Grace, The Kingdom

Missing pieces: grace and government

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Grace is God’s empowering presence at work within a person to justify him and make him what God intended him to be.  It was always the plan of the Father to govern men by grace, by His love written in our hearts.   And the more a culture, a community, or a nation is governed by grace-full hearts of love, the fewer external laws are necessary.   In such a case, all that is needed to maintain the common goals and good of the community is a minimal civil government.  It might look like this:

But when grace is abandoned, and the love of God and others runs dry, the civil government by necessity must step up and expand in order to maintain order:  Laws replace love, courts replace courtesy, policemen replace parenting, and freedom is lost.   This is the sad condition of western civilization..

What’s needed in today’s culture is a return to the simple law of the Kingdom.  If we were to once again embrace the love of God and others, much of the government’s burden would be handed back to individuals, and the cry for a nanny state would cease.

Deuteronomy 1:13 instructs us in several additional principles of Civil Government:  “Choose some wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.” Notice these three principles:

  • The people should choose their leaders.  (That’s democracy).
  • They should choose leaders from their tribes: (This is local government, leaders who are known.)
  • They should choose leaders of wisdom and good character.

What I’m trying to show in these simple posts is that God’s kingdom plan addresses all of life.   Kingdom people understand that the gospel is more than forgiveness alone; It is a way of life that includes everything from business to baseball, from homelessness to health care.

On a personal note, I’m back in Maryland after a delightful weekend with the men of Shepherd Gate Church in Chantilly, Virginia.   I spoke on “Identity and the Kingdom of God,” and had a rich time of friendship and challenge with these amazing brothers.

Grace

Ranting about grace (a quick detour from “missing pieces”)

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The past four weeks I’ve been teaching a class on the scandalous, outrageous, shame-scrubbing, mind-boggling, spirit-enabling grace of God.  It’s diverted me for a moment from this present focus on the missing pieces of the gospel.  But then again, the neglect of grace rightfully ranks as possibly the most important “missing piece” of the gospel.

We speak poetically of grace, and offer it in generous portions to our wayward friends. But too often the grace-well dries up about the same time the church door closes behind us.  “That was for then, brother.  Now we’ve got standards to keep.  You gotta work hard, stay sanctified, tow the line, and put on a happy face now that you’re a church member.  We’re not interested in your issues, addictions or dirty laundry, and if you can’t measure up, then you’ll just have to either leave or pretend.   (Uh… most of us choose to pretend, by the way).

One of my friends recently told me about driving through the rural South and coming upon “The Perfect Church.”  No kidding,  the sign was right out in front declaring it before God and everyone else.  That’s definitely not the church for me.   I’m a saint with issues, and I need boatloads of grace every day of my life.   I’d be heaps more comfortable in the leaning chapel next door.

If I can move past grace we’ll return to the missing pieces next post.

The Kingdom

Missing pieces: God’s design for government

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If God’s Kingdom began to influence human government, what would it look like?   There was a time not long ago when I would have been utterly clueless about that question.  The church wasn’t teaching it, and certainly Christian bookstores weren’t overrun with titles on the subject.  Yet government is a huge part of life, and God did not leave us in the dark.   So we’ll begin this short study with a look at the ideal, and then move on to the practical.  (Since we’re still living in a fallen world, we need to examine how to influence our fallen, imperfect government with the perfect government of God).

The first two things about kingdom government is that it begins with God, (not man), and it governs not from the halls of power, but from the hearts of servants.  Unless we firmly grasp the humility of God’s government we will become a stumbling block to our neighbors as we champion politics over love and relationship.  It’s difficult to point to a loving God and a selfless Kingdom in the heat of a political debate.

This is the government of the Kingdom:  “I will put my laws in their heart, and write them on their mind.” (Hebrews 10:16)

And what is the law?  “To love God with all your heart, and to love your neighbor as yourself” Matt. 22:38-40

Imagine a world, or even just a community where that simple law was universally honored.  Where would be the need for policemen, judges, prisons, divorce courts, and the Better Business Bureau?  Obviously we’re talking about the ideal.  But here’s the thing: Even though this simple “self-government” of love may never  fully blossom in our present world, to the degree that it does, it will influence everything around us, including the government we do have.   The more citizens are yielded to the love of God, the smaller the need will be for a large civil government with its laws and regulations.  That’s where we’ll start in the next post.

The Kingdom, Worldview & Truth

Missing pieces: discipling nations

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Once upon a time God discipled a nation.   He took a group of bedraggled slaves and changed them into such a glorious nation that foreign dignitaries were left speechless.   When Jesus told us to “make disciples of all nations” he was thoughtful enough to give us the stellar example of Israel to demonstrate what he had in mind.

Consider:  When Moses led the Jewish slaves out of Egypt,

And yet in the space of four centuries God had so transformed this ragamuffin people that the Queen of Sheba was dazzled by the glory of Israel.  (1 Kings 10:4)   Such is the power of God’s transforming Truth for any nation from broken Bosnia to impoverished Haiti to floundering America.   And it is God’s dream for the nations.

The Gospel of the kingdom begins with the promise of redeemed hearts (Ezekiel 36:26), and goes beyond to the transformation of nations.  There’s not a hint of heaven or eternal life in this promise: “If you indeed obey the LORD your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 28:1).  The commandments God is referring to here have nothing to do with heaven and the hereafter,  but about the everyday truth of living together in peace, ensuring justice, conducting business, educating children, caring for strangers and the environment, growing crops, practicing good health, and a host of other “how-tos” that will produce blessing and life.

The gospel of the Kingdom bids us pick up the dream of God for every person, every nation, and every sphere of life.   Check back soon for some pieces of God’s dream for government.

The Kingdom

The missing pieces in Haiti

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As much of our prayers and attention are being directed towards the suffering and tragedy in Haiti, this might be a fitting time  to focus more clearly on God’s heart and purposes for that nation.

I personally don’t believe God is judging Haiti.  There will be a judgment for the nations at some point in the future, but for now Jesus tells us “the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son:” (John 5:22), and John further assures us that “God sent his Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save the world.” (John 3:17)  All that destruction in Old Testament times was something very different from the New Covenant, when “God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself and no longer counting people’s sins against them.” (2 Cor. 5:18)   What happened in Haiti was not about their sin, (after all, we are still standing), but the result of a world convulsed by the sin of our first parents.

And that’s what these missing pieces are about:  Jesus Christ entered the world to undo the effects of sin, and to restore the universe to it’s original purpose.   Even though that process will not be finished until He returns, the cornerstone was laid at the cross, and the work commenced at His resurrection.

Consider Ephesians 4:10:

Forgiveness on a personal level is just one glorious aspect of the Gospel.   The “gospel of forgiveness” really IS great news because it means the sin issue is finished and we are forgiven.  Hallelujah!

But the same one who procured our forgiveness boldly proclaimed “the gospel of the Kingdom,” which is about Him filling all things.  This is good news for Haiti because even though the partial gospel of forgiveness has been embraced by many, the absence of the rest of the Gospel which lifts up the poor, transforms government, and celebrates justice and right relationships has kept the Haitian people enslaved to poverty, oppression and corrupt leaders.

The great Dutch theologian and statesman, Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not one square inch of the entire creation about which Jesus Christ does not cry out, ‘This is mine! This belongs to me!'” And if it belongs to Jesus, it will be glorious.  That’s where we’re headed with this talk of missing pieces.

News & Stories

Pat Robertson and me

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Scarcely a day goes by that I don’t say something I wish I could take back.   I had to remind myself of that this week when, in the midst of the horrible tragedy of the Haitian earthquake, Pat Robertson told his listening audience that Haiti had – at one time – made a pact with Satan.  As a follower of Jesus I want to distance myself from that kind of posturing.   Whether there’s any truth in that story or not, it’s like telling your children that the neighbors house has just burned down, but “don’t forget, the old man has always been an alcoholic.”

I haven’t the right to either excuse or judge Pat Robertson.  He’s an imperfect man just like me.  And the Bible explains that “If we could control our tongues we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way.”  (James 3:2) But the fact that Pat is in the frightful position of having a microphone plugged into a worldwide television network presents a problem.

And it makes me want to clarify that Reverend Robertson doesn’t represent the hearts of most Christians I know.   This is not a time for sermonizing and theorizing about judgment.   It’s a time for grieving, giving, and prayer.  On the morning after the quake I found myself in a roomful of young people crying out to God on behalf of the Haitians and looking for ways to help.   That’s the kingdom response.

This past week in Denver was amazing.  It was one of the most responsive groups of students ever, and I fully expect them to change the world.  Next time I write I’ll do my best to follow through on that study of the “missing pieces.”  In the meantime lets keep our hearts, hands, and wallets open towards the Haitian people and our prayers covering their suffering and loss.


This week’s Discipleship Training School students in Denver.

PS:  Just a note to mention that CBN has issued a statement reminding us that Pat Robertson did not attribute the quake to God’s judgment, (as some critics have evidently charged), and that the humanitarian arm of CBN has been on the scene since the day after the quake with volunteers and millions of dollars worth of aid and medicine.

The Kingdom, Worldview & Truth

Tracking down the missing pieces

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When Jesus announced his mission in the synagogue in Nazereth, (Luke 4: 14-30), he declared a kingdom that would transform the world.   God’s dream encompasses all creation from streets to stars, from jails to juries.  E. Stanley Jones expressed it succinctly: “The Kingdom is God’s total answer to man’s total need.”

Yet at the beginning of 2010 the tragedy, in the words of G. K. Chesterton is that “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” Of course the gospel of forgiveness has been embraced by countless generations of glad people, but the gospel of the Kingdom has barely been taken off the shelf.

I want to initiate a little series here at the beginning of the year that will address the kingdom in regard to business, government, education and the “rest” of life.  It’ll take awhile to work our way through, (and I’ll almost certainly take some detours along the way), but I’m excited about the discoveries we might make in the process.  Not only will this help me to order my own thoughts, but hopefully it’ll help some others to grasp the Kingdom in a more concrete way.

Back in 1975 God spoke to three Christian leaders independently of each other about the imperative of reaching the seven “spheres” of society.   Loren Cunningham, (founder of Youth With a Mission), Bill Bright, (founder of Campus Crusade for Christ), and Christian thinker Francis Schaeffer were each impressed by the Spirit to begin focusing on raising a generation to reach these seven spheres with the truth of Christ and His Kingdom.  It wasn’t about Christians “taking control” of culture, (for the Kingdom is never a matter of “control”), but about serving and influencing these strategic spheres with humility, insight, and love.

Lets begin by having a look at these spheres:

“The same one who came down is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.” (Eph. 4:10)  The seven spheres include Education, Family, Media, Church, Commerce, Government and the Arts.

God’s kingdom plan is to bless the human race and to reveal his staggering beauty in each of these seven areas!   But the great tragedy of today’s gospel is that in forgetting the kingdom we have focused the spotlight almost entirely on the individual and the church.  And this in turn has banished the rest of life to the shadows, beyond the scope of God’s grace.

The consequence is a Christianity that is largely expressed within the brick and mortar walls of a church building while the rest of the “real” world slides quietly into darkness.   What are we to do?  What does the gospel have to do with media, classrooms, governments and Wall Street ?   I hope you’ll join me in the weeks to come as we try to shed some light on the missing pieces of the Gospel.

News & Stories, Poetry and Prayers

A different kind of Christmas

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I tried something different this year for Christmas.  Since I have everything a person could possibly need, I asked for my family to give donations to charity instead.  And I was even more encouraged when they decided I could do the same for them.  So at the end of the day, instead of having to figure out how to squeeze more clothes into my closet, or what to do with gifts I didn’t need, I had the joy of knowing that we had provided twelve chickens, a goat, ten mosquito nets, deworming medication for 2,000 children, and a contribution towards digging a well for the poor in Africa.  Though it sounds like a lot, it really wasn’t.  American money still goes a long way in Africa.  It was the best Christmas since I was a kid.

I wrestled about posting this because of the idea of “losing my reward.”  But at the end of the day, it’s not about a reward.  It’s about caring for our starving brothers and sisters.  I’m certain many, if not most of you reading this are involved in caring for the poor, but if this suggestion might inspire just one more person to take action, then that can make an eternal difference.

Here are a few stats:

  • One Billion people worldwide have no access to clean drinking water.
  • 25,000 – 35,000 people, (including 14,000 children), die every day of hunger-related causes.  (That’s about one child every seven seconds).
  • 2.6 billion people have no access to basic sanitation facilities.
  • There are about 12 million AIDS orphans in Africa.
The Love of God, The Trinity

The incarnation and today’s news

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The incarnation means that the Father of Jesus refused to give up on us.  Today’s news is full of reports of an American Father, David Goldman being reunited with his son, Sean, who was kidnapped and held in Brazil for more than half of his life.  For this Father it was unthinkable to “move on;” unimaginable to forget about Sean and to turn his focus to other things.

But the problem is messy in two ways: legally and relationally.  Legally, David Goldman battled for years to establish his claim over Sean and to answer any argument that would say otherwise.  In the story of God, that battle took place on the cross when Jesus shattered every claim the Enemy had over our lives through sin.

But an equally difficult challenge, in the case of nine year old Sean, will be the reestablishing of a relationship with a Father who has been maligned by five years of indoctrination by his adulterous Mother and stepfather.  Last night’s news gave a name for it that made me sit up and say “That’s the problem of the human race!” Parental Alienation Syndrome is what happens when a child, separated from a parent, begins an unjustified campaign to vilify the parent.  It happens through indoctrination as well as in the imagination of the child himself.

What a perfect description of the human race, lost in a jungle of religion that slanders God and paints him in harsh, demanding terms.  As I write this David is sitting on an airplane trying to regain the trust and affection of a nine year old who has been programmed with alien ideas about his Dad.  I wish him well in what may be a long journey.  In the case of mankind, Father approached this tragedy by sending Jesus to mirror his staggering love and affection towards us, and then to declare “The person who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

This Christmas I rejoice in two great realities:  I am no longer alone, and Jesus has shown me the true face of my Father.  I pray that you will allow the God who has come near to put his arm around you and pull you close.

Grace

Adding to grace

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I’m always wanting to add to grace.  You gotta admit it feels good to think you’ve done something to make yourself a little more acceptable, a little more lovable in God’s eyes.  But it just can’t be done.   Although a proper understanding of the Kingdom means I can “earn” greater rewards for my faithfulness, that’s entirely different from the grace that seats me squarely and eternally in the Father’s embrace.

In most of His works God chooses to partner with man:  We plant seeds and He causes them to grow.   We lay hands on the sick and He makes people well.  We teach and preach, and He changes lives.  But grace is different: it’s the one work that is entirely His.   In our helplessness He does EVERYTHING necessary to bring us home.

Grace is like the moving sidewalk at the airport.  Whether you walk or stand, you’ll arrive at the same place either way.  Grace carries me home and seats me so completely before the face of the Father that there’s nothing left to add.

Hopeful glimpses of the Kingdom of God