This is originally the ending of part three of my series on “the Style of Subversion” to God’s Kingdom? I’m republishing it as a stand-alone piece because I want it to be more accessible to those looking for practical ways of embracing the Kingdom.

So…what does it actually LOOK like to embody an alternative? How do we lovingly resist the Powers as we invite people to move into God’s Kingdom? This is a big question. For all the books Brazos Press puts out, very few deal with practical realities. The recent books about New Monasticism and the works of folks like Shane Claiborne help scratch that itch, but still more work needs to be done in imagining tangible realities. Here’s an introductory list of practices/activities/experiments that help develop a communal life of loving resistance. If two or more people were to engage in the following sorts of things together as a regular practice, it would go much further than a mountain of rhetoric and challenge the status quo more than voting:

1. proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ
2. tithe relationally
3. discerningly engage in civil disobedience
4. confess your sins to one another, and proclaim forgiveness
5. live communally
6. establish regular rhythms of prayer with others (here’s a nifty and free resource)
7. thoughtfully participate in the Lord’s Supper
8. be family with people that are in a different socio-economic and/or ethnic situation than you
9. get in the way of violence
10. plant a garden (for extra credit, practice guerrilla gardening)
11. spend less money
12. spend justly
13. or just don’t spend money at all
14. ride a bicycle or take the bus
15. draw attention to the sins of society
16. lovingly challenge the sins of the Church
17. invite strangers to dinner
18. have a guest room open to those in need
19. practice mutual submission
20. read Scripture in community and struggle together to put it into practice
21. practice communal discernment
22. embrace a sense of place in ministry
23. learn the stories of marginalized people…especially your brothers and sisters in the developing world
24. pray for political authorities
25. share good things with the poor
26. give the wealthy (including yourself) an opportunity to divest of their wealth
27. remember, in all things love

About Mark Van Steenwyk

Mark Van Steenwyk is a member of Missio Dei. He is a speaker, writer, educator, and grassroots organizer. With the support of the Central Plains Mennonite Conference, he travels to radical and intentional communities around the country to help network and offer support.