This series is not about politics though. As we emailed about our thoughts on this email forward, I expressed that everything about my political views that has changed over the years has done so as a result of my reflections on the Bible's teachings about justice, standing up for the oppressed and downtrodden, and especially Jesus' teaching about how we're supposed to treat other people. In order to explain this idea better, I'm starting this blog series to explore different gospel texts in which Jesus tells us something about how we should treat people in the Kingdom of God.
I'm throwing in this term "Kingdom of God," which I believe is an important one. I would suggest that everything Jesus said and did was an attempt to reveal the Kingdom of God, and define "Kingdom of God" very simply: living as if God is in charge. Thus, anytime we behave in a way that acknowledges God's sovereignty, we are living in the Kingdom of God. It is pretty common to speak of the Kingdom as having an already-but-not-yet tension - what this means is that the Kingdom of God is present now (insofar as we live as if God is in charge), but that it will not be fully present until Jesus' return and the restoration of heaven and earth. However, this should not prevent us from doing all we can to make the Kingdom more fully present in this life - in fact, I believe that we are called to do exactly that.
So, a part of Jesus' teaching on the Kingdom of God is how we treat other people. That is what this series will be about. Next post will start with a foundational text that is familiar to many - the parable of the Good Samaritan, in which Jesus responds to the question, "Who is my neighbor?"
2 comments:
This series looks like it's going to be good. I look forward to reading more.
I'm looking forward to this too. Over the last few years I've looked more and more at Matthew 22... to paraphrase, Jesus is asked what he believes the most important thing in Scripture is. Seeing as how hi IS Jesus and all, we should definitely be paying attention when he answers, saying to love God and the people around you. I think Christians have focused too much (if it is possible) on how to love God, and we have neglected what it really means to love the people around us. Definitely a subject worth our time and attention. I look forward to seeing where this series goes.
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