We’ve built our weapons with great care and precision, stored them in specially designed bunkers to keep them warm and dry, and even paid people to care for them. What kind of heartless savage would tell our loyal weapons, “Thanks for preventing WWIII, but we need to balance the budget and you’re going to be dismantled.”

Shame on us. How could we be so uncaring as to tell some of our 5,000+ nuclear weapons that they’re superfluous and unnecessary! If China only has 240 nuclear warheads, it’s only because China clearly fails to see the long term value of stockpiling thousands of nuclear weapons.

Before we allow our politicians to sabotage our national security by dismantling even one weapon, let’s consider these important facts about nuclear weapons:

Nuclear Weapons Need Shelter

Under their cold metal shells, nuclear weapons really are defenseless. Sure they could blow you up if you don’t handle them properly, but every nuclear weapon just wants a quaint little bunker to call home. I’d think we could at least maintain enough funding to make sure that every single missile in our country has a place to call home. As the largest economy, that should be a simple task for us.

Nuclear Weapons Need Care

But it isn’t enough to provide shelter for our missiles. We need to maintain them, plan for their future, and make sure that they’re ready for any challenges to come into the future. If we don’t invest in our missiles, they may let us down when we need them most.

Nuclear Weapons Deserve a Dignified Old Age

As nuclear weapons enter their golden years, they won’t be able to care for themselves. Our weapons have worked hard all of their lives to prevent nuclear war, and now we dare to send them off to a landfill or wherever you send hazardous waste? No weapon should have to worry about whether it will have a safety net of support to ensure it has a dignified existence when it can no longer take care of itself.

I understand the pain of our lawmakers who have to make tough cuts to our budget, but there are certain budget cuts that are simply unconscionable.

How could we make a budget cut that leaves a missile out in the cold?

How could we fail to invest in the future of our missiles, especially missiles in poor states that may not be able to afford caring for them?

How could we let our weapons down late in their existence when they’re at their most vulnerable?

Perhaps Jesus said it best when he told his disciples, “Blessed are the peacemakers who prevent wars by using nuclear weapons to assure the mutual destruction of everyone.”

If we want to assure our continued existence and peace, we need more weapons. Let’s tell our politicians to make sure our budget continues to make that happen.

Obedience to God is the foundation for all obedience to government, and so the order of allegiances is established here. Living in peace and obeying laws seems to be the focus—a balance where God comes first but law and order are still maintained. Rather than providing a blueprint for all Christian involvement in government, this passage addresses extremist who may use their allegiance to the Kingdom of God to justify revolt or the violation of laws.

We dare not take Paul’s command to submit to authorities as a tacit endorsement of all governments or all governmental policies. At the same time, Christians must wrestle with the necessity of obeying governmental authorities while committing to challenge injustice and immorality in their governments.

For the Romans, who are told to love one another with affection, honoring one another, they are once again reminded to love their neighbors as they would themselves. This seems to also satisfy the obedience required under the government, if not with all people.

Paul’s final reason for living in righteousness is the expectation of God’s coming salvation. Time is running out, so stay in step with God, living in his light rather than the darkness of evil deeds. Instead of letting their sinful natures control their minds, they are told to let Christ take control. he will lead them to righteousness and goodness.

Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ carries the sense of playing a role or assuming a part. Left to their own devices the Romans may leave debts outstanding, fail to love one another, or live in slavery to their immoral desires. In claiming their identity under the Lordship of Christ they are choosing to live in God’s light, which will soon come to define all of time and space. By putting on Christ they are claiming the resurrection power he has over sin as explained in Romans 6-8.

Whether in public or in Christian community the Romans should not let financial, relational, or sinful debts remain. They have a new identity in Christ. 

In a moment of sanity, I realized that, to a certain extent, it doesn’t matter who becomes president. With Obama, we have a brilliant man with an unmatched sense of humor and what appears to be the best of intentions paired up with terrible tools, limited options, and a culture of corruption.

It’s nearly impossible to change a culture shaped by lobbying and bribery. I think Obama will do some good things, but at the end of the day, the priorities of America do not match the agenda driving the Kingdom of God.

The church needs to get our Resident Aliens A-Game on, taking on the challenge of Hauerwas and Willimon to live as if everything begins and ends with Jesus. Our political parties are not the answer. We shouldn’t be surprised when politicians let us down. What should surprise us is when the Spirit-filled people of God surrender God’s Kingdom vision for the shabby visions shaped by political parties.