Grace Blog
The Kingdom, the Community, and You, Part 3
This week, I have been writing about a kingdom hermeneutic–a way to interpret and shape life according to Christ who is our King and the kingdom’s advance in and through our lives. In Part 1, I focused on the preeminence of the King and how His kingdom should prioritize our thinking, inflame passionate affections, and pattern our living. In Part 2, I turned our attention to how pursuing the kingdom causes us to embrace a kingdom-ethic where we are considering others more highly than ourselves. Christ-like community takes shape when kingdom-focused disciples are embracing their identity and purpose together to pray and live out, “Your kingdom come.”
In this third and final part, I want to think about us, and in particular some points of application as it pertains to parts 1 and 2. This is crucial because we can have many “amen” moments in affirming theological principles without ever experiencing any “oh me” moments–times when we are confronted with realities requiring repentance. We are always susceptible to reverting back to our own little kingdom’s where we are king and the world revolves around us–our wants, our needs, our perspectives, our priorities, etc. When Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” we should not forget that this is a present command; in other words, repentance is required regularly not only for the advance of the kingdom but its presence as well.
There are questions we ought continually to ask ourselves, especially when it comes to the direction of our lives or our church. Are we thinking of the kingdom of God first or ourselves? Are we trying to advance our agenda or God’s agenda? When it comes to others, are we looking to take advantage of what they can do for us or taking the advantage of the opportunity to do much in blessing them?
Kingdom confrontations are going to happen. In each of us are preferences, traditions, felt needs, and a sense of entitlement, all of which serve as filters to our worldview and influence the decisions we make. They are not all bad, but we must recognize that there will be times when, if we are humbly submitted to the rule and reign of Jesus in our lives, areas will be exposed where we are rivaling or even rebelling inwardly against the very thing we are praying for!
I am convinced that God has great things in store for Grace Baptist Church, but in order for us to fully embrace all of what He will do through His church, we must cultivate a passion for the kingdom, a priority to serve others, and a daily practice of repentance as we together seek to glorify Him through radically-devoted, gospel-saturated, kingdom-advancing lives. When we have God’s perspective for our church, we think little of ourselves, more of others, and always for the glory of Jesus through the building of His church!
Labels: Community, Kingdom of God, Repentance | posted by TimBrister at 7:51 pm | Categories: Community, Jesus |
The Kingdom, the Community, and You, Part 1
Over the past several weeks, we have been discussing the future of community groups in the life of Grace Baptist Church. Last Sunday night, I presented the nuts and bolts of a Great Commission vision focusing on the roles that community groups and church planting would play in our future. The elders and pastors recognize that this is a bold and aggressive vision–one that is exceedingly beyond us. In a time like this, there are real temptation and challenges we face, including facing our fears, owning up to our comfort zones, challenging our preferences and feelings in light of Scripture, and just simply counting the cost of being a faithful follower of Christ full of faith in His promises and power to perform might things in our midst.
One of the things I encourage you to consider is Christ as King and the advance of His kingdom, specifically as it relates to our lives. When Christ inaugurated His kingdom, the kingdom of God was tied to repentance. Radical changes were being made of cosmic proportions. A quick word-study on “kingdom” in the gospels will show the majority focusing on entrance into the kingdom and what it is like. When God establishes the kingdom in our hearts, it will come about through the changing of our thinking, our believing, and our living. It is nothing short of a reversal of the world’s pattern of thinking about life and conforming our lives to the pattern of God’s revealed will in Scripture. Therefore, when we pray, “Your kingdom come . . .” we are also saying, “Lord, reveal whatever is in my life that needs to change so that you have complete rule and reign in my life.” To pray for Christ’s kingdom to come without submitting and surrendering to His rights as King over our lives makes the Lord’s Prayer impersonal and our repentance superficial.
Practically speaking, daily repentance in light of God’s kingdom involves a new perspective with new priorities for our lives. Outside of Christ, we are king. The world revolves around us–what we need, what we want, who we like to have in our lives, etc. It’s a life shaped by comfort and ease, seeking a happiness with daily attempts to make the circumstances fair, painless, and pleasant. We determine our priorities because we are convinced we have the best perspective for our lives.
Until the King and His Kingdom comes.
When that happens, everything changes. Our world does not revolve around us but around Christ–what He wants for our lives, what He requires of us, and how to please Him. It’s not a comfortable or easy life; rather, it comes with cost and is illustrated by a disciple taking up his cross daily to follow Jesus. We don’t seek to make life easy, but do seek to make it glorious. As we understand His perspective for our lives, we then go about the business of repentance (changing) so that our priorities are His priorities, our passions are His passions, our purpose in life is arrested by his death on the cross.
Principally, what should dominate our lives when Christ is King is the advance of His kingdom. Jesus told His disciples to “seek first the kingdom of God” (Matt. 6:33). Nothing should have a higher priority than His rule and reign in and through our lives. Even the most respectful and legitimate reasons fall short to the preeminence of the kingdom. At one point in his ministry, Jesus called a would-be disciple to follow him. The man offered what seemed to be a most reasonable excuse–the need to bury His father. In a moment some might call divine insensitivity, Jesus told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:59-62). There are some things spiritually alive people can do that spiritually dead people cannot, namely proclaiming the kingdom. Consequently, our entire lives should be invested in the kingdom, knowing that anyone who puts his hands to the plow and looking back is not fit for the kingdom of God.
Followers of Christ know that “it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). Because of that reality, our lives should be radically different from the world around us. Things like selling our possessions, giving to the needy, storing up treasures in heaven rather than places where thieves and moth have access, for example. When we have discovered that God has given us the treasure of His Son, our affections should follow our chief possession. When the kingdom’s advance is our leading priority, we will know something of what it means to “walk worth of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12).
In my next post, I will share how the preeminence of the kingdom in our lives leads us to a passionate commitment to community.
Labels: Community, Gospel, Jesus, Kingdom of God | posted by TimBrister at 2:01 pm | Categories: Community, Gospel, Jesus |
