citizens of two kingdoms?

i first heard the term "patriot pastors" on npr. it concerned me enough that i decided to do a little research on the web to find out what was going on. that's when i found in the cincinnati enquirer. it appears that the rev. russell johnson has set about finding a couple of hundred "patriot pastors" who according to him:

who oppose abortion, want to protect traditional marriage and oppose higher taxes

wow! this sends up major red flags for me. first off, even though i don't like paying taxes i would not say that paying or not paying higher taxes is a CHRISTian issue. seems to me that JESUS said something about "rendering to ceasear what is ceasar's." yet the big red flag for me is the thought of the word "patriot" being connected to the word "pastor." i love america. i am very thankful to live in america. i would even consider myself patriotic (and i think many other people would consider me patriotic as well). yet i would never connect the word "patriot" with my title of "pastor". my highest loyalty is not with the u.s. of a. it's with my GOD. realisticly my list of priorities go GOD, family, then country (with a slight possibility that a really good chili dog might still beat out "country" and push it to fourth). because of this i don't see "saving" america as anywhere near my top priority. growing and glorifying the kingdom of GOD is definitely top and i don't think politics is a very good way to bring glory to GOD's kingdom.

i am so tired of CHRISTians thinking that politics can achieve the goals of GOD. politics can't. it's not meant to be the way that the kingdom of GOD is brought about on earth. in fact, JESUS describes politics as one of the "powers" of ephesians 6:12. truthfully, i probably agree with much of what these "patriot pastors" hold to be their goals. i am pro-life and therefore i am opposed to almost all forms of abortion. i do desire that marriages are strong. if i met with these "patriot pastors" there is much that we would probably agree on. even if i agreed with all their goals i would still not agree with the idea of being so closely connected with politics. i believe that whatever power you gain through this means merely subtracts from our trust in the real power that we are supposed to be energized by ... the HOLY SPIRIT.