God's Kingdom

On my way into work today I ran into an interesting group of folks.  Outside of the stadium I vend beer at was a group of men, bullhorns in hand, telling passers by that they are all sinners and deserve Hell.  

I don’t want to say their message is wrong, because technically it isn’t, and their actions, while probably not the most effective message for evangelism and probably lead to more harm than good; if lead by the spirit, I really have no basis for criticism.  If they are in fact preaching because God told them to, my prideful thoughts about “the right way” to evangelize and the “best way” to make disciples need to pass away with the rest of my sin.

When we look at the life of Jesus, especially when he first comes on the scene, we see him doing something similar:

“After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!’ ”

– Mark 1: 14-15

Jesus goes into Galilee, stands in the middle of the street, and says we need to repent because God’s Kingdom is near.

Just like the passers by at the stadium, I bet people walking by Jesus had some smart remarks of their own.  The Jews in Galilee of course knew about the Kingdom God was going to bring.  The problem is they misunderstood what the Kingdom was, and how it would come.  I’d think a few people would think, “The Kingdom is near?  We’re still under Roman rule, and if God’s Kingdom is near, I don’t believe it.”  

Still others might believe Him, but think “the Kingdom is near, I’m going to go get my sword…” thinking that God’s Kingdom was going to come by force – restoring Israel to the world power “it should be” and were anxious to be a part of what God was "going to do."

Both we’re wrong.  God’s Kingdom came – and it came in humility.  It came being born in a manger, it came working a blue collar job, it came into town riding on a donkey, it came to die a criminal’s death.

God’s Kingdom came.

So what exactly is God’s Kingdom?

"This, then, is how you should pray:

'Our Father in heaven, 
   

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.'

'Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.' ” 

– Matthew 6: 9-10, 25, 33

God’s Kingdom is where His will is being done.  If we seek God’s Kingdom first, before we seek a great job, before we seek a great spouse, before we seek anything of "importance", that’s when our food, drink, and clothing will be provided.  We have to seek out where God is working, where His Spirit is moving.

The thing is we try too often to build God’s kingdom.  I know for a fact I’ve heard that phrase murmured in churches before.  Jesus said God’s Kingdom is near, and we should seek it yet too often we try to build it on our own.  It’s easier that way.  It’s more convenient to just try and build it.  But that isn’t always the case.  We have to seek where God's will is being done, and make doing so our first priority.

Trust

It must be acknowledged that the world would look completely different if Adam and Eve would have never eaten from the forbidden tree.  Our concept of work would be completely different.  Women, a sin free world means no more child labor pains.  Men, the world wouldn’t be fighting back when we would go out and subdue it.  Some people think we would be able to talk with animals.  We would never die, and would share in an intimacy with God so deep that it’s we can’t even put words to how close that relationship would be.

So let’s take a deeper look at the story:

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had                                                          made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."

First off, we have to note that Eve, first and foremost is a little off base.  We know God told Adam that he is not to eat from the tree.  God may have told Eve this too, or he may have trusted Adam to relay this message to his wife.  Nevertheless, Eve believes that if she touches the tree she will die, but that isn’t what God actually said.

Somewhere along the lines, God’s word was twisted.  Adam may have had good intentions… He may have added that little bit in as an extra precaution to keep the law.  He knew he wasn’t supposed to eat from the tree, so he told his wife, “babe, don’t eat from it.  In fact, don’t touch it.  Check that, don’t even look at it, actually don’t even think about it.”  But that isn’t what God actually said.

What happened here was a lot like what the Pharisees had done.  They started out with good intentions too.  They saw the actions of their friends heading down a road that would lead to actions that God wouldn’t approve on.  So when told “not to work on the Sabbath”, they added all kinds of extra rules to prevent any work from being done.  You could only walk so far, you could only do this much, you can’t do this, you have to do this, you can’t do this, ect.  But that isn’t what God actually said.

And when Jesus came, part of his mission was showing us how to live a life that pleases God – yet many of his actions seemed offensive to the Pharisees.  The Pharisees in Jesus time didn’t come up with all of these rules – their ancestors made most of them – but they still play by them, they still enforce them, they still expect everyone who is a “good Jew” to play by them too.  Jesus didn’t always play by their rules.  He went by what God actually said.

We’re just as guilty as Adam, and we’re just as guilty as the Pharisees.  We make “rules” about alcohol, we setup systems for “proper Christian dating”, we make up all kinds of laws to live by that are supposed to bring us closer to God, but often times we don’t know what he actually says about the topic.

If we take Eve’s example, the door for temptation is open wide when we aren’t sure of what God says.  Sin came into the world because she wasn’t certain of what humans were told.  The serpent was partly right; Eve wouldn’t die if she touched the tree.  And if she believes that laying a hand on the tree will kill her, and she touches it and lives, it opens up the door for her to loose trust in everything she believe God has said.

Yes, if you are under 21, or have an addiction to alcohol and are going through a treatment program it probably isn’t a good idea for you to go to a bar.  As a Christian I need to support you in your decision, no matter the cause, to set those standards for yourself – and as a Christian I need to know that you also have the ability to responsibly enjoy a beer every now and then. 

But like Adam and the Pharisees we have the tendency to set up these rules for ourselves and others, not recognizing the gifts we are missing out on.  What if the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the coolest tree ever? The best tree for climbing, the best tree for building the best tree house in, the best tree to lay in the shade under?  Should we build a brick wall around it and miss out on the coolest tree ever, so we can’t eat from it’s fruit?  Should we make all kinds of laws about the Sabbath, the gift God gave us to rest and glorify him, and make it about us and what we can and can’t do?  Absolutely not! 

We need to start learning what God actually says about things.  We need to know his thoughts on things – and that might take some work and effort.  We have to read his word.  We must seek his spirit through prayer.  What are those brick walls in your life?  What rules have you added to your routine that twist what God said? 

Creation

I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve tried to read The Bible all the way through, cover to cover.  It seems like every year I decide that I’m going to do it and every year, come January 3^rd, I’m usually a day or two behind, which eventually leads to me giving up on the process, or worse, forgetting about the endeavor altogether. 

I’ve read Genesis chapter 1 more times than I can remember… Maybe because it’s the starting point in all of my failed reading attempts…  Maybe it’s because I argue about the theology behind it more than I should…  It might just be because it’s the first chapter in the entire Bible, but Genesis 1 is one of my favorite chapters in The Bible.  Not only do we get to read about God creating the world and everything in it, but also we see God commission man with a really neat task.  It’s a very humbling, very inspiring chapter that I can go to whenever I need a perspective check.

Nestled in between the great creating power of God, and him commanding me to “be fruitful and multiply” (Men, can I get an Amen?), we get verse 27.

            “So God created man in his own image,

                        in the image of God he created him;

                        male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27

The idea of being “created in God’s image” can raise a handful of questions?  Does that mean God has a physical body?  How is it different than ours?  Does He have both mommy and daddy parts?  Is God doing the creating, or is there another he that is creating in God’s image?  This verse, packed in between power and purpose is often overlooked, but holds such value when it comes to unpacking what it means to be created in the image of God.

We see right from the beginning God creating a world where man and woman are created equally.  While I do feel God has set certain roles aside for men, and other roles for women (sorry stay at home dads), both sexes are equally important.  God, right from the beginning sets the stage for both men and women to play equal parts in representing his image on Earth.  It’s much harder to see the nurturing, alluring, caring side of God, when you look into the heart of a man.  And when you look for the image of God in a female counterpart, you generally don’t see the fierce warrior, the provider, the speak-truth-into-darkness side of God that you should see in men.  Both sexes are necessary.  Both are equal.

Because we were created in God’s image we have a higher worth than the rest of creation.  Out of all the plants and animals, he points to us as the aspect of creation most like him.  We are set aside to subdue the earth.  We can relate to him better because even if it’s just a small portion, we know a part of us is like him. 

But how does this effect our perception of others?

It’s easy to build our self-esteem, constantly reminding ourselves that we are created in the image of God.  But if unchecked, this mentality could lead to a pretentious view of oneself.  It’s easier to believe I’m created in God’s image, but to believe the crack heads, the pimps, and the prostitutes are too?  It’s a bit harder than just using scripture to fluff up our self worth.

Too often I work diligently at appearing to appreciate someone while knocking them down in my mind.  I’ll catch myself making fun of people when they aren’t around.  I think highly of myself, but will knock the actions of others, even friends, when I’m alone in my thoughts.  Too often we assign a lower value to someone, based solely on their appearance, their actions, or  their place in society. 

How can I work on this?  How do I begin to train myself to see God’s image in even the lowest of the low?  I think it begins with retraining our thought processes.  A smarter man than me told me: “every time you are tempted to demean someone in your

thoughts bless them instead.  Replace what you were about to say with ‘That person

has unimaginable value as a bearer of God’s image.’ Or ‘I recognize the worth of that person as reflecting my Fatherʼs image.’ “

It’s more difficult than it seems.  As we slowly begin retraining our minds, we really begin to see how often we knock God’s creation, God’s image.  I’m working on it myself, and I hope you can begin to as well.

Choices

As a way to prepare myself for life after the Lost finale on May 24^th I’ve started to look for a new show to “get into”.  The show that I’ve been following for six seasons will come to an end, probably leaving me with more questions than ever. It honestly will be a closing point to all the Lost parties I’ve been to over the years, a reminder of the season I missed when I was running a Young Life club the same night the show was on and how I would stay up till 4 a.m. waiting for it to post online, and an end to the discussions about the future of the show, and the spiritual images the show contains.

Outside of NBC’s Thursday comedy lineup, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia & South Park (programs a good Christian man shouldn’t watch anyway, but does because the writing/satire/social commentary is too great to pass for “moral” reasons) I didn’t really watch any dramas on a regular basis.  I don’t know what drew me to it, but recently I’ve stumbled upon ABC’s FlashForward.

For those who aren’t familiar with the program, the first episode showcased a mysterious event that cause everyone on the planet to simultaneously lose consciousness for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, during which people appear to see visions of their lives approximately six months into the future – a global “flashforward”.  FBI agents Mark Benford and Demetri Noh begin the process of determining what happened, why, and whether it will happen again.

The episode last week [two episodes ago, since an episode will air between the time I write this and the time it’s published] really got me thinking.  Demetri was trapped in a Saw-esque device that was set to shoot him if Bedford did not reach him in time.  The backdrop of the scene was a giant chalkboard that pinpointed one event, and dependant on how that situation played out, it could possibly lead to a number of different outcomes.  Those events had different forks leading to other possible events creating this giant map of how a single choice can affect the lives of not only the person in the situation, but the lives of everyone else around them.

It’s a modern take on the butterfly effect idea.  And that, combined with a conversation this week got me thinking:

I’m at a time in my life where the decisions I’m making now have greater meaning than they did, say 5 years ago.  For example, lets take the hot button issue of marriage and dive into it.  We can do this with any issues we’re facing, but this one seems fitting for a majority of my readers.

Lets start with this whopper:  A few months ago I decided to stop leading Young Life.  This pretty much means my life is going in a different direction compared to the people still involved with that mission.  My chances of dating and then marrying one of the gals still involved is slimmer now than it was before I left (which, I admit, was slim to begin with), but because I am not leading anymore, it opens up the door for me to begin to get to know another group of people on a more intimate level, opening up many new, and equally scary, doors when it comes to meeting a pursing a woman.

Also I’ve recently shifted paradigms when it comes to issues dealing with family.  I’m starting to rethink the “she’s cute and loves Jesus, therefore she’s perfect for me” mentality.  Personality types also come into play.  I’m naturally unorganized and all over the place.  If I date / marry someone with the same attributes, the bills might not ever get paid on time, the kids would never make it to school, and diner would never get made.  I’m not trying to pigeon hole my future wife into rolls she has to play, but rather acknowledging my shortcomings, and narrowing down the search to help me build the strongest family I can.  If I hadn’t made the choice to really try and live this mentality out, the direction of my life would be going in a different direction than it is now.

Other things effect this as well…  If I decide to go back to school next fall or not.  If I go to that one social gather or not… If I start a new job or not…  These choices, whether made deliberately or on a sub-conscious level affect the direction of my life’s path.  They effect the people I meet, the people I spend time with, and begin to narrow down the possible girls I can spend my time with.

But it isn’t just dating and marriage that are effected by this.  I mean, that decision, in and of itself, is just a major milestone in shifting the story of my life down a specific path.  5 years ago, choosing to go to college where I did was that major milestone.  Five years from now a new major decision might come out of the woodwork taking my life down another specific path. 

God has a plan for me.  God knows where my choices are leading me and I have faith that the decisions I am making in real time will only lead me to a path where He is glorified the most.  I don’t think He’ll have it any other way.  But I can’t see through the fourth dimension.  Time for you and me is linear.  Our lives are a series of actions and reactions that have significant impacts on our future. 

The cliché question is “if we could see 6 months into the future, would you want to?”

Of course I would.  It would be easy.  We as people want security in knowing our futures.  The majority of us would take comfort in knowing the direction our choices were taking us.  Again, it would be easy.

God didn’t design it that way.  He doesn’t reveal to us His full plan in one lump sum.  We may get glimpses through prophesy, but still, the full picture isn’t given.  We have to live life, in faith, that our God is a father who loves us, a daddy who cares about us, a papa who wants to bless us.  Our paths might be rough at some point, but that doesn’t mean our father isn’t there taking care of us.  Have faith in His goodness.  Have faith in his plan.  Have faith.