Kingdom in practice – Page 2 – Seeking the kingdom

God’s kingdom and politics

What’s the relationship between the kingdom of God and the power of the state?

Mixing religion and politics could start an argument, but we can’t avoid the gnarly question.

How should Christians interact with the power of the country we live in? Should we be politicians, law makers, advisors, ambassadors, judges? Should we lobby politicians over issues like same-sex marriage? Should we oppose institutional injustice like incarcerating people on Manus Island?

Should churches promote and fund activist agendas to challenge government policy? Or should we do those things only as individual citizens? Or is this whole thing diverting us from our calling? Continue reading “God’s kingdom and politics”

The kingdom and personal power: more than conquerors?

Does “the kingdom of God” mean I have a life of health and prosperity because I’m reigning with Christ?

Following E. W. Kenyon, Kenneth Copeland and others proclaimed that God has given the kingdom to his little flock (Luke 12:32). We are seated with Christ on the throne, with everything under our feet (Ephesians 1:20-23). If we maintain this positive confession, nothing can touch us. Sickness is gone: it was part of the curse from which we’re redeemed (Galatians 3:13). Wealth is guaranteed: it all belongs to our Father who is pleased to give it to his children. Because Jesus conquered, we’re more than conquerors (Romans 8:37).

Is this what Jesus meant by the kingdom of God? Continue reading “The kingdom and personal power: more than conquerors?”

The kingdom and personal evangelism

How do we present “the good news of the kingdom”?

I grew up in a church were we didn’t talk much about the kingdom of God. If we did, we thought of it as something internal, like putting Jesus on the throne of my heart. We asked individuals to make that decision, to pray the sinner’s prayer by which they would be born again. Isn’t that how someone enters the kingdom? Continue reading “The kingdom and personal evangelism”

The kingdom and prophetic engagement: speaking truth to power?

Does being the kingdom of God mean speaking out against abuses of power in the current political system?

Quick: give me a Bible verse on social justice. What comes to mind?

Continue reading “The kingdom and prophetic engagement: speaking truth to power?”

So what is the kingdom?

How does the kingdom of God translate into twenty-first century Western democratic life?

Open 1 John 4:7-12.

Search the internet and you’ll find kingdom of God used for whatever a speaker wants it to mean, e.g.:

social justice: action to set right the injustices of the world
personal evangelism: convincing people to put Jesus on the throne of their heart
personal victory: I’m ruling and reigning with Christ, more than a conqueror
spiritual warfare: taking a stand to rail against spiritual forces of evil
political activism: lobbying / influencing human governments
prophetic engagement: delivering God’s message to leaders; speaking truth to power
the millennium: the reign of Christ for 1,000 years
Israel: the nation that has represented God’s reign
the church: the community that recognizes and implements Christ’s authority
salvation: personally responding with faith to God’s grace.

The kingdom of God contains a wide spectrum of activities and ideas, but none of these on its own is the kingdom.

White light consists of the whole spectrum: red, green, blue, and in-between colours. If you think white light is red, you’re wrong: you’re wearing filters that stop you from seeing the green and blue. The problem is that most of us do wear filters that stop us seeing the multi-faceted nature of the kingdom of God. We fail to grasp the breadth of its spectrum.

So what is the kingdom of God?

Continue reading “So what is the kingdom?”