effect.
Mon, Aug 11, 2008
I have been thinking all day about a question:
What would I like to see accomplished in the Kingdom of God before I die?
I hope this doesn’t seem morbid. But I am evaluating my life, my call, my mission. I am only given so much time on this earth – what am I going to do with it? I think my answer is coming close to being boiled down – removed of impurities, ego and selfishness. It has to do with the need to see those who don’t know Christ come to know Him and being empowered to carry on that mission. I am really trying to think through how to bring clarity to the process of how that happens and what my part can be in that mission.
God is doing big things, He is drawing people to Himself, the question is are we ready for the challenge, are we removed enough from our own comfort that we can follow Him and find our contentment in Christ – who we can do all things through.
So, what would you like to see accomplished in the Kingdom before you die? Great or small, what victories do you see as lasting? How will you effect that change?
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August 14th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Okay, this is long because I put off posting it and kept thinking about it more… So I apologize beforehand for the wordiness.
I think my answer to, “What would you like to see accomplished in the Kingdom before you die?” is “Whatever God wills to be accomplished in the Kingdom before I die.” As in, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done…” inextricably linked… God’s Kingdom being the place/state of being/community/realm where God’s will is done – Where people forgive and are forgiven, where they enter through the gate that is Christ, where they find healing, where the poor are taken care of and “the least of these” are honored, where leaders are servants, where believers love one another as Christ loves us, where people love God and seek Him and find Him, where people have a righteousness through Christ’s blood and the Holy Spirit’s work that is greater than that of the Pharisees (and add to this list anything else Christ described as what the Kingdom looks like). So, YES! I want to be a part of that, I want to be doing His will and be a part of a community/realm that is in sync with and desiring God’s will to be done and His Kingdom to advance on earth, and who are offering themselves in whatever capacity God would like to use them in what He is doing and desires to be done. I see it very much as a partnership in what God is already doing on earth, very much a matter of being a part of the Kingdom of God which Jesus declared “is near/is among you/is advancing”
Is that broad enough or vague enough?
We talk a lot at WM in terms of being a part of the Kingdom of God, living it out, drawing others into it. It is a shift in perspective from simply equating the Kingdom of God with the institution of the Church and “spiritual” pursuits. It widens our vision to see gradual degrees of involvement from “outsiders” as God/we pull them in, rather than an in-or-out mentality, and it reminds us that God’s will and His Kingdom encompass more than the spiritual realm.
I think anything we do that is “in the Kingdom” is lasting because it is taking part in an existence and a community that will last forever – whether it is feeding the poor and clothing the naked, forgiving each other, showing Christ’s servant love to each other, offering people God’s healing and restoration, encouraging and reminding one another of God’s love, or proclaiming the Gospel (the one thing which people usually think of as the work/activity of the Kingdom). I hope that simply by interacting thoughtfully with my family, my friends, and my neighbors in my normal life, I can help to make God’s Kingdom more of a reality on earth and therefore be spending my days on something worthwhile. But I also definitely see how God calls certain ones of His people to go somewhere else and do something else specific to further His Kingdom and His influence in a certain area or group of people – like you and Jenni! We continue to pray for you.
August 14th, 2008 at 9:20 am
Thanks Jenny, that’s good!
I am still thinking this through. I think I am coming to the point of deciding, like you, that there is this general need for all of life to be about the Kingdom, finances, relationships, time, resources, giftedness, etc. I am also trying to decide with my specific gifting is there a way that I can leverage who God has made me in some way that would give the greatest potential for impact in the Kingdom.
I think my favorite part of the Kingdom of God is that it is a little bit hard to grasp. The way Jesus talks about it is that it is here, it is there, it is now it is later, it is small but soon to be big, etc. How wonderfully confusing and true! I really do love it!