Of Princes and Princesses

The kingdom of God (SYN: kingdom of heaven) is something my mind's been toying around with for the past three years. What is it? What does it mean for us? Why does Jesus begin his ministry by preaching, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near?" [Matthew 4:17]

In studying Jesus' three-fold ministry, he went throughout Galilee [a] teaching in their synagoges, [b] preaching the good news of the kingdom, and [c] healing every disease and sickness among the people. [Matthew 4:23] A plenitude of Jesus' parables begin with "The kingdom of heaven is like. . ." When the disciples ask Jesus why he speaks in parables, he replies, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them" [Matthew 13:11]. Very enigmatic, Jesus.

When we pray as Jesus taught, we ask for God's kingdom to come [Matthew 6:10]. However, I feel a lack in our church on teachings regarding the kingdom of God. If God's kingdom came, would we even know it had arrived? Instead, I turned to the internet to quench my curiosity and found (after a long list of movie links) that the first relevant teaching on the Kingdom of God was from a Catholic Encyclopedia. In summary, this is what it describes as the kingdom of God:

The kingdom of God means, then, the ruling of God in our hearts; it means those principles which separate us off from the kingdom of the world and the devil; it means the benign sway of grace; it means the Church as that Divine institution whereby we may make sure of attaining the spirit of Christ and so win that ultimate kingdom of God where He reigns without end in "the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God" (Revelation 21:2).

Reading it again still makes me go "huh?" but I like how the first point says that the kingdom of God is the ruling of God in our hearts. When we make this our first priority, what will our lives look like? Jesus' Sermon on the Mount says:

So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. [Matthew 6:31-33]

I don't have any concrete conclusions on how to pursue this kingdom, but I do believe that it's worth seeking for and I do believe that I've tasted it--I experience it through the hearts of fellow brothers and sisters who gather together to do God's will.

A Church for the Financially Rich

In my Prayer Devotional Bible are weekly highlights of prayer-filled men and women throughout history. This morning, I came across a passage that highly echoes what I've been feeling about my church lately.

E.M. Bounds, a man of prayer, writes the following:

We are constantly on a stretch, if not a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the man or sink the man in the plan or the organization. God's plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than of anything else. Men are God's method. The church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men . . . What the church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Spirit can use--men of prayer, mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men--men of prayer.

I've been attending this church for longer than I've lived in any house and I've seen it constantly evolve into something newer, bigger, and "better." Going away for school and experiencing campus Christianity has allowed me to return and see it more objectively than if I had always stayed. There have been many moments where I've wanted to pack up and leave for another church--one that embraced money less and God more; but I believe that there is still a place for me to serve and grow within this corporation. (And yes, this church is incorporated.)

This summer I have the privilege of teaching Sunday School with a dear childhood and university friend. [In fact, she was my cell group leader this past year!] We've both been taken aback by the materialism that consumes these Grade 7 girls. It's been an adventure trying to subvert their consumerist attitudes and show them how great our God is. Yesterday we tried teaching them to listen to God. We maintained a 3-minute silence, which was quite a struggle for some of them; however, I left with the hope that God is moving in their hearts and is raising up women of prayer, mighty in prayer.

There are so many ways our church can grow spiritually, and I'm excited to be back on the bandwagon: growing along with the rest of them.