What are the changing ideas of the mission of God’s Kingdom. Where did we begin, where are we presently and where are we going?
This is the first of a three part series.
Invasion
At its core, the mission of Christ was intended to invade the natural order of the universe, a peaceful yet powerful revolution.
The dream of Christ was to substitute grace for karma.
To stop the normal cycle of ‘an eye for an eye’. To put an end to giving everyone exactly what he or she deserved. Jesus suggested that “the kingdom of God” was not something absent, distant or foreign. The kingdom surrounded all of life. Jesus taught that every second of the day, humanity is faced with a choice: live according to Caesar, the established order of power, wealth and system; or live the kingdom of God, a seemingly idealistic and naïve version of the world.
The choices could not be unified.
The choices oppose one another, and every second of the day, both options stand available to be chosen by anyone.
The Mission of God’s Kingdom was something new
A new story was being told, at once counter-intuitive, and yet so much more interesting.
Honestly, it confused those who first heard the message. He did not call for the old expected reigious piety. Instead Jesus asked his followers to relearn what faith might mean, he called others to join with the poor and oppressed the foreigner and slave. He did not permit people to simply write off others as victims of social stratum, chance, destiny or the gods.
Instead Christ asked everyone to take responsibility for that which they were not responsible – one another.
Suddenly everyone is my neighbour, not just the person who lives in my home-town, everyone included even the ones with the cult-like beliefs from the next province over.
The message upset the structure of society
The message challenged the individual as well as the community.
Unscrupulous business practices are tougher with my friend than my enemy.
Relationships takes on significance when our partners are to be treated like family rather than mere objects to meet our sexual needs.
Power that was usually used to gain friends and influence people was now to be wasted on the hopeless causes of poverty and inequality.
It sounded like the loopiest idealism ever considered.
The Mission of God’s Kingdom was insane.
Dangerous to politicians, ridiculous to the powerful, unworkable to philosophers and yet still, so very, very compelling. Everyone was invited in. A person only had to be bold enough to believe that acting on the compelling vision of Jesus could actually mean a change in the way of the world. The bar was not set very high for entry, believers were simply asked to attempt to live it out loud.
Yet Jesus also knew the stakes, if you followed the rules of the kingdom of Caesar, then all would be well, if instead you began living as though the ‘kingdom of God’ was actual reality you were bound to get into trouble. It would mean crosses in Palestine, torture in Turkey and rubber bullets in Alabama.
The Mission of God’s Kingdom was born.
After Christ finally co-opted power through the most unlikely of methods – his execution and surprising resurrection, the church accepted that mission. They chose to relearn what faith might mean.
To act as though the kingdom was present, they needed to forgive enemies, turn the other cheek, share what was rightfully their own, and trust that God was for everyone, all the world – not just their little ‘blessed’ corner.
Many did empty themselves of years of religious dogma. They relearned what it would mean to believe, they attempted to live it out loud. And somewhere in the very human mess of it all, they found themselves partnered with God to change the natural order of the universe.