The Gospel of the Kingdom 1: Do we make a difference?

If aliens came and abducted all of the truck drivers at once in our country, our whole economy would soon unravel. You probably give little thought on a daily basis to truck drivers except for the annoyance of having to get around a slow moving semi on the highway. But if they were suddenly gone, stores would close due to a lack of merchandise. People would lose jobs. Prices for the goods that are in stock would triple. Families would soon go hungry because stores would not be able to stock their shelves. The effect of truck drivers on our life every day is felt and real. We may not give it much thought, but it is real nonetheless.

If suddenly all the garbage collection trucks broke down at once, everyone in town would soon know about it. If all waiters and waitresses were suddenly sick and unable to work, we would all know about it. If teachers couldn’t work, we would have a crises on our hands.

But if all the churches in your community suddenly disappeared, would the average person in your town even notice? If just your church closed its doors for good, would the people who live within a 15-mile radius even know about it?

I suspect that somewhere along the line we lost the plot, and consequently we lost our influence. It is time to awaken again to what it means to bring the kingdom of God to the world around us.

What does it look like when the kingdom of God comes to the world around us? What happens when Jesus comes and does what only He can do? What are the things He does for people? He does give the gift of life eternal, no doubt, but I suspect He also gives something very present and real in the here and now.

In response to some discussion raised as a result of the Misguided Misgivings posts, I have decided to post some thoughts on the Gospel itself. The content from these blog posts come mostly from my book Search & Rescue. I wrote S&R to appeal to the ordinary Christian and not just professional leaders. Because of its more popular style of writing many have assumed it is not as substantive as my other books, but I think there is actually some important content in it that even Christian leaders will find helpful.