Kingdom of God - Is It For Now or Later????

Kingdom of God – Is It For Now or Later?????

One of my favorite bits of wisdom from C.S. Lewis goes something like, “Satan sends us evil in pairs of opposites so that fleeing one we run eagerly into the arms of the other.”  Since I first read that, I have been amazed at just how often this profound truth applies.  Sometimes it is not a question of either alternative being evil in and of itself, but when one or the other is emphasized to the dismissal of the other it can become an evil.  I believe that this latter situation aptly describes the attitudes of too many people who consider themselves followers of Jesus in our world today.

Jesus spoke a great deal of the Kingdom of God.  There are some today who tend to resist even the idea of “kingdom” because it conflicts with their egalitarian democratic ideals.  To any who might hold that perspective, I simply say that when it comes to the rule of Almighty God, get over it.  But, then it still leaves a primary question that begs an answer that has caused and continues to cause substantial disagreement.  Is the Kingdom of God for now or for later?  Some have asserted that the Kingdom of God will only be experienced when Christ returns and establishes, depending upon their eschatology, His millennial reign on earth or we are taken off to heaven.  One the other extreme are those who have minimized the eschatological and argue that we are to experience the Kingdom of God during our lifetimes on this planet and to live out and experience the Kingdom here and now.  I argue that both are to be true and that when we emphasize one to the neglect of the other we create an evil from two goods.

It is my firm belief that we will only experience the Kingdom of God in all of its fullness after we complete our time on this planet.  Only then will all of the influence of sin be removed from the picture.  Only then will we be capable of seeing clearly instead of through a glass darkly.  So, I in no way want to diminish the importance of the future dimension of the Kingdom.  I look forward to it.  But, I believe that when we relegate our thinking about Kingdom to the future, we miss out on what is intended to be a big part of our life on this planet.  When people commit  themselves to be followers of Jesus they immediately become citizens of that Kingdom.  It is God’s intention that the Body of His followers, that is The Church, are to be the people of His Kingdom on this planet, here and now.  That People is made up of people with a multitude of different earthly citizenships, denominational ties, and races.  If the Church takes seriously the importance of Kingdom living it accomplishes two major functions.  It provides a context in which individual and corporate growth can take place.  See Ephesians 4.  And, it serves as a witness to those on the outside who need to see Jesus in the flesh in the world in which they live.

What does it mean to live as citizens of the Kingdom on planet earth?  It means that we adopt the values of the Kingdom rather than the values of the culture in which we find ourselves.  Values are what determine behavior.  There is no culture on earth that completely mirrors the values of the Kingdom, those some may come closer than others.  As an American living in the 21^st century, I would suggest that some of the values of our culture that may conflict with Kingdom values are materialism/laissez faire capitalism, strident individualism, and national chauvinism.  Others may disagree or add to that list.  The specifics are not as important as recognizing that conflicts do exist.  We can only know the values of the Kingdom by serious study of God’s special revelation in Scripture. 

We live the Kingdom when we really demonstrate agape love for our fellow Kingdom citizens.  Agape love is not an emotion.  It is a rational choice to do what is in the best interest of the other.  Agape love lives itself out in koinonia fellowship that is not simply the social getting together.  It is living the common life that addresses real needs that may be spiritual, emotional, or physical.  It is what is described in the Church life in the book of Acts.  Jesus said that all men would know that we are His disciples by the love that we have for one another.  For that to happen there must be something visible in the way that we relate to one another.

When we corporately live Kingdom, we provide an environment into which those who come into the Kingdom can be welcomed.  Within it that can be taught, encouraged, and ministered to.  In addition to the earlier referenced Ephesians 4, Romans 12 and I Corinthians 12 describe the Kingdom as a Body.  It is a Body in which all individuals contribute what are their gifts, abilities, and talents to the mutual well-being.  The Body/Kingdom will only operate as it is intended as all participate.  While we may come into the Kingdom as individuals, it has never been intended that we grow as individuals.

We should certainly look forward to that future eschatological perfect Kingdom, but to ignore the present Kingdom is to fail to live the life that is intended for us in the here and now.

Being the "Food Stamp President"

Over the weekend I heard Newt attack Obama for being the "Food Stamp President" and asserting that he would instead be the "jobs president".  Other of the Republican candidates have also attacked the Food Stamp program suggesting that there should be major cuts or dismantling of that program.  Food Stamps are something that I know quite a lot about, since my job five days a week is working with eligibility determination for that program along with others.  There is a significant misconception that os being preyed upon that indicate that these candidates are either intentionally misleading voters or they are ignorant.  I am not sure which is more irresponsible.

First misconception, people choose to receive Food Stamps because they would rather do that than work.  The reality is that a large portion of people who receive Food Stamps do work.  They work at jobs that either don't offer enough hours and/or have a pay rate so low that people cannot live on what they are paid.  So the necessary choice is not work or Food Stamps it is work AND Food Stamps.  That former Republican presidential candidate from Texas that bragged so much about the huge number of jobs that he created as governor, never bothered to mention the pay rates for the jobs that he created.  I would venture an educated guess that many of the people who took those jobs still needed to receive Food Stamps to survive. 

It is doubly troubling to me that the same people who object to programs like Food Stamps also tend to be those who object to trade unions or other labor regulations designed to insure that people who work earn a living wage.  I am old enough to remember when the norm was the nuclear family with a single wage earner, and families were able to get by on that one income.  Over the past 50 years or so it is pretty obvious that incomes have declined for most working people to the point where often two incomes are no longer sufficient.  I am a firm believer that people who are able to work should work.  But, I also believe that people who work deserve to be paid sufficient to survive on the income that work provides. 

I said that I work with the Food Stamp program on a daily basis.  Based on that experience, I believe that there are savings that could be made in the program.  I would certainly support well considered and informed changes to the program.  However, the inplicit or explicit vilifation to those who truly benefit from this program is irresponsible.

Just a quick addition on a related subject, I also work with Medicaid eligibility.  We need as a society to make a decision regarding the question if whether medical care is a right of all people or a priviledge reserved for the wealthy.  I saw an application just today from a couple applying for Medicaid.  Husband and wife in their 50's.  He had open heart surgery a few months ago as a result of heart failure.  She is epileptic in need of daily medication.  They were self-employed and have gone through all of their savings.  They have both been determined to NOT be disabled by Social Security.  In Florida they are ineligible for medicaid.  The result, there is no where for either one of them to turn for the medications that they both need to maintain their health.  Yes, if they have a medical crisis and go to an ER they will be seen and treated, and without the medications they need that WILL happen.  Is this really the way that we as a society believe the system should work?  I believe that we need to address this question directly and act accordingly.  If there are politicians who believe that health care is not a right, they need to be willing to say to people like this, your just need to shut up and die.

The Complete MLK

Today is the day that the u.s. has set aside to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  To do so appropriately I suggest that it is essential to remember what Dr. King stood for.  I fear that in today's world his memory has been sanitized and minimalized.  He is remembered almost exclusively for his actions to move for the civil rights of African-americans.  This was in fact an important part of what the man stood for, and his accomplishments in this regard are hard to overstate.  But, it is only a small part of what his actions were all about.  Remember, there was the "Poor People's March on Washington".  Dr. King was a champion of the cause or economic justice for the marginalized of all races.  He was committed to the related cause of fair contracts for labor unions and was active the the movement of santitation workers at the time of his death.  He was also an active voice in the anti-Viet Nam war movement.

Also remember, Dr. King was not a popular personality with the majority of the u.s. population.  More welcomed his death than mourned it at the time.  He served a prophetic role, and I use that term carefully in the full Biblical sense of the term, calling a culture to see its sins and to turn from them.  A study of the Old Testament prophets will show striking similarities between their message and that of Dr. King.  Their messages were rarely well received as well and many of them shared Dr. King's fate. 

Were he alive today, I have to believe that Dr. King would still be active addressing the same issues.  Economic injustice in this country has increased not decreased as evidenced by the growing gap between the rich and the poor and the growing numbers of people consigned to living in poverty.  The nation has involved itself in a chain of wars of convenience that have been fought largely by the poorest segments of our population, the joy of a volunteer military, and brought suffering and death to millions.  Working people in this country have been faced with ambivalence to hostility in their efforts to organize and seek representation in contracts.  And, even his dream of a culture where, "content of character" would trump color of skin still seems a long way off. 

Remember Dr. King on this day.  But, remember him in the fullness of his message.

No Itching Ears????

Sometime around the middle of the first century, the apostle Paul wrote to a young Church leader, "...For there will be a time when they will not hear sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires".  While I am certain that this statement can describe the Church at many points in history, it could never have been more true than it is in America today.  All that one has to do is to watch "christian" television or visit a "christian" bookstore to see what kinds of teaching dominate.  People clearly want to hear that God wants them to be rich, healthy and good looking.  God is an American and not only that He is most definitely a very "conservative" Republican.  God doesn't really want people to think too hard so He expects authors and preachers to keep things extreemly simple because thinking too hard might make people question things better left unquestioned. 

I believe in "radical Christianity".  That is a faith that cuts to the root.  A faith that has serious implications to all of the issues of life.  These are issues that I will try to deal with in this blog.  Theology, Ecclesiology, Culture, and Politics are all fair game.  But, I will always endeavor to deal with each topic from a perspective of Christian faith.  While both church and culture have exhibited bias against intellectual efforts, I will seek to write rationally.  I see no conflict between faith and reason and each should inform the other.  I also encourage feedback and discussion.  Criticism, if well-thought, is not viewed here as negative. 

I am new to this whole blogosphere, so please feel free to offer suggestions as to how I can use it more effectively.