Read Matthew 13:44-46
Living out the teachings of the Bible means living as a part of the kingdom of God. Jesus talked at great lengths whenever the occasion arose to talk about what it means for his followers to be a part of of this kingdom and how to live it out. When we read Jesus’ description of this new world often it is shrouded in mystery because in some sense it is indescribable. He used common terms of the day and described it as being like a mustard seed, yeast, weeds and a pearl just to name a few. It looks a lot different from the conformist mentality of our culture that wants us all to look the same and just fit in.
One writer described it this way: “Imagine you live in a country ruled by a cruel dictator. He controls the army, he controls the government, he controls the media. He controls the economy. It is a very subtle yet a very real type of control. Everything is done in this country to keep you compliant but somehow you know inside that you are not free. He uses his media to tell you conform, conform, conform and it is all about branding. Have you seen enough ‘Aeropostale’ or ‘American Eagle’ shirts out there?? We wonder how we can keep ourselves from being absorbed by our culture way of living? Is it possible to live, look and feel different as followers of Christ?
Imagine with me if you met visitors from another country who seem very happy with an inner beauty that is indescribable and you wonder why they would ever want to come to our country since our country is so self absorbed and they seem so happy. You notice that whenever these people come they tell you about their beautiful country where everything seems “topsy tervy”. So you decide to sneak over for a visit; however, your borders are tightly controlled so you have to go through the mountains on foot to get a glimpse of a country. You observe that people don’t compete but serve one another. They don’t keep reminding each other of their faults, but they speak about being perfectly loved, accepted, precious and wonderful. There is a sense of reverence in the air in this country instead of a sense of haste and rush and hurry. And you notice that the people that are last in your country, the handicapped, the uneducated, the minorities, the sick, the elderly are treated with unusual extra respect here. People are full of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness and kindness. People are gentle, full of faith, and don’t fly off the handle.
So you decide to become a citizen of the new country of this new kingdom but you must go back and live and work in your old country because it needs to be transformed by your very presence in it but you always remain a citizen of the new.” (Brian McLaren, Living Now in the Kingdom of God) I think it is so amazing that the Apostle Peter describes those who are a part of the Kingdom of God as aliens and foreigners. Fully alive followers of Christ know and live as citizens of a new kingdom and take that reality and transform the world around them.
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