My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.
-- Jesus in John 18:36

Can you imagine Jesus having a planning session with His disciples and saying,

Now, we want to get Peter and John elected to the Sanhedrin by this time next year because it is very important that we have a voice on that council. At the same time, we need several of you who will volunteer to lobby both Pilate and Herod to recognize Me as the Messiah. If we are smart and follow this plan, we can take the reins of power in a short time and guide this nation down a more godly path.

Sounds absurd doesn’t it? But is this not the mindset of many evangelical Christians in America today? I think it is.

This past week many evangelical Christians were depressed at the thought of the Democrats taking over Congress. Why? We could blame it on the Democrats and their policies. I think, however, we should take a look closer to home. Is it possible that we have pinned our hopes on a political party to bring the needed change to this nation rather than applying ourselves to the Biblical promises of genuine revival and Spiritual awakening? Is it possible that we have forgotten that we are part of an other-worldly kingdom?

Since the 1980s there has been a religious, political movement in America that has been a force for much good. First known as the Moral Majority and now as the Religious Right, this movement seeks to bring change by getting Christians elected to political office and by other forms of political activism. This is all well and good until it reaches the point where we begin to look to a political process, rather than to God Himself, to bring about the changes that are needed. As Dr. Tony Evans says, “The kingdom of God will not come on the back of either a donkey or an elephant.”

Cal Thomas, journalist and regular contributor to Fox News, is a committed follower of Jesus who has been a political activist since the Reagan years. He says that in spite of all the political activism by evangelical Christians in the last 25+ years, we have actually lost ground in the fight for morality and Biblical truth in our culture. He is now convinced that only a national Spiritual awakening will turn the tide of evil and bring goodness and truth back into the fabric of this nation.

Christians in America today would do well to acquaint themselves with the history of Spiritual awakenings in our country where, apart from political activism, entire communities and the nation itself have been transformed by the power of God. In the Great Awakening entire towns repented and turned to God. In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin says that his hometown of Philadelphia was so transformed that one could not walk through the town without hearing hymns and songs of praise coming from houses on every street. Perry Miller, former professor of church history at Harvard, says that the Declaration of Independence of 1776 was a direct result of the preaching of the evangelists of the Great Awakening. Is there any reason to think this could not happen again if we meet the conditions that are laid out for us in Scripture?

There is only one body in this nation capable of facilitating radical change for good in America and that is the Church, i.e., the people of God. The great O.T. promise of a national Spiritual awakening places the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of God’s people. If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chrn. 7:14). Not if the Republicans or if the Democrats, or if the congress, or if the President, but if My people. The future of America rests, not with a political party, but with the people of God.

So what are we to do? God has burned a message in my heart from Amos 5:4-5. It reads,

For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live; but do not seek Bethel, nor enter Gilgal, nor pass over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing. Seek the LORD and live.

Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba were all important sites in the religious history of Israel. Important, sacred events had occurred in these places and each had become a destination for religious pilgrimage. The religious activities associated with Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba had, however, become distractions keeping the people from God Himself.

Like Israel in the time of Amos, the churches in America are filled with religious activities that distract the people from pursuing God and His purposes. If the churches will adjust their priorities and truly begin to seek the Lord, then genuine revival can come to America.

I am convinced that God is saying to His people, Seek Me and Live! If we do this, He will release His kingdom power through us and a kingdom that is not of this world will have a profound impact on every aspect of this present world.

To read more articles by Eddie Hyatt or to see books he has written, go to www.EddieHyatt.com.