A Wise Reign

What is a king?  Dictionary.com tells me it is:
1. The male ruler of an independent state, esp. one who inherits the position by right of birth.
2. A person or thing regarded as the finest or most important in its sphere or group.

Is Jesus the male ruler by right of birth, or the person regarded as the finest of most important in its sphere or group?  Look at the progression of  the passage and you can see, clearly, the answer is both.  Jesus' kingship is an issue at his trial. Pilate questions Jesus' kingship.  Jesus claims to be a spiritual king.  Pilate appeals to the crowd to accept Jesus as their king.  The crowd rejects Jesus.  Christ is mocked as king.  Jesus is declared king at his crucifixion.  God has exalted Jesus as king.  The problem is that we poor humans just weren't able to see Jesus as both while he was here with us.

Jesus came as a king, but not the kind of king the people were expecting, and ultimately that is what caused them to reject him.  The scripture passage for today contrasts Pilate, a militaristic, worldly, ambitious agent of the king, Caesar, that the people expected Messiah to topple and defeat.  In John 18:33-37 Jesus is the antithesis of Pilate/Caesar.  He doesn't argue, threaten, or forcefully make his case.  He answers questions with questions.  In verse 37 Jesus indirectly tells Pilate that he does not plan to overthrow the government when, "Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

So what is the truth.  And the bigger question for me - am I hearing it?  At this time of the year the truth gets mixed up and suppressed by all the commercial, worldly messages.  And in some ways the truth gets perverted.  Do I need to aggressively and contentiously proclaim my beliefs, or simply live them out.  Do I need to warn everyone that I say Merry Christmas, or do I simply wish them a Merry Christmas and send my friends who I know believe differently a Happy Holidays card?  Does loving my neighbor mean telling them, either directly or indirectly, that if they don't believe the same way as I do they are condemned to perdition?  Or, like Jesus in this passage, do I allow others to come to their own understanding, in their own way, in their own time after presenting the truth of my beliefs? I often waffle and don't feel confident in knowing just how energetic to be in evangelistic efforts, but I always try to remember how I would like to be treated by someone of a different belief - with love and respect.  The greatest truth, for me, is that God loves us all, no matter what, and I am called to do the same.