Ambassadors to the Earthly Kingdom

I have been wanting to do a post that introduces my views on the state (and the US in particular since that is the context through which I understand the term "state"), but I came across this sermon from Bruxy Cavey that explains an Anabaptist perspective on the relationship between the Church and state, which closely matches my thoughts in a manner more concise than I would have been if I typed it out. I strongly suggest setting aside the time to view the two parts that run a total of about fourteen minutes long.

Bruxy confirmed the following points for me:

• The Church is easily wrapped up in and distracted by the attempts to make the state act more Christian, instead of helping the Church act more Christian. 
• The way of Jesus is not giving up on society, but bringing change in a different way - serving from the bottom up.
• I am a Christian before and long after I am an American.
• To be a pacifist does not mean "to be passive." Pacifist means "to be working for peace."
• There is one Christian nation, the people of God, and it is a transnational nation.

And these are the points that I was either amazed at and wondering "Why didn't I think of that?", still working through and/or currently being challenged by:

• The intentional mockery and irony in the actions of Jesus's crucifiers actually reveal the truth of God's kingdom (e.g. the crown of thorns indicates suffering to which the kingdom of God does not run away from, but actually reveals the truth that God enters into our suffering).
• As citizens of the kingdom of God that are foreigners in the earthly kingdoms, our roles are to be ambassadors of the heavenly kingdom to the earthly kingdoms.

Part one:
   
Part two:
 

I have a limited knowledge of the Anabaptist tradition, but I am extremely interested in learning more. If you have any comments, other resources, or suggestions about Anabaptists, pacifism, the separation of the Church and state, or other related topics I would love to hear them in the comments.