In this past Sunday's sermon I talked about the Person, Purpose and Plan of Jesus.
The Person: Jesus is the eternal son of God who was crucified, buried, rose again the third day, ascended into His Father's presence and is coming again. I noted that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ all of the kingdoms of men will eventually fail and eventually fall. I challenged us to receive this risen Jesus by faith individually and by faith collectively as His Church.
The Purpose: When Jesus came to earth and began His public ministry He preached that the kingdom of God had arrived. A new administration was taking hold and this administration would not be temporal but an eternal kingdom. This kingdom will one day be presented to His Father and will endure forever. The glory of this King and His Kingdom will never fade and His people (the redeemed by His blood) will sing His praises through endless days.
The Plan: How will Jesus do this great work? It definitely began when He came in the flesh. He lived out the kingdom among us in complete perfection. He worked for things that mattered and of course in accordance with His Father's will was lifted up as the sacrifice for sin. After His resurrection He told His disciples that all authority was His in heaven and on earth and that in this authority they were to move out and make disciples of all the nations.
It is through the church that individual lives will be changed but it is also through the church that cultures, societies and nations would be changed. I noted that Paul instructed the church that they were to preach to the rules and authorities in heavenly places that Jesus Christ is the manifold wisdom of God. When the apostles did this preaching not only individuals were saved but the kingdoms of men began to fall and kingdom of God became visible.
It has been my experience that most churches see "kingdom spreading" only in terms of personal/individual evangelism. I would suggest that this one dimensional approach has weakened the kingdom cause of Jesus because it on many levels quenches the Spirit among us. It is my hope that the church (Durkeetown and others) will see that through the multiplication of churches we will not only be more effective in personal evangelism (the visible world) but also be obedient to making the manifold wisdom of God known to the rulers and authorities in the unseen world. When we do this we will be preaching the Cross to its fullest dimensions.
Let me hear from you - I would be interested in listening to your perspectives on the unKingdom.
Unfortunately, I don't have much to say on the post itself. But I am curious what specifically you have in mind for the "unKingdom" concept. Is it a play on the common perception of the "Kingdom of God"? Do you see it as an action specifically against MAN'S kingdom? What's the image in mind?
ReplyDeleteBen - the unkingdom concept comes from Augustine's idea that there are two cities - the City that Men have built (kingdoms of the world - visible and invisible) and the City of God (that which is built on Jesus Christ). The City of God exists within the city of men. It is not actions "against" the kingdom of men in the sense of violence or war by human means. Rather it exists in stark contrast to the kingdoms of men. It is, for example, Matthew 5-7 lived out in real terms by real people. As we live in cultural contrast (love, forgive, honesty, moral integrity, hard work, sacrifice, service to those who misuse us and etc.)we will engage the city of man and will in some cases "win the day" by seeing the city of men change and transform to the gospel and in other "win the day" by seeing the city of men rage against the people of God - kill them, abuse them, supress them. Yet all of this is under the sovereign rule of our King. Remember Isaiah 9:6-7 as you try to put this together.
ReplyDeleteOk. Maybe this will spark some conversation. It is an emphasis in the Bible to, in common terms " win them over by love, mercy, forgiveness, etc". My experience tells me it isn't realistic to stick just to that playbook in all situations. One general example that seems to reassure this is when people simply aren't willing( when eager to further self-interest) or able (sheltered or other negative social environments) to consider things from different perspectives. I find that antagonizing them directly--that is, not openly showing the positive traits--is most effective. And when I say effective, I don't just have an idea of understanding. For some people( including me), things have to be perceived in some linear fashion in order to truly make sense. And, obviously, understanding concepts is a direct avenue. These people's hearts are affected by information and are liable to change when they can see values and why it should interest them. Otherwise, the self-serving impulse won't be tamed enough to be combated by new perspectives. These people falsely perceive themselves as where they ought to be intellectually. And as I'm sure you've seen with those people (like me), wooing their impulse of right and wrong by displaying the fruits of the spirit isn't affecting them in the way needed. Those people's walls need to be destroyed. Strong antagonism is the only way to make an imperialist spirit die. And the same goes for lesser, "normal" equivalents--which is what these people certainly are.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it would imply we ought not be so openly unmerciful to some, as to be so antagonistic? Or, do you think it is written with the general unbeliever and troubles in mind, still ordinant ( new word) of being adaptive? I view the latter as so. What are your thoughts?
I don't think our world and the world of Jesus or Paul are much different. So when it comes to breaking down barriers I like to look at the examples of people who were most effective. Paul and Jesus it seems were demonstrating two things:
ReplyDelete* Don't cast pearls before the swine (Jesus); Since you Jews have rejected I am now going to preach only to the Gentiles (Paul).
* Rest in the sovereignty of God for the transformation of the antagonist - yet demonstrate to everyone that God's love can conquer even the hardest of hearts.
So when walls need to be destroyed, as they did in the Jesus-Paul world the only thing that could destroy the walls was the gospel. That is why Paul called it "the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes".
I like the idea of being antagonistic but unfortunately antagonism is often misunderstood. In one sense the gospel is so powerful that it sets people off by the very nature of what it teaches.
So I choose to live within the kingdom of my Lord and preach His gospel - people don't like it and resist it so I have to love them and forgive them but not be afraid of them.
The other thing, and I will close this, I wish that some people within the church at Durkeetown would be changed by the gospel. Apparently they want to live in the past and are believe themselves to be protectors of the American version of the Christian religion.
After reading your post several times I hope my thoughts apply to the points you are making.
ReplyDeleteI understand your lack of confidence in the effectivness of the fruits of the Spirit. You're right in that many people need linear thinking to understand different perspectives and concepts in our humanness.
I'll share my experiences, as you have. At one point in my life I didn't understand the lack of positive response to the gospel, forgiveness, mercy, and love. Then I began to understand that, through living those things out, we allow the Spirit to do the work that we can't possibly, humanly do. No amount of love, forgiveness, mercy WE show will break down the walls...it's the Holy Spirit's work through those demonstrations that will make the walls fall. We may never see the results...but because of the work of the Spirit in our lives, we continue to practice the fruits of the Spirit...with faith that the Spirit will use them to transform and revive those we touch. And those whose hearts are hardened may never be affected...but we are still called to live in obedience and faith to the Spirit.
Latecomer here. I finally got to check in and begin following this. I'm particularly glad to have this resource, since I travel a lot.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I note as people talk about what kind of church is the right kind of church, is that in the NT, the churches were very different kinds of churches. We tend to think of the early church as this, or that, yet they were all over the map in terms of approach, strengths, and weaknesses. If you take into account non-biblical writing that tell us of other churches, the differences become even more pronounced.
A couple of things I notice when I read Paul is that no matter what advice he gives to churches, he is always encouraging to be MORE, and he does not see it as something they can do without the leading of God's spirit.
The thing about the spirit however, is that we (as people, or as a church) have to be open to it. At times it may lead us to comfortable places, and at times, it may lead us to very uncomfortable places.
Do we have to break down the walls within the church? I'd believe that instead, as a church we have to break down the walls between each of us and God, then let him work in our lives. When that happens corporately, then church is changed.
Christ is transformative. We see that again and again in people's lives, in churches lives and at times, in history. But he is only transformative when we open ourselves to him. He respects our walls if we use them to hold him back, but he knows that at the same time, those walls are the instrument of our own death.
Imagine his sadness at this. Yet... imagine his joy when we open the gate, or let the walls crumble and open himself, as a person, or a people, to him.
I'm surfing message boards/ blogs right now and am back to here. Hopefully, it's still relevant. But, Tom, as you're probably right about where the walls need to come down, the antagonism certainly seems like THEE way of carrying out the next few steps after locating the problem. Of course, we need to be actively pursuing how we can further God's will for our lives. But, I think it would be practical in that regard to look ahead at the prospect of antagonism as the means by which we can help others break their walls down. Christ is transformative, yes. But, as disciples, we ought to be doing whatever to guide ends to meet each other. And, as pastor is seeking to agitate, it might be of more interest to turn up those levels and start forcing God's will through us onto them more strongly, by being antagonistic, instead.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Kathy, I refuse to believe that there are cases where our efforts are simply not good enough to make the desired progress. That is not to say it is not ultimately up to God's will. But everyone has their reason for slacking behind in the game, if you can view it as that for a second. People emotionally respond to their own thoughts, and emit a certain details others can detect, infer, and later reason with. It's the same concept of how energy interacts with matter on a cosmic level. Matter is essentially detail in particle form. When energy is present in the space those details exist, those details are emitted, and are detectable by the five senses. Now, to refer to the "sixth sense", we can detect what affects people and see what parts of the puzzle they're missing. A true believer possesses the will that GOD wills them to have. If there is a will and well-conceived idea, there is a way. I believe that to be the Godly attitude to have about this. This also isn't to say prayer wouldn't be needed; it's really to dispose of a mindset that prevents one from doing greater divine administration work. Personally, I find viewing our experience in this world as a game to be most beneficial. It reinforces the competitive cliche of "forcing your will onto an opponent"--which I always think is what will affect people. It takes discipline and is generally difficult. But I think that's a belief desired by one's natural self, as it removes higher levels of responsibility. and I most certainly don't think it's a product in God's plan.
ReplyDelete