Thursday, November 20, 2008

Existing Better - Kingdom First

What do you think, how does one go about putting the Kingdom of God above all else? (Matthew 6:33)

Practically speaking, what does that look like?

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

To me, putting the Kingdom of God above all else means, thinking before I act. If I just act on an impluse, generally it will be for my own gain. However, if I am intentional about my actions and words, I am better able to determine if it is Kingdom work, or worldly. Also, by praying and reading the Bible at the beginning of my day, I am better able to keep the Kingdom in fous.

Theresa said...

I agree. It really does seem to involve even more than just thinking about treating people rightly or doing the right thing when it comes to the concept of putting the Kingdom of God above everything.
I thought it was interesting the other day I saw an advertisement for Dodge that the main line was "it is more than a cab, it's a kingdom." What are they going for there?

Lindsey K said...

one thing I have found in addition to what you guys are talking about, is that for me it is thinking long term/eternally instead of short term/selfishly. This in general is work for me :)

Theresa said...

I agree that thinking short term also tends to lean me towards thinking selfishly. Thinking more long term is a very helpful and seemingly more impacting/others focused mindset, yet long term for me is still a here on earth type of thought process. I have a hard time thinking "eternally" because eternity seems so foreign, unknown to me. Maybe that is a fault in my faith. How do you think eternally Lindsey?

Steph said...

“It is more than a cab, it's a kingdom.”

What an ingenious statement! And it’s true, right? For most people who buy a vehicle, especially a new one, it’s about a lot more than reliable transportation—it’s also about expressing your worldview.

In fact, perhaps “worldview” is a good description for what God means when he talks about his kingdom. When I hear the word “kingdom,” I immediately feel a medieval-like oppression emanating from those who claim to be bringing it.

But what if it’s something different? What if we’re bringing God’s worldview? How do you do that? Some would give specific direction—do this, don’t do that. But if you consider the “good” that we can do—be kind & generous to people, live honestly & generously for the good of others, etc.—this is nothing that a secular humanist (for example) wouldn’t advocate.

Yes we need to do that stuff, but I would argue that it isn’t WHAT we do that brings God’s worldview to earth, it’s WHO we are. By that, I am NOT implying that we should be proselytizing madly. Instead, let’s be who we are and do what we do best, and expect that God will flow through us to our world.

Anonymous said...

About the living eternally...I think of it in sports terms. If you want to win, you practice hard and focus on winning. If I want to go to heaven, I have to practice hard and focus on heaven. Some days I lose, but I try to keep my focus on the "win".

Theresa said...

In response to living eternally... nice annalogy, I know what winning looks like... I can picture that and have that as my goal in "practice" but what does heaven look like?

Steph... yeah! That is amazing how much just one word can change the feel and perhaps perception of a whole concept. Worldview I see as interchangable and perhaps more recieved than "kingdom." It produces more of a join in type of invite rather than a this is the ruling feel. Does God never "rule" then?

Steph said...

Theresa:

How do you define "rule"?

Theresa said...

Psalm 66 and 67 would be examples of God ruling... but irony plays out when the only times Jesus seems to talk about ruling is talking about "rulers" or Matthew 20:24-26... and there talking about how we should not rule and we should be servants. Perhaps that shows more of what you were describing with a worldview shift... how cool.

Steph said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Steph said...

Theresa:

I've had a really tough time with your "does God rule" question, with most of the issue centered around the way the word "rule" is defined. I was pretty much ready to say "no," based on the dictionary definition of the word.

The problem is, that's not quite true, because central to a Christian belief system is the idea that God will have dominion over darkness/evil.

The whole shepherd analogy is nice & mostly works for me, but it is very simplistic...if God is anything, isn't he at least incredibly complex??? And anyways, it's hard for me to jive the word "rule" with the picture of a shepherd.

I'm still ruminating...any thoughts?

Anonymous said...

I submit that God absolutely rules. Daniel 4:34b-35 says, "His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?'"

We also learn from 1 Corinthians 15:23-38 that Jesus will reign until he defeats all the enemies of God and then will Himself be subjected to the Father so that God's supreme authority over everything will be established eternally, never to be challenged again.

I personally take great comfort from knowing God's rules, is in control, and that nothing happens apart from His will. The world would be scary if random chance ruled the day.