The Kingdom of God: Where Does Our Alligience Lie?

Within theological circles, there are many views and interpretations of what Jesus meant when He talked about the Kingdom of God.  There are about 140 instances in the New Testament where this is referred to directly or alluded to in other wording.  Either way, there has been an ongoing debate about what the kingdom of God exactly referred to.  Some have claimed that the Kingdom was wholly manifest in Jesus’ presence on earth and represented in His words and deeds.  Some claim that any reference to the Kingdom is completely a reality of the future and is associated with Christ’s second coming.  The most common interpretation has to do with elements of both arguments and is sometimes referred to as the “already/not yet” tension.  In essence, the Kingdom of God was inaugurated with Christ’s first advent, exists today and will be complete when he returns again.  Today Christ’s love exists through the life of the Church, but the world is still subject to evil to some extent.  This is the view that I personally ascribe to and contextually what Scripture seems to be referring to.  (See Luke 10:9, 11:20, Matt. 3:2, Mark 1:5, Luke 17:21)    

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on what the Kingdom of God should look like and what my responsibility is within the Kingdom.  What is my responsibility and what is the Church’s responsibility in advancing the Kingdom?  Obviously, since the Kingdom of God exists, what we do with our lives has a direct effect on its manifestation and advancement.  Consequently, since there exists this “not yet” element to the Kingdom, what we don’t do, or the negative aspects of our lives, hinder the Kingdom.  The more we live as Christ and represent His Body as the Church, the more that the world will see the Kingdom and understand what God originally intended for the world.  When we live in opposition to Christ, the Kingdom is reduced to mere words, hypocrisy and a lack of belief from culture.  

I bring this up because people often ask me about my political views and party affiliation.  I admit that there was a time when I was the typical conservative right-wing Christian that had the world view that Jesus was not only American, but started His movement right here in the good old USA.  I believed that Jesus would have only voted conservative and cheered for us when the USA went to war.  As long as Jesus and His teachings lined up with that picture of American Christianity, I was OK with being His hard-line follower.  But over the last five years or so, my views have radically changed. 

 

Well, before you accuse me of being a bed-wetting liberal, communist or socialist scumbag, allow me to explain.  First of all, I don’t consider myself to be a liberal or Democrat either.  In fact, I no longer side with any political party and refuse to align myself with the “left” or “right”, unless I’m reading a map.  I’m no longer registered as a Republican voter, and will not side with the Democrats either.  I don't use God to promote my view of politics and choose coffee over tea.  For lack of other options, I assume the government would classify me as an “Independent”, but I never identify myself with that label either.  Going one step further, my citizenship as an American is secondary and not really how I identify myself as well.

 

Now, let’s be clear.  I’m not one of those people who are ashamed of America, believe in anarchy or have a Utopian view of what the world should look like.  I don’t believe in John Lennon’s “Imagined” view of life and tend to look at life through a more realistic set of lenses.  Believe it or not, I’m still a pretty black and white person.  What I’m getting at, is that if the Kingdom of God is a reality, even if incomplete, it is the Churches responsibility to make it a reality.  And the first thing we have to do is decide to put His Kingdom first, even if it means denying our allegiance to man-made kingdoms.  Jesus said, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else," (Matthew 6:33)  This is the only way that the kingdom of God will be seen as a reality and cause culture to want to be a part of it.  It has to overshadow culture, country, communities and even individual churches.

What would this look like?  Well, C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, that if Christians were functioning and living as they were originally intended to, most people would scoff and label it socialism.  And you know what?  He’s right.  If we model the early Church and all that Christ taught in the New Testament, we would be living a very socialist existence.  Selling our possessions, sharing all that we have with anyone in need, choosing non-violence and actively loving others, including our enemies, looks more like a hippie commune, doesn’t it?  But here’s the thing: these ways of living life cannot be mandated by a government and this is what this blog is all about.  The principles of socialism are not bad in and of themselves, but when a man made government initiates them, and they are based on man and not God, the end result is disastrous.  Only the Church can initiate this kind of revolutionary way of living.  Only the Church can and should look this way.  These are supernatural principles.  When we live as Christ calls us to live, people see a counter-cultural way of living and advance a Kingdom that doesn’t make a lot of sense to the world.  It really has nothing to do with politics or party affiliations.  It has to do with following a King that rules a radically different Kingdom.  It has to do with citizenship and where it ultimately lies.                       

After Birth

Every once and a while, the light bulb of illumination appears over my head.  You know, that "DING" moment on the old cartoons when the character has a "bright" idea?  I wonder if the proverbial "light bulb" of revelation has to now become an LED or CFL bulb?  I mean, cartoon characters have to be conscious of the environment too, right?  Actually, when you think about it, the entire image of the light bulb might not be politically correct anymore.  Why waste energy just because you have a revelatory insightful thought?   Maybe the character could just turn a shade of green when he has a bright idea?  Hmmm.  Well, anyway.     

I love it when I find a little piece of insightful truth that I never noticed before.  One of the reasons that I write is because it enables me to put my thoughts together in a coherent format.  By recording my thoughts, my humble hope is always that someone will glean something from what I've written and then develop a new insight of their own.  My favorite comments is always something like, "Wow! I never thought of it that way!"  When more people begin to express their thoughts, beliefs and insights, it can open doors for others.  They share their new insights and the cycle continues.  When I think about it, I think we are more prone to learn more from each other than we do from any other source.

This morning is was reading something that that really blew me away by the imagery.  My friend Rob Vasquez writes an online devotional called "Be Blessed".  This week he wrote the following about what it means to be born again and the transformation that occurs after:

"Many people don't realize or want to admit how messy, slow, painful & gradual real change is. And here’s the truth many don’t want to accept: it’s very messy for broken people to be healed & transformed. It takes time. Birth is messy. It isn’t pretty. And guess what? Neither is new birth. Following Jesus is messier than people make it out to be."

Unfortunately, a lot of Christ followers reduce their salvation down to a day they "accepted Christ".  They prayed a religious mantra that magically transformed them into a Christian and now they are suppose to be automatically different than those that haven't prayer "the prayer".  We do this a lot in our churches, don't we?  We compare notes with each other and base our worth on how many people have been "saved".  The higher the number, the better Christian we are and to US be the glory, right?  Get 'em into heaven, get 'em a Bible and direct them to a church, and our job is done!  But is salvation this simplistic? 

Let me be clear.  I'm not discounting the act of salvation.  I'm not discounting the fact that for some Christians, saying a prayer of salvation was a pivotal point in their spiritual life.  And I'm not saying that it is not a Christian's responsibility to share the gospel and hope to see people others come to Christ.  What I'm saying is that we narrow down salvation and making disciples to a one time event that really can have nothing to do with a person being "Christlike".  Yes, there is always a point in which a non-Christian becomes a Christ follower.  Usually, it is a specific decision we make. Sometimes it's a definable moment, and other times it's not that clear.  I look at my own salvation as a life long journey that contains many pivotal moments of spiritual realizations.  If someone asked me when I was "saved", there is a specific time that I refer to as the moment of my "salvation", but to be honest, it's somewhat irrelevant to me now.  I'm more interested in what has occurred, and continues to occur in my life today, and what I think Rob might be talking about in the words above.  What we're really talking about is "sanctification". 

Bible.org defines sanctification as "the activity of God which liberates the Christian from the power of sin.  It is the process of becoming what we are in Christ. This involves the putting off of the old habits of lying, stealing, backbiting, etc., and putting on the Christ-like qualities of honesty, mercy, and love."  See Colossians 3:1-10

Basically, sanctification is the process.  It's the ongoing activity on our lives of becoming more like Christ.  We become sanctified as we get rid of the crap in our lives and start looking more and more like Jesus by our words, actions and thoughts.  While salvation is essential, sanctification is really the evidence of who we are.  In many ways, sanctification is more significant than a single salvation experience because it reveals that a transformation has occurred in a persons life.  How many times have you run across someone who claims to be a follower of Christ because they "prayed a prayer", but they displays nothing in their life that would lead anyone to arrive at that conclusion.  

And this brings me to my point: like Rob said above, change is a messy thing.  When we begin the journey of becoming more like Christ, it can be a very ugly, chaotic and nasty process.  Yes, becoming more Christlike is a beautiful thing, but the process of getting there can be anything but pretty because it can involve confronting lifestyle aspects that are no longer spiritually healthy.   Everyday choices and actions can become "anti" Christ, and when we confront these issues, a conflict arises.  Our natural person, the thing that existed before following Christ, begins to rebel and fight the "process" every step of the way.  It doesn't want to be sanctified.  In many ways, we don't want to change.  We would rather live in a state of pre-salvtion because it's easy, safe and non-threatening.  

When a baby is born into the world, it's a beautiful, joyous and life changing event.  But physically, it's not pretty, is it?  It's messy, painful and chaotic.  Screams and cries fill the air as this new life comes into the world in a wave of blood, bodily fluid and discarded tissue.  It's not a pretty picture from a purely visual perspective.  Being "born again" is no different than the physical aspects of natural birth.  Our Church culture has created an unrealistic view of what salvation is, and consequently, it's created an unrealistic view of sanctification as well.  Spiritual transformation is sometimes not pretty, and like Rob says, it's slow, painful and gradual.     

From my own experience, in many ways following Christ is much more difficult than the life I lived before.  As I grow, becoming sanctified, I encounter and overcome more and more challenges that reveal to me how messy my life is.  I was born (again), spit out into the world in a mess of spiritual afterbirth.  Yes, I was cleaned up, but it's cold, frightening and not the comfortable place I came from.  I've been poked and prodded.  I've had to eat things that taste like shit.  I've soiled myself and spit up when things didn't agree with my spiritual digestive system.  I've fallen when I tried to walk and been scolded when I did something wrong. 

     

Grace at Reduced Cost

On the bridge of the unforgiven
   forgiveness takes the high road.
Malnourished and perplexed,
   redemption takes a second seat.
Finding salvation comes at a cost,
   but you buy grace at wholesale prices
and wonder why it's defective
   and void of legitimate warranty.
It was forecast that rain would fall
   and it did indeed.
We run to theological shelters
   set up by Red Cross rejects.
But our cots have no sleep number
   and smell like homeless ministry.
You shake the hand that shakes
   and offer a blessing on pain.
"Peace be with you" and off you go.
   You go your way.  I go mine.
I adjust my ringtone.
   You stand in line.
My hands are washed and the crowd applauds.
   My realization is final and sure,
as salvation sets in cold and secure.
   Grace is cheap.
Costco carries it in bulk.
   You run to freedoms register
and write your check to God.
"I've paid my dues.  Now my entitlement counted."
   Among the Pharisees we all will stand,
but our robes are rotted and tassels are tangled.

                                                    - Anonymous

The Practice of Love

Most of you know that I recently had the opportunity to join a community of authors in writing for The Practice of Love: Real Stories of Living into the Kingdom of God.  This is a collection of essay by a community of writers that examines what it means love God, ourselves, our neighbors and our enemies in today's culture.  We know that God has called each of us to love in extraordinary ways in all facets of life, but reality proves that this is sometimes easy said than done.  This book provides real life personal stories that will cause the reader to examine what it really means to love in the Kingdom of God.

In contributing to this project, I experienced a lot more personal spiritual insight than I thought would.  I chose to write about what it means to love our enemies because this has always been a difficult thing for me.  We live in a very self-centered culture, so our first reaction in dealing with enemies is usually to place focus on ourselves and how we've been hurt. I don't know about you, but I often think of the person who wronged me and immediately contemplate how I can get revenge and make the offender hurt as I've been hurt.  Not only that, but I usually feel the need to be justified.  What I mean is that I want the other person to realize what they've done was wrong and know, deep within their heart, that they are wrong.  Nothing aggravates me more than someone arrogantly strutting around as if they've done nothing wrong, completely oblivious to the pain they've caused me.  But as a follower of Christ, is this what He calls me to do?  Is this the kind of reaction that will advance the Kingdom of God?  Or does my returning anger with anger, only hinder others seeing the Kingdom in the way Christ wants it to be seen?  These are the questions that I wrestled with as I wrote my essay.    

Ironically enough, over the last few weeks, we have been witness to possibly the quintessential example of an enemy in Osama Bin Laden.  Consequently, with his death, we have all been given a opportunity to examine this issue in the clearest example that we will probably ever have before us.  To me, it was as if God revealed this scenario to me and said, "OK.  You just wrote an essay on what it means to love your enemy, right?  Well, here's THE enemy.  Love him."  Really, God?  I tell you that it's hard for me to swim and you throw me in the middle of the ocean?     

After my experience with The Practice of Love, I find myself wanting to love more.  Specifically, I find myself wanting to expand the way that I love my enemies.  Basically, I came to a realization that I don't want to hate anymore.  I don't want to judge anymore.  I'm finding that I don't feel the need to be "right" all the time, and "win" the arguments, whatever "winning" means.  Instead of actively seeking reasons to be angry with my enemies, dislike or even hate them, I'm learning to seek out ways that I can love them.  What are ways that I can connect with that person and find unity?  Whether or not they "feel" my love for them, how can I really love them, and more importantly,what does that look like in the Kingdom of God?

Those of you that know me, know that I can have somewhat of a temper.  It doesn't take much to set me off, and usually that comes out in dealing with my enemies.  But many years ago, a mentor of mine gave me some advice that I've never forgotten.  It was one of those gems of wisdom that is written on your soul, under the file name: Wisdom.  This man, that was quite a bit older than me, recognized that I often got angry with those that hurt me.  Not only that, but he also recognized that I had the somewhat obsessive desire to "be right" or "win" the argument.  One day, he sat me down and said the following: "Jake, people are going to wrong you throughout your life.  It's going to happen again and again.  But YOU have the choice of how you are going to react to them.  Why is it so important for you to be justified?  Instead, allow them to believe that they've won.  For whatever reason, they felt the need to hurt you.  Let them have it.  It's theirs.  Instead, find a way to do something kind for them.  Find a way to show love to them.  By doing that, you will almost always soften their hearts.  When that happens, then, and ONLY then, can you sit down with them, explain how they hurt you.  99% of the time, they will understand and ALLOW you to be justified.  Then you both win.  That's a better deal, right?"  Yes, Pat.  That's a much better deal.  Thank you.

Life Sucks, Truth is Truth and Life is Good

The blog is going to be all over the place.  My mind is racing with a thousand thoughts from too much caffeine, so bear with me.  I started out this morning with one particular thought, and it just snowballed from there.  Those of you that know me will understand from conversations with me that it often go in this direction.  So think of this as just casually sitting in Starbucks with me and listening to me ramble.  You have to by the coffee though.  

Several years ago, when I was a Children’s Pastor, I ran an 8 week movie club for kids during the Summer.  The church that I was serving at had a huge multipurpose room with a big screen and sound system, so it was perfect for keeping a bunch of bunch of restless kids occupied for a at least one morning a week.  Each week featured a Disney or Pixar movie, complete with popcorn, and afterwards I would teach a short Bible lesson that tied into the main storyline.  Kind of a "hidden" message from God.  The week before the club began, I got a couple :anticipated" calls from concerned parents asking how secular movies would teach kids about God.  My favorite one was an irate mother chastising me for even daring to show movies of this type in a church!  Gasp!  I mean, we all know Woody and Buzz went to Hell after they were discarded and finally wore out, right?  Didn't Andy ask them where they would be in 100 years? 

One of my dominate philosophies or theological beliefs is that God’s truth can be found everywhere.  Whether it’s a Disney movie, nature, everyday culture or even other religions, God’s truth can be found if we seek it out.  St. Augustine said, "Where I found truth, there found I my God, who is the truth itself."  His truth permeates creation and all of existence whether we like it or not.  (Psalm 19)  When you think about it, God can reveal a basic truth by any medium he wants, anywhere he wants and by any method He wants.  It reminds me of a scene from the 80s sci-fi movie Enemy Mine.  An alien, played by Lou Gossett Jr. is teaching his culture’s holy scriptures to a fighter pilot from Earth, played by Dennis Quaid.  They are both stranded on a deserted planet and soon become friends.  When Gossett reads a quote, that is almost word for word from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, Quaid’s character responds, “You know, I’ve heard that before?”; to which this alien from a planet millions of miles from Earth responds, “Of course you have.  Truth is truth.” 

   

This week I was watching the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.  If you’ve seen it, you’ll recall the conversation between the two aliens, Klaatu and the Mr. Wu:

Klaatu: We need to prepare to leave.
Mr. Wu: I’m staying
Klaatu: You can’t stay here
Mr. Wu: I can and I will
Klaatu: If you stay you’ll die
Mr. Wu: I know, this is my home now.
Klaatu: You yourself call them the destructive race
Mr. Wu: That’s true. But still, there is another side.  You see, I love them. This is a very strange thing.  I can’t find a way to explain it to you. For many years I cursed my luck for being sent here.  Human life is difficult. But if this life is coming to an end, I consider myself lucky to have lived it.

When I heard this, I instantly saw a couple of deep and profound biblical truths: Human life is difficult.  (John 16:33)  The Bible is replete with examples of the sufferings we can expect while journeying through life.  Not only that, but in many ways, those that follow Christ are in fact "aliens" living in foreign bodies.  Yes, the Bible tells us that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, causing us to reflect on the importance of respecting the vessels we exist in, but we also know that there is much more to our existence than the physical shell that will one day return to the earth and die.  (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Through our faith in Christ, we are Spiritual beings.  The substance that is the soul never dies and is greater than the physical body we live in. (2 Corinthians 5:8)  So while we live in the imperfect human body, we experience the imperfection in full.  Human life is hard and as with what Mr. Wu said in the above dialogue, we experience the same dichotomy while we walk this earth.  It's strange when you think about it.  We walk this earth, yearning for something more, sometimes cursing the life we live.  But I wonder how many of us would have just a bit of hesitation to leave it if we had the choice.  In reality, we know that our existence will experience much more in the world to come.  It's inconceivable.  But the temporal is often very hard to let go of despite the eternal reality of what we were really created for.