LIFE - what it's all about...

"Future kingdom now", has become a recent mantra of our small Christ following faith community we have been a part of initiating here in Kelowna. And I think this is a good place to start when we talk about what our lives are all about. You see for me this statement is simple, yet deep. Complex, yet straight forward. 

My view is that the primary characteristic of the future kingdom (or what most bibles call eternity, although the early follower of Jesus and the Jews would not have talked about eternity, but about this age and the age to come. This age to come, or eternity, being when God would rule and reign and all things would be as he originally intended.) is life, life to the full. Life full of faith, hope and love. 

I am convinced that our calling as Christians is not to get people to make a confession to save them from the clutches of hell and eternal punishment of a wrathful God. I believe that God's future kingdom is and will come and that all who refuse to embrace the redemption, restoration, forgiveness, resurrection life and this faith, hope and love that comes from those realities will have no place in this coming kingdom. I also believe that just as Jesus said He is the way to this life, this faith, this hope and this love that it is what he did in defeating death that has brought forth this redemption, restoration, reconciliation and resurrection which is the future kingdom. I guess for me, I think the narrowness of our western evangelical religious traditions, that dominates our Christian thinking, has blinded us from seeing this expression of both the way and ways of Jesus as a holistic lifestyle.

A lifestyle characterized by biblical truth and biblical character as seen in the fullness of what the bible reveals; as a whole story, in the cultural context in which it was written, to those it was intended. Not as a weapon that I pick a part to justify my injustice, intolerance, ignorance, racism, sexism and hatred toward those that think, act or live differently then I do. Recognizing and believing that God has created ALL people in his own image and loves them with a love I can't even fully comprehend, but need to live as best I can, with Holy Spirit's empowering, mercy, grace, understanding, wisdom and love in my life. 

Our purpose, objective, mandate, or calling as Jesus followers is to be carriers of the good news of God’s future kingdom come. Through Jesus’s life, death and resurrection this kingdom come is available to us here and now. To me the clearest reality of the future kingdom that has not fully and completely come to our world, is the fullness of life expressed in the bible and given to us through Jesus. A world where there is no more suffering, no more sickness, no more sadness, no more death in any way, shape, or form. In fact, in doing what Jesus did in his life, death and resurrection from the dead, he overcame death once and for all. He brought forth the kingdom as God intended it from the beginning and enables us to experience it in the here and now, not just forever in God’s future kingdom. That is Good News! That is the good news that we have to share with the world around us, that life has come, death has lost it's power and each of us can become alive in Christ Jesus.

However, we still live in a space and time where the battle for our lives and the reality of death still exists, where the tension of two worlds are still at war with one another. We are not in the future kingdom just yet, it is God’s mercy that allows us to collectively and corporately continue to work out our humanity and liberation from all things that are opposed to this future kingdom. As NT Wright says so beautifully; "we are to become authentically human", our goal as Christ followers is to become fully alive ourselves and to do all that we can and all that God empowers us to do, to allow others to experience this authentic humanity and fullness of life found in the real and authentic love of Jesus, finding life in him who is both the author and perfecter of life itself. 

The beginning of this past year was a difficult one for me personally as we took significant steps of faith to forge into new things. Expanding the breadth and depth of our lives to have the greatest kingdom impact we could. In the last half of 2012 as we communicated our faith filled future, we found that a number of faithful and generous partners who had been with us over the last number of years as we worked with a singular focus of helping to see churches planted in Europe, decided it was time to move on themselves. As we walked a road filled with way less certainty and security, one that was less straight forward and more complex in the way our lives were seeking first His kingdom and justice (Matt 6:33), we were disheartened by the timing of their departures. 

The disengagement of a number of our partners hurt and caused me to wonder why at this junction in our lives, when we believe we are taking the greatest, largest steps of faith trying to initiate a number of kingdom ventures (and thinking personally that we now need these faithful partners more then ever) did those who were part of our foundations and support structure suddenly disengage? 

Clarity and simplicity

Now before I come to my own personal conclusion, I realize that the complexity and reasons for disengagement are complex and varying. However, as I sought answers, had conversations, tried to comprehend the thinking behind some of these decisions that greatly affected our reality and our financial well being, I came to two conclusions: 

1. All that we were doing and why were doing it lacked clarity. We failed to be clear enough in communicating what it is we are all doing and why we feel we are being asked to do these things. We also failed to communicate what it is that bring or binds all these things together in our lives. 
2. We all struggle with complexity and unfortunately I think in someway most if not all Jesus followers struggle with a narrow view of the kingdom (some more narrow then others, but that’s another post for another time, maybe), that causes us to miss the complexities that exist when we truly run after his kingdom and set our own agendas aside. 

I believe we failed to be as clear as we needed to be and failed to bring clarity to the complexity of our lives. But I also think people's lives these days are far to simple and that the diversity and complexity of ours at this point and time is just hard to understand (I don't think we FULLY get it either to be honest), however, we are just trying to walk in obedience and trusting our loving Father is working it all out for His Kingdom's sake, not ours. 

Because of that I am going to try and bring some level of clarity. To try and communicate with you who we are and why we are doing specifically what we are doing with the lives we have been given. That is what I have started above, outlining the overarching belief that shapes and build the foundation on which we place our values, make our decisions and live out our lives. 

I hope you will come and see for yourselves and hopefully be inspired to bring life where there is death, hope where there is despair, faith were there is doubt and love everywhere. May we lead people to the way that is Jesus; enabling us to understand truth and become authentically human and fully alive. 


***please come back next week for part two or this introduction on Life