As a bi-vocational minister, the
difference between my Sunday and Monday is very evident and gets amplified at
times. I see a move towards teams and
more collaboration at work. As I evaluate the messages we hear and songs we
sing at churches, I feel like we are somehow promoting and going in the
opposite direction.
Challenges with Individualistic view
We live in a culture
where independence is seen as superior to
dependence on others and people are becoming self-centered, individualistic and
have limited their community life to some events. This has affected the church
also and we see a struggle to develop deeper relationships or involvement in
others lives. Many times preachers are preaching messages which promote
individualism more than a community mindset among people. The songwriters have
also done the same and majority of the top Christian songs reinforce a me-and-Jesus
view of salvation and Christian living when compared to a kingdom perspective
with a broader understanding of Christ’s redemptive work and our call to follow
Christ in his mission of Shalom (Sherman, 2011,
Location No. 699). The counsel of the community or others is no longer
valued and we see people taking big decisions on their own without consulting
anyone else.
Why do we need a Kingdom View?
Jesus’ central teaching theme was the kingdom and the sermon on the mount was about
the ethics of the kingdom. Joining Jesus on his mission
of restoring all things will require us to reorder our priorities. This will require us to stop building and promoting the
kingdom of self. This will take away from time invested in accumulating more worldly wealth or acquire greater worldly status
(Sherman, 2011, Location No. 1433). Preaching the Jesus of Bible will require a
shift from being more individualistic to becoming more community-oriented.
The Bible provides us a vision for life together from the
first pages of the Scripture. At the end
of the Bible, we again see people gathering in the New Jerusalem (Revelation
21:1-3). From Genesis to Revelation, we
see many examples of God’s intention for
us to live together in community. All the believers in Jerusalem were together
and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to
anyone who had a need ( Acts 2:44-45). All the believers were one in heart and mind.
No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared
everything they had. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them such that
there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned
land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the
apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had a need (Acts 4:32-35). This gives us a totally different
view than what we see in today’s churches.
What has to change?
The messages proclaimed from the pulpits should have
the Kingdom perspective and should connect the faith and the workaday of the believers.
We should be careful that we are not presenting a too-narrow gospel which only
focuses on personal justification and does not talk about the gospel of the
kingdom. This self-focused or inward-focused gospel will never make a person
look out for justice for the poor and the needy. This will also result in
people not finding any meaning with what they do outside the church or their vocation.
This kingdom perspective cannot be
ignored in the area of finances and all the
resources which have been made
available to us by God. We should be looking for practical ways to
help others within our community and should not be satisfied by doing things within our comfort zone.
Conclusion
As we struggle to
overcome the pull from the culture to overcome an independent and individualistic lifestyle, we have to act with
a generosity which will result in our
world getting expanded. It is important that the Kingdom view is shared and
focused on so that people will start understanding
the biblical message about the Kingdom of God.
Nelson, Tom. Work Matters: Connecting Sunday Worship to
Monday Work. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011.
Sherman, Amy L. Kingdom Calling: Vocational Stewardship for
the Common Good. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2011.
