it was inappropriate for a Jewish man to speak to a Jesus, Jesus was like, I'm sorry, I'm more kingdom than Jewish. Amen. And he's going to speak to a woman, right? Oh, that's so good. When it was Jewish culture to be racist against Samaritans, Jesus's like, I'm more kingdom than Jewish. I'm not doing that. Come on. And so we have to be more kingdom than anything else. And that looks like loving, refusing, listen. OK. I think this is like I've been thinking on this for so long. It's like, we have got to quit forfeiting our kingdom position to fight for a political one.

33:15 Come on. Ooh. We have to keep forfeiting our kingdom position of love and integrity. You see kingdom people and kingdom justice, they can call what is righteous when they see it on either side. They can call what is unrighteous, unrighteous on either side. Because I'm loyal to the kingdom, I'm loyal to my God, I'm not loyal to my political party. That's right. So I can see clearly. Right. Because the political party, the political spirit, it takes. It confuses. It creates a lens. It creates a narrative. And I think for us to remember, man, the enemy is at work to bring division. Yes. And the enemy is at work to get us to focus on our agenda, our narrative.

33:56 And we love, this is a sad part, because the religious spirit and the political spirit, they love to partner together. They love to unite. And so we can throw a religious bow on it. And God's like, man, I'm not into that. And it's just, I think it's so powerful. So good. Christa, I mean, we're both so convinced of this. We talk about this all the time. We're so convinced that God is moving. And I really believe the move of God that's at hand. It's not just an intellectual. It's not just people getting saved in a mental conversion. It is a societal transformation. I believe we're seeing a justice move at hand. And I think for us to really step in to see the transformation and the invitation at hand, the church has to get out of bed with the political spirit.

34:38 Come on. Yes. It's just true. It is so true. It is so true. We've got to take our kingdom position and move with heaven to release justice on the earth and right the wrongs and set things in kingdom order and get our focus. Let me tell you, God can use anybody in office. Yes. God is not, we are way more concerned about who's in office than God is. God has always been more concerned about what's happening in the hearts of His people. Are we walking in love? Are we walking in justice? This is who we are. God didn't tell Abraham, I'm worried about the kings of the day having the culture of justice. He said, I want my people to have a culture of justice because that's how the world will see and know. I think that there's been this great kind of cultural war kind of to test the hearts of the people of God.

35:22 Will we truly step into our place? And I am so convinced. I'm so encouraged by so many of you listening. So many people out there that are just saying, you know what, I'm going to partner with heaven to wade into these issues. Guys, justice work is hard and holy work. It's not quick fixes. It's not a once a year missions trip. It is a culture. It is a lifestyle. It is loving the person in front of you. It's wading into the mess. But there is hope and there is strategy. And I believe it's literally the move of God we're seeing at hand. What you're saying is so crucial for the hour we're in, specifically for the nation of America. We are in an election year and there is such a poll for the attention and the affection of the hearts of God's kids.

36:07 And what I love, you're bringing time where so many issues are polling at the church right now. It feels like in my lifetime that I've never seen the church more divided. And yet in this time, there's such an invitation to renounce your alliance with the things that have contradicted the heart of God and come into a fresh new alliance with kingdom. And if people really understand that this moment is about coming into alignment with his presence. The Lord gave me a prophetic word in January and he talked about this would be a year of 2020 of not keeping your schedule of interruptions, of detours, of surprises.

36:48 But the second part of the word I released was it's about coming into alignment with his presence. And I feel like we have been distracted, we have been detoured, we've been surprised, right? All these things. And yet I think God wants to use this time in this hour for us to really understand we have so much division and the justice of God needs to be established in our nation like never before. And there's an invitation in this hour to come into alignment with his presence to sure vote. That's like the lowest level. That's actually we're talking at a much higher level today. But as we vote, we recognize God is in charge.

37:29 God is on the move and God's promises will come to pass as his kids come into agreement with what he has already prophesied over this state and you and I are anointed to bring justice. And that our alliance and our allegiance in this hour must be kingdom for that to come to pass. And I believe there's an invitation for that. It's so good, Christa. I just feel like people have to grab ahold of the significance of true kingdom. That's why we keep going about what's kingdom justice because that word justice is thrown around so much. Any parting words that you feel like you wanna leave our listeners with today? I think I wanna just take a moment and just speak to maybe some of you who felt so alone.

38:12 Come on. I get this all the time from people who have felt like they are so passionate about justice and they feel like they have not belonged in the church or they felt like they had to do justice outside of the church or they have felt like a real misunderstanding in this area and they felt unseen. So many people have told me, I didn't know how to integrate my passion for justice with my faith. Come on. And if that's you, I wanna just tell you, you're not alone. Amen. This is who we are and it should never be separated from our faith. And so I wanna just encourage people, you're not alone, you're the perfect person to step into it. Be encouraged and this is exactly what the church is called to do. And so if you felt discouraged or misunderstood, I just wanna break that off of you and just encourage you that you're not alone.

38:53 Powerful, oh my God. My goodness. Jen was dropping just nuggets and bombs left and right. She truly walks in a revelation of justice and I really believe the Lord is highlighting her voice for this time in this hour. And she has brought reformation even on a legislation level, as I mentioned before, to nations around the world. But I do believe she's gonna bring more reformation to America because God is raising up voices to bring kingdom justice as he ordained it and he's gonna use you and I to do that. And Jen is one of those people that I love to be able to highlight her voice because it's so important for right now. It is so important. Well, as promise and advertise, Keep It 100 Tribe, we have the Keep It 100 Takeaways Call To Action.

39:36 Come on. Number one that we wanna give you as a takeaway is don't put your trust in chariots. Come on. The Bible, one of the prophets was told that some trust in horses, some trust in chariots and it's basically saying, don't put your trust in something that's man-made, man-built and man-established because the bottom line is God holds history in the palm of his hand. And I don't believe that God is super worried right now as much as we can be about who takes the oval office. I think God is more concerned right now what's going on in the prayer room, what's going on in his house, what's going in the heart of his people. And the key in this point in time is to understand political parties, whether it's Democrat or Republican, were never meant to unify us.

40:20 Our faith in God is what brings unity. And any other construct other than the understanding that our faith in God and our love is what brings unity and our prayers, any other thing is going to leave us disappointed. So it's so important this is phrase, don't put your trust in chariots. Put your trust in the sovereignty of God. That is so good. I love that. You know, the second takeaway we want you to walk away with to keep it 100 tribe is pray that you and I would see each other through Jesus' eyes. We are at a time in history, and Sean touched on this a moment ago where we had a Supreme Court justice pass away. We have the president of the United States diagnosed with COVID and yet neither could show compassion or empathy for the other side.

41:04 We have to recognize in the midst of humanity, you and I are called to bring a compassion and a justice. And you know, the word of God declares that judgment begins in the house of God. Could it be friends that the changes we all long to see in society will not happen until we allow God's process to cleanse us of all that is unlike God? I think this is so important for us to catch that there is an invitation of a cleansing that God is doing in the house of God because we're supposed to create the precedent. We're supposed to create the prototype for what God wants to do in society because I believe when that happens, that's when the world's gonna get free through unity and love, not politics.

41:44 That is so true that the world gets free through love. Come on. Third takeaway is leave the Leaven of Herod. Jen talked about this a little bit. It's found in Mark 815 and Jesus warned his disciples. He warned them twice actually as it's related to political things. But in Mark 815, he warned them of the Leaven of Herod. And Jen spoke about it, but the Leaven of Herod represents a politicized faith that only blurs our priorities, but weakens our loyalties. And a Leaven is like yeast that works in bread. It causes us to rise once the Leaven is in bread. It works its way all the way through. So Jesus was warning us that the political spirit, it primarily operates by fear, manipulation, and through hidden agendas.

42:26 And we all know God has not given us a spirit of fear. The only other time specifically that Jesus spoke as it relates to politics is he told his disciples, in Matthew 22, 21, give to Caesar what his Caesar's, give to God what his God's. And so he had a coin, he grabbed a coin, and he says, whose inscription is on it? And the person whose inscription was on that coin was Caesar. So he said, pay taxes, give to Caesar what his Caesar's. But then he said, give to God what his God. And what Jesus was saying is he now is looking at them. And he said, all that Caesar can do is put his image on a coin, but God has put his image on you. And so you give to Caesar what his Caesar, but you've got to give to God what his God's. And so leaving the leaven of Herod, just remember it, it involves the exalting of civil law above God's moral law.

43:12 And that political spirit will always divide you at the end. And we understand civil law is so important, but we can never put that above God's moral law. And I think that's so important for us to understand. This has been such a key episode, we believe, for the hour that we're in in this nation. Can we just ask you as a Keep It 100 tribe, just lean into what God is saying in the season more than what the news media, what social media, and what those around you are saying, we want to be led by his spirit and his presence, not by a political spirit. As we come to an close, we want you to not only take away these practical applications, but be challenged to think in a kingdom mentality. As always, we want to thank you for tuning in.

43:55 And of course, make sure you continue to alert people and let people know about this podcast, because we believe it's called to mentor and disciple those that want to go deeper in their walk with God. For those of you that have rated us and reviewed us, thank you. If you haven't, take time to do that. And of course, get the word out, check us out at www.SeanAndChristasmith.com. You can always find us on Facebook at www.SeanAndChristaSmithministries.com. We'd love to hear how this podcast has impacted you. Also, Keep It 100 tribe, you do not want to miss next week. You'll definitely want to tune in because we're going to be talking about mentorship, community, and who's speaking into your life. So remember, Keep It 100. We'll see you next week because relief may change your circumstance, but a revelation will change you.

44:37 We hope you enjoyed today's episode of the Keep It 100 podcast with Sean and Christa Smith. Keep up with us on Facebook and Instagram and www.SeanAndChristasmith.com, where you can discover more resources. If this podcast has impacted you, please subscribe and review wherever you listen to your podcast. Keep it 100!