Drunken Mystic

There is a Kingdom that possesses no physical boundaries; no papers exist to identify its citizens; it is not democratic, republican, socialist or communist; no airline can fly you there.

Yet it does exist in some form in this world. The Kingdom is Christ Himself, and He is also the absolute ruler; only it is a monarchy unlike any other. Hence, the term doesn’t really qualify. So since the Kingdom is Christ, it exists in two places simultaneously — not divided — in heaven as the reality and on earth as its expression.

Christ is one; therefore His Kingdom is one, and one day the earthly expression and the heavenly reality will unite in one eternal, intimate experience that the scripture uses a wedding to describe (you know … sex!).

Christ is seated at the right hand of God in heaven and also resides in His Body, collectively and individually, His people, those who have called on His name through repentance.

Now we come to us. Our lives are hidden in Christ in heaven and He resides in each and all of us.

This has all been quite metaphysical, but here is my point: We belong to something not of this world. Our citizenship is in heaven. Our kingdom is not of this world. This should be evident to the world through our thoughts, words, and actions.

Hebrews states it as the good confession before Pilate: My Kingdom is not of this world. How much of what we say and do is a confession that we really belong to a Heavenly country, that we are strangers and aliens here?

Practically, this questions and challenges many things people hold sacred: their material accumulation of wealth, their clamoring for worldly success, flying a national flag on their property, building religious empires … I would even question pledging allegiance to a flag … doesn’t that seem like treason to our Heavenly citizenship? I didn’t feel bad for not pledging to the Korean flag while I lived there, under their law …

My loyalty to Christ is all. Everything is forsaken in this. “No man can serve two masters. He will hate one and love the other.” Then Jesus says something interesting. “You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Not God and the devil … but God and mammon … worldly things. That is really the choice. And to be blunt, America is a worldly thing. America is not a Christian nation — it cannot be. It is a worldly entity put here for a specific purpose, but make no mistake, America is not the Kingdom of God, no more than Korea or India or Israel or Saudi Arabia.

Now, since God has placed America in a worldly authority over me, to protect and exercise a certain rule of law, I must honor that to some degree.

Much like living as a temporary resident in Korea. I had permission to be there, but I wasn’t a citizen there. I followed the laws, paid the fines when I broke the law, paid the taxes … but it didn’t cross my mind to be a citizen there.

It is the same living in America and being a Christian. I follow the laws, pay the fines, pay the taxes … but I don’t think of myself as a citizen here. I am a representative of another nation, and when it comes down to obeying God or man … God wins.

In order to ensure that loyalty, however, I cannot divide my attention. Fortunately, obeying God means obeying good laws in most countries, so I don’t have to worry about following American law — I just have to follow God.

This sets me free. I don’t have to defend or save America. I don’t have to tear the US down or build it up. It will fall and burn one day because a better kingdom is coming to replace it. I just follow Jesus and seek His Kingdom.

And because His Kingdom is in us, that means I seek it in my fellow citizens. My fellow citizens are my home country, no matter where they live. My house is an embassy flying the banner of love and hospitality. I find other embassies in other cities, states, and countries. My first loyalty is to the other citizens of my Kingdom. They take every priority.

My Kingdom also has its own culture: we give generously, live in purity, treat each other as better than ourselves, dwell in unity even when we disagree, ensure there is no need among us, heal the sick, and find families for those who have none … among other things, regardless of the color of skin, our language or background. We speak the same tongue of Christ’s love.

The world should know our loyalties. Fly the flag of His Kingdom in your home. Treat your day job as only a means of meeting other citizen’s needs. Act as the aliens and strangers you are, an invading force, and maybe we’ll get others to say to us, “take us to your Leader.”

Gladly.

Peace.

While I haven’t placed these in a definite order, I have purposefully talked about our active testimony before the verbal. I am a firm believer in the statement, “Preach the gospel. When you must, use words.”

As much as I love words, our deeds express more fully who we are and what we believe in.

However, we cannot ignore our calling to preach the truth. It is an important component of our testimony. Jesus did many things; He also said many things. In fact, it was not really His deeds as much as His words that got Him in trouble. It was His preaching that roused the ire of those with the power to kill His body.

There were two main messages that summed up the focus of the early Church. The first message hinged directly upon Christ, on Jesus alone. As a good friend reminded me this weekend, Paul said, “I endeavor to know nothing other than Christ and Him crucified.” The second message that dominated the early Church was repentance from sin. As I’ve said many times before, John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, Peter, James and the Apostle John all made it clear that to turn to God was a break from sin. There was to be no mixture or excuse for it.

But these two messages (they are really linked as one, but for argument’s sake, I’m kinda delineating between them) are rarely the focus of modern Christianity. Secondary doctrines, political affiliations, and apologetic defenses cry for our attention. All that comes of this is division and posturing, despite our good intentions. Speaking only of Christ doesn’t require a great deal of education. It requires a level of purity that threatens those in ivory towers.

Speaking only of Christ also threatens our seat at big tables. When we talk about God if a vague sense, everyone from Muslims to Jews to Hindus and Buddhists can nod their head because of some monotheistic view within their belief system. But to mention and focus on Jesus specifically is exclusive, especially so if you speak in the context that He is the only way. Larry King is kinda offended by that. But this is precisely what the martyrs have died for — shame on us when we don’t mention Christ as the only way because we may seem too extreme, exclusive or just plain uncool.

And, to be honest, shouldn’t we have such an experience with Christ that He comes up in routine conversations? When I speak with other people, I find myself mentioning my wife and son because I love them and much of my life centers around those important relationships. We have so compartmentalized our spirituality that regular mention of Jesus as an actual person and major influence in our lives has become rather odd and weird. With true followers of Christ, it should not be so.

Preaching repentance is even more problematic because we have to talk about sin. There are several layers to this problem. Number one, we don’t want to sound judgmental or have a holier than thou attitude. Many of us have seen the pain caused by others who have judged too quickly and too harshly. Maybe we have been the receiver of such judgment. Perhaps we’ve been guilty of it ourselves. But Peter says, “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.” In other words, we shall all stand before God one day and give an account for every deed. If we truly love others, we wish that day to be as glorious as it can possibly be, not one full of tragedy and remorse. Another’s misdirected zeal or our own past mistakes should not cause us to shy away from this love.

But then this leads us to the second major problem. What is sin? Many make mountains out of molehills and others act blind to the actual mountains. There are so many different perversions of sin, both to the strict and the liberal, that most Christians don’t even want to bring up the topic, either with other Christians or those within the world. It seems to cause too much tension and contention.

While this is not the place to go into great detail, there are two sources where we find our definition of sin: the scripture and the witness of the Holy Spirit. Both are needed in balance because without this moderation, we easily slip into legalism or debauchery.

The third problem goes back to an earlier topic. If we speak of sin and the judgment therein, people will begin to examine OUR lives and watch us even more closely based on the standard we espouse. We’re uncomfortable being the city on a hill and the salt of the world.

Some quickly point to the scripture where Jesus warns us about judging a brother who has a speck in his eye while we have a 2×4 in our own. But remember, the reason we remove the 2×4 in our own is to properly address the speck in another. The speck still needs to be dealt with, just in an attitude of purity, love, and proper perspective.

Christ alone and the message of repentance. Very simple, but no coward attempts this simplicity. Only childlike bravery can lift our eyes to this place.

Peace.