The Kingdom of God

In the book Simply Christian, N. T. Wright describes three ways in which we would typically think of God’s space interacting with our earthly space.

Option One: Overlap the two spaces completely and say that “God is everything and everything is God.”

Option Two: Hold them completely apart and claim that the two do not interact.

Option Three: The two “overlap and interlock in a number of different ways” (Wright 63)

Wright then proceeds to explain how Option Three is the only one that is consistent with scripture.

My understanding of the theological phrase, the "Kingdom of God" has been challenged by this section of Simply Christian because I realized that although I know that God is living and active in this world, I still have parts of Option Two in my brain. On page 128 Wright says that “people who have assumed a worldview something like Option Two have looked for evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence and work in, not in a quiet growth of moral wisdom, a steady, undramatic lifetime of selfless service, but in spectacular “supernatural” events such as healings, speaking in tongues, wonderful conversations, and so on.”

This is my struggle when I’m praying for something and do not see the results I expected. There have been a couple people in my church who have passed away from cancer after many prayers for healing and I was angry with God for not showing up. Yet according to Option Three, God’s Kingdom was there, He was present through it all.

In Essentials in Worship Theology, Dan Wilt presents four theological ideas on the Nature of God:
1. God as Creator
2. God as King
3. God as Trinity
4. God as Savior

Of these four ideas I believe that the idea of God as King has the most importance for the next 10-20 years. I relate this idea to how it will affect my generation because mine is the next to step up within that time frame to be leaders in society.

Dan says “To know God as King, and to artistically express God as King is to:”

“1. …Acknowledge that actions, and not personal feelings, are the primary indicator that we have chosen to follow God.” This is important because we are taught to think individualistically and do what feels right. The diminishing percentage of successful marriages is evidence that we are making more decisions based on how we feel. As worship leaders we must teach people that we need to put aside feelings and make a conscious decision to follow God.

“2. …Recognize that all national commitments are subordinate and subject to our commitment to follow Jesus and his ways.” This is important because as Christians who are trying to live out the guidelines that God has set for us (since He knows what is good for us), the government will continue to make decisions that do not line up with the Bible. They will call us narrow-minded for believing that something is wrong when the law declares that it is perfectly acceptable.

“3. …Retool the language of worship music and liturgy to terms indicating the foundational actions of the Christian life – namely surrender, allegiance, loyalty and commitment.” I think that we all struggle to varying degrees with selfishness and the words “surrender,” “allegiance,” “loyalty,” and “commitment” can be ugly words. Yet these four words, when put to action, bring about maturity and will bear fruit.