Theology Question for the Pastor. How has the practice of ministry affected your experience and understanding of the kingdom of God?
The Church is a reflection of the Kingdom of God. The practice of ministry has provided me opportunity to see both the beauty and the pain the church has representing this reality. The Church is a reflection of the Kingdom of God in its present form and a dimension in which we find God, our selves, and each other. It is the ultimate community of fellowship and love. The Kingdom of God becomes visible in the church. Through worship and service, the church becomes the body of Christ, loving God and one another.[1] When the church is faithful and led by the Spirit of God we become Christ’s kingdom agents on earth. Jesus chooses to use the church and, “wherever Jesus is actually working through his body, there the church is an authentic sign of the kingdom. If the church is a literal community it is really the body—the embodiment, the infleshment—of Jesus Christ.”[2]
This makes our primary calling as God’s church to abandon our selfish motives and be so surrendered to God’s Spirit that we take on the mind and mission of Christ and truly follow Christ as empowered disciples. The church is commissioned to baptize, teach, and make disciples of Christ, (Matthew 28: 19-20). “The church’s kingdom tasks include the proclamation of the gospel in such a way that people respond in faith and obedience to Jesus and join in building the Christian community. This community is a new social reality that, through its Spirit-empowered likeness to Christ and its renunciation of the world’s definitions and tactics, reveals the true nature of God’s reign.”[3]
The kingdom of God is within us/in our midst (Luke 17:20-21), the person of Christ and the church, but is not limited to a physical location. Through Christ’s birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection Jesus animates the Kingdom within every nook and cranny of human history and human heart. All are invited to enter the Kingdom. The church is the herald of the kingdom but not fully equated with it, the Holy Spirit is at work in the entire world beyond the limits of the church but constantly in union with the church. The Kingdom maintains a mysterious element, it is simultaneously within us and yet beyond us.
In the Churches I have served, I have witnessed the Kingdom of God in its present form. I have learned much about the Kingdom of God by sharing in worship and mission. I have realized that understanding Christ’s redemptive work and participating in communion with God does not depend on race or social status. I grew a student ministry to include many, who most would consider society’s “least.” For those active in this ministry this was an example of a true, loving, community that taught us all what the Kingdom of God and eternal life in its present form are all about.
Sadly, many adults and more seasoned believers struggle with the truth of being a kingdom community. I was told by a mother at our Church, “these kids aren’t like our kids, they have problems.” In a meeting one mother told the group, “I want a youth group like when we were in MYF.” I asked what MYF was for her? She replied, “It was for us!”
Paradoxically, the other Churches I have served want to grow and they tell me that they want to reach children, youth and young adults. My response makes them consider what these children and youth may look like? Where they might come from? How much resources it will take from all of us? Are you ready for that? In other words, the practice of ministry has taught me the kingdom of God can be beautiful yet mysteriously messy.
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