Luke 17:20-21
Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
So I read a book a few months ago called This Beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley. He described that Jesus is the KING of the kingdom (see above verse for clue as to where the kingdom might be). The problem is – we don’t want a freakin’ king. Seriously. What part of loving your enemies, feeding the poor or helping an orphan is confusing? So we create rules and standards to keep us from having to do them, usually in the name of not being unequally yoked, or in keeping yourself separate from the world. I know I’m guilty of it (and convicted). I do it in the name of “safety”. What a cop out. It’s because I don’t truly trust him with this verse:
Matt 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
We think we need a little more defense of our doctrine and a little more time to clean up our messes. Then we’re confused as to why things don’t get better.
Matt 13:44-46
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
The kingdom is already here – it’s not “somewhere beyond the blue”. It is marching forward with or without our consent, it exists in the dirt of our everyday lives and it’s worth selling everything you have to find.
Rick tells the story in his book of how he started on this journey. He said he and just a few people met in a borrowed basement and prayed honest prayers like this:
“God, I’m not sure I love you”
“God, I don’t love my neighbor. I don’t even like him”
“God, I don’t know if I really care about orphans or others that are suffering”
They weren’t trying to fake anything, just asking God if He would change their hearts because they didn’t give a crap about kingdom stuff. They wanted to care – but were honest enough to admit that they did not.
These are the Christians I never meet. Real people not pretending they’re something they’re not. If you know who they are, please give them my contact information.
By the way…the prayers worked.
