July 5, 2010
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A New Beginning
B"H
After such a long hiatus I want to revive this blog site if there are still any interested readers. I have a number of topics I'd like to explore so I will try to post something here about once a week.
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As many of my former readers will remember I am mostly concerned about how the Community of Believers in Jesus lives in our present age. For several years I have been reading and researching the topic of race relations and the place that the Body of Messiah should have in the discusson. I have stated repeatedly that I believe the disciples of Jesus have a mandate to lead in this crucial area because of the dynamic of the New Birth. Although many of the secular writers and thinkers may pose some very insightful thoughts and critiques, none of them has the power or ability to produce the Brave New World they quest for. In order for a new world order to emerge, we will need not only a new worldview and a radical change of perspective in our thinking and our relationships, but we will need individuals with new hearts and renewed minds fit for the task.
In all honesty, it remains to be seen whether the disciples of Jesus, which is the Church at large, will be any more successful in fulfilling the call to build a better alternative to this present world system. When Jesus began His ministry He stated that the Kingdom of GOD was at hand. How often does one hear any mention of The Kingdom of GOD these days? The Lord's Prayer opens with the petition that the will of GOD as expressed in Heaven would also be realized here on Earth.
If the prayers of Jesus are to ever find fulfillment in human history then it seems to this writer that there needs to be significant changes in both our thinking and lifestyles. There is a huge gap at present between what is and what should be.
I want to invite all of my readers to chime in here and add your perspective to the conversation. How might our experience of the presence of the Kingdom effect change towards a greater demonstration of GOD's love and care for the world and all of its inhabitants? In other words, I'd like to discuss these questions:
Does our demonstration of the Kingdom match our declaration of it? If so, how so?
If, on the other hand, the conclusion is negative and our collective witness testifies against the presence of the Kingdom, why is this so and what, if anything, can we do about it?
Blessings,
Shlomo
Comments (2)
Hello Schlomo. I am very interested in your topic of research.
In response to the question, "Does our demonstration of the kingdom match our declaration of it?' :
I would have to say yes to that question, but I'm not going to stop seeking more of the kingdom in my every day life. As you know, the kingdom of God is at hand, but also is not yet. I have seen some amazing kingdom healings, people being saved, deliverance, and much more in my days, but I have also grieved when my prayers were not answered the way I thought. What I've been experiencing more of recently than ever is more of God's kingdom love in my heart for people and even for myself. That is the most amazing thing, because where there is more love there is more of God. I pray for more of that and more love and acceptance of people right where they are at, and no matter what race or culture. We are all part of the human race and made in the image of God.
Keep up the research. I would love to hear more. Linda
Does our declaration of the kingdom match our demonstration of it? In my own experience, in the churches I have been a part of, declaration and demonstration matched up, but had a limited scope. I declared to people a king who took my place on the cross, and forgave my sins. I demonstrated to people that as a result of being forgiven, I had a different life, where I could through God's help love Him and love my neighbor. This declaration and demonstration reflected genuine encounters with God, but did not reach all spheres of the human experience.
In the past few years, I've been grappling with the existence of systemic sin in our world. What does the gospel, the kingdom of God, say about the more intractable issues of our day, the reality that racism still has profound effects on the nation, and in my own town and church; or the reality that ways we create wealth have a great human cost, measured by a growing gap between the rich and poor. My emphasis on personal forgiveness distracted me from seeing these issues as central to God's kingdom work. When we consider the gospel story, Jesus had authority and power to deal not just with our interpersonal mis-steps, but also with the toughest issues of his day (poverty, sickness, the powerlessness that Jewish people felt under Rome's thumb, or the abuse of others in the name of making it in that Roman system) and when he was put to death for subverting the powers that be, God raised him up from the dead, declaring to the world He would continue to "Set the captives free" through His son Jesus. (The biblical reference here is to Luke 4, where Jesus is reading Isaiah and announcing its fulfillment)
All this to say that I'm in accord with your sentiment, Shlomo, that Jesus people ought to be the ones not just announcing racial reconciliation as a good idea, but walking it out through the power of the gospel. And I get pretty upset that people who do not follow Jesus seem to understand the importance of this issue more than Christians do. The way you have phrased the issue suggests a lack of integrity on the Christian community, that we declare a kingdom that we don't live out. I would also like to introduce the concept of a lack of imagination. We can't imagine that the problem of race could be better, and we don't really come to terms with the fact that Jesus would place this at the top of his agenda.
What do we do about this lack of integrity and imagination? First we have to name the small and big ways that racism is present in our churches and communities, in order to break the myths that says racism no longer exists, or that it exists but it's too difficult to fix. Second, I'm going to reach for Perkins and Rice on this one: cross cultural partnerships informed by God's grace and emboldened by kingdom imagination. (the reference here is to "More Than Equals")