Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
7 20 2026
Who am I becoming – Beyond Red and Blue – Part 3
The Politics of the Kingdom
You know, after writing these last two devotionals, I found myself doing something I hadn’t planned on. I stopped thinking so much about America and started thinking about Jesus. Funny how that happens. The more I looked at Him, the less interested I became in figuring out who was winning the latest political battle and the more interested I became in whether I was becoming more like Him.
Maybe that’s where this whole journey has been leading me all along. We started talking about revenge, then about outrage, then about who or what is discipling us. But as I sat quietly with the Lord, one question kept coming back to me. Not what’s happening to America. Not who’s right. Not who’s wrong. Just one simple question. Who am I becoming?
The truth is, every conversation I have, every headline I read, every podcast I listen to, every political debate I watch, and every offense “I choose” to carry is shaping me into someone. None of us stands still. Every day we’re becoming a little more like the voices we spend time with. That thought brought me back to the Gospels. When I look at Jesus, I don’t see a man obsessed with proving everyone else wrong. I see someone who was remarkably difficult to offend. He was lied about, mocked, misunderstood, betrayed by one of His closest friends, abandoned by the rest, falsely accused, beaten beyond recognition, and nailed to a cross. Yet through all of it His heart never drifted from His mission. I began to see more clearly, His peace came from something much deeper than His circumstances. I believe it came from knowing exactly who He was and exactly why His Father had sent Him.
That made me wonder about myself. Have I become so busy defending my opinions that I’ve forgotten to protect my heart and the kingdom I am called to? Not America. Not politics. The Kingdom… America wants leaders to fix America… Jesus keeps saying, “Follow Me”. Somewhere along the way it’s easy for our identity to begin shifting. Instead of seeing ourselves first as followers of Christ, we slowly begin identifying ourselves by other things…our politics, our opinions, our tribe, the commentators we listen to, even the battles we choose to fight. None of those things are wrong in themselves, but they make terrible identities. Before long we become known more for what we’re against than for WHO we follow. That thought honestly bothered me.
The more I read the Gospels, the more I realized that Jesus held deep convictions without ever developing a hard heart. He never compromised truth, but neither did He stop loving people while He spoke it. Broken people felt safe around Him.
Children wanted to be near Him. Even people whose lives had become train wrecks… through his gently touch, His kind words of encouragement, found compassion before condemnation.
I stopped and asked myself a question that wasn’t very comfortable. Would people say that about me?
Would someone who completely disagreed with me politically, morally, or philosophically
still believe I genuinely cared about them as a person?
I hope so. I want that to be true.
But wanting it and living it are sometimes two different things.
Because what I say and do, either are a picture of Christ or there not!
There is no debate there.
Then I came across words of Jesus that I’ve read countless times, but this week they seemed to read me instead. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. But NOT the peace the world gives.” I realized His peace had nothing to do with peaceful circumstances. Rome was still in power. The Pharisees were still plotting. Judas was still preparing to betray Him. The Cross was only hours away. Everything around Him was in turmoil, yet everything within Him remained settled because His peace rested in His Father, not in His surroundings. That’s the kind of peace I want. Not a peace that depends on who’s in office or whether people agree with me. I want the kind of peace that comes from walking so closely with Jesus that the world no longer gets to determine the condition of my heart.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve watched presidents come and go. I’ve seen wars begin and wars end. I’ve watched our nation celebrate remarkable victories and endure heartbreaking tragedies. Another election will come. And another controversy will fill tomorrow’s headlines. Another issue will divide people. Another opportunity to become offended will arrive before I’ve even finished my first cup of coffee.
But another opportunity will also arrive. Another opportunity to love someone who sees life differently than I do.
Another opportunity to listen before speaking. Another opportunity to pray instead of complaining.
Another opportunity to forgive. Another opportunity to become just a little more like Jesus.
Maybe revival doesn’t begin when Washington changes.
Maybe it begins when I do.
As I’ve reflected on this series, I keep coming back to one picture. Three crosses standing on a hill. There were no political parties there. No campaigns. No elections. No talking heads. Just a Savior stretching out His arms for people who didn’t deserve it…for people like me, for people like you, and yes, for people who hated everything He stood for…believed in. People He disagreed with but was still willing to love and die for. Maybe that’s why I never want to wander very far from the Cross. It’s the one place where every opinion becomes smaller, every offense loses a little more of its grip, and every one of us is reminded that before we belonged to anything else, we belonged to Him. Jesus wasn’t just the Prince of Peace He was the Person of Peace in the most volatile and divided of times… and they mocked Him as He stumbled forward to die for them, like a lamb to the slaughter.
Question: As people watch my life, would they say I’m becoming more like Jesus, or simply becoming more convinced that I’m right?
Question: What would change in my relationships this week if I intentionally chose to be known first as a follower of Christ and only second for my opinions?
I am including the links to session 1 and 2 in case you missed them below. Next time we’ll move on to another conversation, but I hope one thought stays with you. The world will always invite us to choose a side. Jesus simply keeps inviting us to follow Him.
“What part of this hit home for you this morning? What are you carrying today that needs prayer? If you’d like, send me a prayer request here. Let’s invite the Holy Spirit in together. (where two are gathered.) You are not walking alone. Just hit reply…
I read every response.”
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Open the eyes of my Heart Lod.
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