The counterintuitive Kingdom of God requires us to reject the world’s methods with confidence in God’s wisdom and sovereignty.

The two virtues in perhaps the shortest supply in American political discourse are grace and faith. The lack of grace is on exhibit every day in social media and every moment when the outrage mobs come. Every transgression must be punished, and every punishment must far outweigh the gravity of the crime.

The lack of faith is in many ways more subtle. It underlies the decision of many Christians to abandon clear and unequivocal biblical commands — as if the Bible’s dictates are just not quite up to the urgency of the times. Let’s take, for example, the odd recent controversy surrounding prayers for President Trump. David Platt, pastor of Virginia’s McLean Bible Church, came under fire when he publicly prayed a thoroughly nonpartisan prayer for Trump when Trump stopped by, unannounced, on Memorial Day weekend.