Not of this world

When asked by Pilate If He was " King " of the Jews ..Jesus asked Pilate if that was Pilate thought of Him or if it was what he had heard .  Which might have been an interesting Dilema for Pilate who claimed to be Jewish and would thus have to put himself under Jesus Authority if Jesus was indeed " his king " .  Pilate said  essentially no I did not say it they did ...what have you done that would cause them to bring you to me ?  Jesus then said " my kingdom is not of this world "  . Most of us accept that at face value ..Jesus was Lord over another Kingdom , a Kingdom he frequently spoke about , and encouraged His followers to enter .  In his  encouragement and His  describing the Kingdom he was pretty specific , you cannot belong to two different Kingdoms ..you have to choose somebody .
After Jesus said to Pilate " my Kingdom is not of this world " He went on to say  " 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 " .  John 18:36 .

As servants of  the most high God ,   Jesus is our Lord and Master . We fight  ( if ordered ) for the Kingdom of God , not for the Kingdoms of men.  NO earthly Kingdom can ever be a partner  with the Kingdom of God . No American flag ,  No British flag , no Israeli  flag , no flag will be flying above or in the presence of God .  The  Kingdom of God is so different from the Kingdoms of men , that they cannot be bound together ,  Like  trying to use your Mac with PC software , or mixing oil with water .  These actions cannot work because their natures are so completely different .

I do not know about other countries first hand , but I do know that Christians in the United States frequently confuse Patriotism with Christianity .  For over two hundred years  we have been given a foundation built on American exceptionalism , that we are  a chosen nation , that we have a manifest destiny , that we are the torch of freedom for the world , that our  might makes us not only right but Servants ready and willing to fight for the Kingdom .  And yet  Jesus is still saying to us " My Kingdom is not from here "  . The truth is the United States is just a country , a country in this season , whose influence will eventually end . We may print our money with the words  " in God we trust ..but our trust is in our  Bombers , our Aircraft carriers , our nuclear arsenal , in our  Savings and loans , our IRA's  ...None of these things will last either .  Ironically Jesus in His ministry told us to give up ( If we choose to follow Him ) all of the things we wage war over .  These things do not last ..but Gods Kingdom is eternal .  For us it is an Indiana Jones Movie  :  Only God is reaching out to us as we dangle from a cliff , holding unto a bag of treasure ..we need to let go ..to grasp His hand ...