Scripture, the Kingdom and the Historical “Church”
Written by Daniel Tidwell : December 7, 2007
I want to clarify a few ideas that guide what I have written in some other posts. Primarily, I want to found my assertions of the present state of the Kingdom of God in the scriptures from which I derive the ideas.
First, I affirm that scripture attests to a coming fullness of God’s redemption of the world. I also completely assert that scriptures describe this kingdom as something we currently live into.
Second, the kingdom of God is central to a huge portion of Jesus’ parables, and according to Matthew, the heart of Jesus’ message, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” This message of the kingdom is Jesus’ pronouncement at the beginning of his ministry. The rest of his ministry in Matthew outlines principles by which we are to live differently in the world.
Essentially, these principles describe what it means to live into the command of repentance. We are to turn away from the legalism of the law and allow our lives to be guided by Jesus’ principles. Much of the rest of this gospel is filled with parables of the kingdom which is not seen as something far away or apart from the injustices of the world. No, the kingdom is seen in earthly things. The principles of Jesus for living in the way of the kingdom are not necessary for life in the kingdom if the kingdom is only something removed from our concrete reality.
Check out Matthew 5-7. These revolutionary paradigms are things that Jesus is offering for us to implement in our world. They have no bearing if everything is as perfect as the future heaven that has often been proclaimed in Christian pulpits and hymnbooks. Why would I pray for my enemies if they were not bothering me because they were all burning in hell?
(Just as a side note, as a student of both the Bible and Literature I find it remarkable how much the church has asserted about both heaven and hell on the basis of Milton and Dante and NOT on scriptures. Now, back to your regular programming…)
Leaving the gospels and moving into Paul’s writings (a thing I am hesitant to do, but I recognize that this might be necessary for some to see this connection), I am drawn to the metaphor of us, along with all creation, groaning in the pains of childbirth for the redemption that is to come. We are in the pains, because we are birthing it now.
Finally, I am drawn to the epistles of John. He demands that we are known as different from the world in terms of the love that we have for others. This to me is the evidence of the kingdom of God among us. As we receive God’s Spirit and share in community with God through Christ, then we continue to be the incarnation in our world today.
We are manifesting the kingdom in the middle of our lives that are broken and humbly poured out for those around us. The love that marks the kingdom of God does not militantly overthrow the empires of the world. It subtly undermines the value system of the Empire. The kingdom is made up of people empowered by Christ to relentlessly love, seek justice, live humbly, offer hope, and anguish with desire for the fullness of the completed redemption that is and is to come.
This kingdom flourishes throughout history in the places that don’t get written about. It happens in unlikely places, and among people who haven’t always been considered a part of “the church.”
Moreover, I would be bold enough to say that while the Christian church (here I refer to an all encompassing view of all throughout history that have claimed this tradition) has often overlapped with the Kingdom of God (those who are following Christ), there have been many in the church who have not lived at all in accordance with the Kingdom of God. I believe God mourns the church as much as celebrating it. So with this in mind, I assert that the church is not a foreshadowing of the kingdom of God, but that some in the church have actually been a part of the Kingdom of God while others in the church have fought against it.
One historic moment that clearly stands out to me is in USAmerican history. During the civil rights movement, many African American churches sought equality and justice, living prophetically into a view of desegregation that was contrary to the empire around them. At the same time, most of the Anglo American church was telling this community to slow down and wait for change to come later. I believe that this is a clear picture of how the church can be both an agent and opponent of God’s kingdom growing in the midst of Empire.
for further reading . . .
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I searched for “kingdom of God” on google blogs and your site was the first one on the list. I was drawn to your site because of your name. Forgive me if you have covered some of my questions in your other posts (this is the only one I have read).
You suggested that one principle we should live by is “turning from the law” and be guided by Jesus, but didn’t Jesus say he came to fulfill the law?
I am interested to hear your thoughts on hell. Is there another post where you deal with hell more fully? You can drop me a line on my e-mail if you want to discuss this more fully.
Mostly, I just wanted to say thanks for your thoughts. I really appreciated them. What do you do outside the blog world (i.e. your job, family, etc.)?
Danny,
Thanks for the comment. I’m glad you found the site. If you get the chance take a look around, Mark is doing some cool stuff with the new format.
I think your first question about the law comes from my sentence, “We are to turn away from the legalism of the law and allow our lives to be guided by Jesus’ principles. ”
What I am trying to get at with this is that the law is not annihilated, but instead it is intensified. We go from legalism to principled living as Christ transforms our hearts. So much of legalism is about getting absolution for sins, when God has already dealt with our sin through grace. Principled living then is something that comes out of honestly and humbly walking in communion with God and allowing God to transform us from the inside out.
As far as my thoughts on hell go… that’s a great question. I haven’t posted on hell because I don’t necessarily know what to think about hell. I plan on dealing with that topic a little more fully on my own site at some point in the future. But feel free to search the site and see what Mark or some of the others might have said about it in their posts.
Peace,
daniel.t
Daniel,
Great read, thank you for your posts. I agree with much of your thoughts on Hell (before you even know what those thoughts are haha). The demonology that has been such a large part of mainstream Christian teaching is more from bad exegesis of the book of Revelation and Dante’s writings (I think without realizing it). There is a decent chunk of inter-testamental literature that is much more established along the lines of angels, demons, etc…but even they do not point to a place called “Hell” as we have often painted it. I believe Hell exists, and is a real place in real time (what does that mean?), but not as we often teach it.
I am curious as to your comments about Paul’s writings. Why are you so hesitant? I’m currently working on a project dealing with the rise of “Jesus-only” praxis resulting from poor hermeneutics and awareness of the historical church. Phrases like “it’s not religion, it’s a relationship” seem to get played into this stream of thought. Many of those espousing such ideas are also hesitant to move outside the four gospels. I was curious as to your explanation. Not saying you fit into these categories of course.
Michael,
I hesitate on Paul because, in my experience of Evengelicalism, Paul was lauded far more than Christ when it came to the praxis of the church. I think this is a travesty. Not only that but (what I would hope is a far better theological stance) I tend to have a high view of the incarnation. I would certainly assert that the incarnation of Jesus Christ was God’s initial plan from the beginning, and not a second option after “the fall.” I understand God as existing in trinity. This trinity extends relationship to humanity. I believe that the same core of who God is, out of which God creates, God also incarnates as a way of drawing us into relationship with God. Out of this understanding of the incarnation as the primary revelation of God, I am compelled to believe that the incarnate Christ is our primary interpretive lens for reading scripture, determining doctrine, and guiding praxis. Therefore, I place priority on the gospels over other parts of scripture. I recognize the canonical gospels as our best insight into who the church has understood Jesus to be when he was literally here among us.
I hope that this doesn’t sound like I am discounting Paul or any other part of the Bible. Because I am not. I think they are really useful, and as it is likely that Paul was writing at least as early as the gospel writers, if not quite a bit earlier, then I do esteem what he had to say. But I don’t think that Paul’s doctrinal and dialectical approach and content should by any means replace or displace the words and actions of Jesus as the primary guide to the Christian life. I worship God who self-revealed through Jesus Christ. I do not worship Paul. Therefore, I must read the words of Paul and Jesus quite differently. I must allow Jesus to shape the way I read Paul, not vice versa.
I feel like there are other nuances I would like to articulate right now, but I have to finish up a final paper for one of my last classes of the semester. I’d love to hear back about what you think of these ideas.
Peace,
daniel.t