Jesus did not desire to overturn Roman rule. He desired to overthrow the throne of your heart. The overthrow of the throne of your heart would then lead to a radical transformation of your life. His Kingship, though internal, would manifest itself outwardly. The fruit of this would then be seen, heard, and felt. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control would all be present. At the same time outbursts of anger and an argumentative spirit would be among things that would no longer be present because the fruit that was produced would eventually choke out these poisons.
In world where it still appears as though Rome is ruling, does it appear to those who are watching you that Jesus is ruling you?
There were attempts made to take Jesus and make Him king. Whenever His followers pursued influence over holiness Jesus always countered with correction. Domination and power over are never the goals of the kingdom of God. It is power under. As we live a life under the influence of our King and we allow His influence to permeate every facet of life and flow forth in such a way that the aforementioned fruit becomes available and accessible to all who come in contact with us.
If you spend all your time guarding your garden, your vegetables will eventually get choked out by weeds. True, birds, rabbits and rodents might never eat your fruit but guess what? If you spend all your time tending your garden, weeding it, watering it, pruning it, you will also not have the birds, rabbits, and rodents eating your crop? Why? Because you are also present. Yet at the same time, you will produce way more fruit. Simply put, if your whole life is spent watching for evils to fight versus cultivating the good around you that you can control, your fruit production will always suffer. At the same time those around you will suffer because God in His providence has called you to produce His fruit and give it away to those He has put in your path.
Compassionate Engagement 