Community and the Kingdom of God
I'm going to continue some of my musings on the Kingdom of God and community. In a nutshell, you'd say we're simply dissecting the church and the way it ought to be.
Community inside the church is far different than most places, in part because we should be such a diverse group that normal categorizing fails (or it should, as Martin Luther King famously noted- Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour of the week)! There should be all varieties of people- race, socio-economic status, education levels, work type, age, gender- in the church. It should be an eclectic mix of people who come together not because we like being together, but because we are each subservient to Jesus Christ and drawn together because of Him. It's not about the music (rock, organ, chant, hymns, orchestra, a cappella, Psalms, or otherwise), the charisma of the preacher (because let's admit it: we like hearing preacher's who engage us and often choose our church based on that), the aesthetic beauty of the building (a utilitarian gym or comfortable home serves just as well as an ornate cathedral), the program offerings (a great children's, youth, senior adult, or any other ministry shouldn't be the biggest factor- it helps and is important, but must not be the primary reason), or even our friend's being there cannot be our chief motive for becoming part of a local body of Christ!
Jesus' call was to "die to self," or become second, and then follow Him. He demonstrated the importance of church by constantly being there throughout His life and ministry. If I were literally following Jesus in the 1st century, I would have walked through many Jewish church gatherings in the Temple at Jerusalem as well as local synagogues. But, His being there never distracted from His core purpose- advancing the Kingdom of God (since if there was one thing Jesus talked A LOT about, it's the Kingdom of God). But, today we allow more things to distract us than we do in our core mission. Someone gets upset because something happened (or didn't happen) in worship, so we work towards eliminating their bone of contention. Then someone else has issues because of the way we fixed the earlier issue, so we re-tune and try again. Then someone else has an issue....and on and on. Each of these issues might be important (and indeed they are to the person who's bringing it up!), but they distract from the church's core purpose- bringing in the Kingdom of God on earth. Yeah, Rick Warren's got a lot of good things to say in The Purpose Driven Church, and I agree with the importance of each of those elements (worship, discipleship, fellowship, service, and mission), but if we get caught up trying to follow a model instead of being the Kingdom of God, what good does it do us?
And there's the crux of the issue- what does it mean to be the Kingdom of God on earth? Jesus told us to pray for it ("Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven..."), but what is it? Simply put, the Kingdom of God is God's will being done here in the same way it is in heaven, fully. For the church (and each of us in the church) it means being vulnerable people (authenticity and openness), living in community with each other (loving, encouraging, sharing, correcting, and doing life together), placing God's glory and renown first (worship helps us move towards this if we allow our focus to move beyond preferences and tastes and into a me third philosophy of life), basing all we do and say on the truth of Scripture (the actual Scripture, not someone's interpretation of it- it is the very, living Word of God!), and seeking out and bringing in those who need the light, warmth, and hope that is only found in Jesus Christ. The way I see it, that helps us fulfill the greatest commandments at one fell swoop- because we are placing God first, others second, and our own wants, desires, and needs third. Do many churches do this? Sadly, no. Instead of putting things in right priority and understanding that my needs, wants, and desires must be subservient to the Kingdom of God coming on earth, I place my needs, wants, and desires first with the advancement of the Kingdom of God falling into place only if the first is met.
Tragically, that is what the world sees- and why we are failing epically at the task Jesus left us. What would it take to reverse the tide? People living for something other than themselves; moving beyond selfishness into a mindset where the advancement of God's name, renown, and Kingdom is the most important thing. In fact, you could say it's about becoming "whatever it takes" people who consider everything else skuballa (the exact word Paul used to describe his religious exploits versus the grace of God in Phillipians 3:8) compared to being and doing what God has called them to. So, which are you? One of the self-centered, church has to meet my needs people; someone who is sold out, willing to do and bear whatever it takes to advance the Kingdom of God; or somewhere else entirely? My prayer is that as we journey towards Christ-likeness that He would mold you further from the pattern of the world and instead conform you to Him, because then we will be willing to drop everything, sell anything, forget our preferences, do whatever it takes people who are bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth...
Community inside the church is far different than most places, in part because we should be such a diverse group that normal categorizing fails (or it should, as Martin Luther King famously noted- Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour of the week)! There should be all varieties of people- race, socio-economic status, education levels, work type, age, gender- in the church. It should be an eclectic mix of people who come together not because we like being together, but because we are each subservient to Jesus Christ and drawn together because of Him. It's not about the music (rock, organ, chant, hymns, orchestra, a cappella, Psalms, or otherwise), the charisma of the preacher (because let's admit it: we like hearing preacher's who engage us and often choose our church based on that), the aesthetic beauty of the building (a utilitarian gym or comfortable home serves just as well as an ornate cathedral), the program offerings (a great children's, youth, senior adult, or any other ministry shouldn't be the biggest factor- it helps and is important, but must not be the primary reason), or even our friend's being there cannot be our chief motive for becoming part of a local body of Christ!
Jesus' call was to "die to self," or become second, and then follow Him. He demonstrated the importance of church by constantly being there throughout His life and ministry. If I were literally following Jesus in the 1st century, I would have walked through many Jewish church gatherings in the Temple at Jerusalem as well as local synagogues. But, His being there never distracted from His core purpose- advancing the Kingdom of God (since if there was one thing Jesus talked A LOT about, it's the Kingdom of God). But, today we allow more things to distract us than we do in our core mission. Someone gets upset because something happened (or didn't happen) in worship, so we work towards eliminating their bone of contention. Then someone else has issues because of the way we fixed the earlier issue, so we re-tune and try again. Then someone else has an issue....and on and on. Each of these issues might be important (and indeed they are to the person who's bringing it up!), but they distract from the church's core purpose- bringing in the Kingdom of God on earth. Yeah, Rick Warren's got a lot of good things to say in The Purpose Driven Church, and I agree with the importance of each of those elements (worship, discipleship, fellowship, service, and mission), but if we get caught up trying to follow a model instead of being the Kingdom of God, what good does it do us?
And there's the crux of the issue- what does it mean to be the Kingdom of God on earth? Jesus told us to pray for it ("Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven..."), but what is it? Simply put, the Kingdom of God is God's will being done here in the same way it is in heaven, fully. For the church (and each of us in the church) it means being vulnerable people (authenticity and openness), living in community with each other (loving, encouraging, sharing, correcting, and doing life together), placing God's glory and renown first (worship helps us move towards this if we allow our focus to move beyond preferences and tastes and into a me third philosophy of life), basing all we do and say on the truth of Scripture (the actual Scripture, not someone's interpretation of it- it is the very, living Word of God!), and seeking out and bringing in those who need the light, warmth, and hope that is only found in Jesus Christ. The way I see it, that helps us fulfill the greatest commandments at one fell swoop- because we are placing God first, others second, and our own wants, desires, and needs third. Do many churches do this? Sadly, no. Instead of putting things in right priority and understanding that my needs, wants, and desires must be subservient to the Kingdom of God coming on earth, I place my needs, wants, and desires first with the advancement of the Kingdom of God falling into place only if the first is met.
Tragically, that is what the world sees- and why we are failing epically at the task Jesus left us. What would it take to reverse the tide? People living for something other than themselves; moving beyond selfishness into a mindset where the advancement of God's name, renown, and Kingdom is the most important thing. In fact, you could say it's about becoming "whatever it takes" people who consider everything else skuballa (the exact word Paul used to describe his religious exploits versus the grace of God in Phillipians 3:8) compared to being and doing what God has called them to. So, which are you? One of the self-centered, church has to meet my needs people; someone who is sold out, willing to do and bear whatever it takes to advance the Kingdom of God; or somewhere else entirely? My prayer is that as we journey towards Christ-likeness that He would mold you further from the pattern of the world and instead conform you to Him, because then we will be willing to drop everything, sell anything, forget our preferences, do whatever it takes people who are bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth...
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