What do you mean by 'The Kingdom of God'?
Tell us what you mean by ‘seeing the Kingdom of God come in greater measure’?
This was a comment my Chair of Trustees made towards the end of a board meeting focused on strategy. I had used the phrase in a paper I’d circulated a few days earlier, and then used it a few more times during the discussion we’d just had. I don’t know whether my Chair was being just a little bit pedantic, or whether he genuinely wasn’t quite sure what I meant, after all, the same words can mean different things to different people.
The question was a good one though. I sort of knew inside what I meant, but now I needed to put it on paper. The more I looked at Jesus’ words ‘the Kingdom is like …’, the more it seemed there was a veil over what the expression actually meant. That was until a children’s service at St John‘s, Harborne, back in the days when we could all meet together!
Diana Hopkins had referenced Revelation 21:3-4 and asked what we wouldn’t see in heaven. Suddenly the penny dropped. Sometimes it is easier to define something by what it is not, than to try and nail down what it is.
A line from the prayer Jesus taught in Matthew 6 contains the familiar words, ‘…your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ What does that mean? I think Revelation 21:3-4 gives us a picture that we can understand. The verse points to a time when we will live forever with God, it says:
‘God lives with humans! God will make his home with them and they will be his people. God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear away from their eyes, there won’t be any more death. There won’t be any more grief, crying or pain, because the first things have disappeared.’
I reasoned, if the Kingdom of God includes the absence of death, grief, crying and pain, then one way of understanding what Jesus meant when he prayed “Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.” is to reflect on what causes death, grief, crying and pain. All of which run counter to God's intention for the world.
It seems to me that when the Kingdom of God starts to appear, such things as violence, selfishness, domination, sickness, poverty, disrespect, exclusion, persecution, loneliness, pollution, climate change, discrimination, and lack of dignity start to disappear. The list could go on and on and on.
For me, ‘The will of God done on earth’ includes anything that undoes or counters the things in the above list e.g. pursuing peace, resolving conflict, sharing, improving livelihoods, embracing difference, affording dignity to all, treating our world with respect, and reducing our demands on it. Again, the list goes on and on and on.
As Christians I believe God loves all of His creation, and that Jesus brought the prospect of a renewed relationship with God to all of mankind. For me, a natural part of wanting to see the ‘Kingdom Come On Earth’, is to desire that people know Jesus and follow him, as well as desiring an absence of death, grief, crying and pain. Neither is the single, exclusive expression of the Kingdom of God, they are halves of the whole package.
So, what does that mean for you and me?
I recall little of the sermons I have heard in my 23 years at St John’s. One phrase though remains with me. Geoff Lanham was St John’s Assistant Vicar more than 20 years ago. He said, ‘we are not all called to be evangelists, but we are all called to share our faith’. It seems to me a key ingredient is knowing what God has called you to, and doing it, allowing God’s spirit to call others to do their bit. We are part of a Christ centred eco-system in which faith in Christ can grow.
What does that mean for the organisation I lead, the International Nepal Fellowship (INF)? INF isn’t allowed to evangelise in Nepal – Government laws don’t permit it, but that actually doesn’t matter. Our work is an important element of a ‘Christ centred eco-system’.
From the UK, INF provides resources (e.g. money and people) to our partners in Nepal, and adds value in other ways. We encourage people in the UK to pray for the work in Nepal and the church in Nepal. We also encourage our colleagues in Nepal in their faith and work, and they likewise encourage us.
Other supporting agencies from around the world do similar things.
Our main partner, INF Nepal, is run entirely by Nepali nationals. INF Nepal has its health and development projects, and the expertise to execute these well. These projects focus on undoing many of the things I listed as contrary to the will of God i.e. sickness, poverty, exclusion, loneliness, climate change, discrimination, and lack of dignity, but that’s not all.
The health and development professionals bring their faith as well as their expertise. In field areas they support small and fragile churches and encourage them.
Somehow, all these elements come together and in their midst, God’s spirit is at work. Time and time again I have seen and heard stories about how communities have changed. How people’s lives have improved, how churches have grown as villagers experience the goodness of the Kingdom and come to faith for themselves.
In Bajura, the poorest district in Nepal I have seen with my own eyes how people’s lives and well-being are being transformed, and how the church has grown. Bajura is the size of the West Midlands. When INF started working there, there were just six Christians in the whole of the district. There are now over 100 Christians in four churches, and these continue to grow as people come along, curious to learn more.
My encouragement to you is to ask God what your part is, and to do it faithfully, no more, no less.
As a footnote – in response to my Chair’s question:
‘Tell us what you mean by ‘seeing the Kingdom of God come in greater measure’?
I circulated another short document, mirroring what I have written above. My board’s response, ‘we can see what you mean now John’.
John Reynolds
CEO, International Nepal Fellowship