I've heard about the Kingdom of God, but I can honestly say I've never done a whole lot of processing about what (or where) it actually is. For the most part I've been part of that camp that sees it as something to come. But what Rick McKinley (author of The Beautiful Mess and pastor of Imago Dei) describes is a Kingdom that is already present, if only we would open our eyes to it.The book is split into 3 major parts and the third portion focuses on practicing the presence of the Kingdom and I can honestly say he has given me something to chew on. As you may know, I've been on a bit of a journey myself in my faith and I've really been challenged lately with the practical aspects of it. Or maybe I should say the current lacking of the practical aspects of it.
I'm not a nature-freak, but I wonder about my responsibility as a follower of Jesus to look after creation. I've got kids of my own and I work with students, but where do our our churches place value on learning from the younger generations and worshiping with them, rather than entertaining them and ignoring them? And what about the poor and the homeless? What about the broken and wounded people in our community?
Are we actually living out the Kingdom of God or just biding our time in the safety of our pew and completely missing out on the closeness of the Kingdom?
3 comments:
oooooh, slick layout...i'm trying to do some catch-up, i've been slacking in reading blogs lately, the shame!
for a smack in the face (and who doesn't want that?) see isaiah 58, or 1, or Zechariah 7.
Actually, I think we need more smacks to the face.
Are we (the church as a whole) really as good as we think we are? It seems like we're quick to pat ourselves on the back for doing something good, when really we haven't done much at all.
How do we transition from doing the occasional small good deed to doing massive acts that are covered in love? How do we get people on board who have seem to have no clue what to do or how to do it? How do we mobilize churches that are still fasting in the 5th & 7th months because they've been doing it for the last 20 years?
I'm rambling...
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