Yesterday while driving back from a preaching assignment I spent some time running the dial and came across a talk show detailing some of the big headlined Town Hall meetings across the US. If you haven’t picked up a newspaper or watched any of the media coverage recently, you might not know about the stories of the rebellious town hall meetings that have been erupting over President Obama’s health care reform. Some of the meetings were calm and orderly. But for others there was yelling, speaking out of turn, and even some evictions.

As for my opinion of the health reform, I tend to lean towards less government as I lived in the former Soviet Union for a while and have seen the “ills” entailed within an atheist socialistic system. But I wasn’t present at any of the town hall meetings. I didn’t watch any of the CNN stories, nor did I follow my elected leader’s websites for the latest on Obama’s strategy. Instead, I listened to it for the first time on talk radio and after a few minutes I actually CHANGED THE DIAL.

It wasn’t that I was apathetic toward America or its future. It wasn’t that I was being an irresponsible citizen by being uninformed, and it certainly wasn’t that I was unwilling to form an educated opinion about the issue. I changed the dial because of a growing peace in my heart that as a Christ follower I am part of a greater Kingdom than America. I am a part of the Kingdom of God. As a Christian in America I am to be responsible and obey and honor the authorities. I can get involved in the process. But the peace that passes understanding in all this is the assurance that God rules in the affairs of men. It all reminds me of Daniel 4:7 where the prophet states that, “the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the Kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.”

What was your take on the town hall meetings? Did anyone have any personal experience? How do you balance being an American and a Kingdom of God citizen?