The Gospel that doubles, part 3

Review:


I work full time promoting church growth in a world where church
growth is a multi-million dollar industry and the church is not
growing.


But, I can't help but contrast this world with the world of the
early church where, best I can tell, there was no church growth
industry. They didn't have any church growth seminars or church
growth books or church growth consultants, and the church was
growing and growing rapidly.


I believe the reason this is true is that the central message of
the church as we preach it is different from the central message
that the early church preached. It is not that the things we are
saying are not true; it is just not what occupied the constant agenda
of Christ and his early followers. We talk about, "How to go to
heaven when you die." They talked about the kingdom of God.


What is the kingdom of God? It is everywhere where God is
acknowledged as king. It is the range of God's effective will
(Dallas Willard). From early in life we are obsessed with question:
who is king? Who is in charge? We want to be in charge.


The question, then, is, what is it like when God is in charge,
and what is it like when we are in charge?


What is it like when we are in charge?


Well, that is easy enough to figure out. Read the newspaper. What
do you find?



  • Murder

  • Robbery

  • Fights

  • War

  • Rape

  • Conflict


You get the picture. When people are in charge, it is not a
pretty picture.


I was eating lunch today at a local dive when our conversation
was interrupted by someone screaming and hollering and cussing. I
couldn't quite make out what they were mad about, but it was pretty
clear they were mad.


I had been talking to my friend, Chris, about these things. It is
on my mind and I could help but talk about it. We both looked over
at the man screaming and cussing, "I don't think he is living life
in the kingdom, do you?"


What is life is the kingdom of God like?


Paul said, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and
drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
Romans 14:17 (NIV)


"Not about eating and drinking," that was huge to his original
Jewish listeners. For them, the kingdom was ALL about eating this
drinking that, and, more importantly, NOT eating this and NOT
drinking that. It was about observing certain days, certain rituals.
It was about jumping through so many hoops and doing so many things
and checking off this and that. From their perspective, it was all
about that kind of thing.


Paul says, "No, no, no. Its not about that. It is not about that
at all. It is about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy
Spirit." I don't take this to be an exact list. Paul seems to be
expanding on this same list in Galatians 5.22 and 23."But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things
there is no law." (NIV)


This is life in the kingdom:



  • Love. I receive God's love. I accept the fact that He
    accepts me. His love gives me confidence. There is nothing like
    the feeling of knowing you are loved. Out of the overflow of a
    heart of love, I become more loving. I love more. All my
    relationships are different and better because of love. That is
    life in the kingdom: a life of love.

  • Joy. Not the deep undercurrent of joy that some people talk
    about but no one can really know if it is there or not. A joy
    that is felt. A joy that makes you smile and laugh and
    appreciate the sunset and a cold glass of water. Not the light
    and fluffy stuff of amusement. Joy is what we all long for. Joy
    is what we live for. It is available for you in the kingdom.
    When God is in charge, there is joy.

  • Peace. As it says in another place, "the peace that passes
    all understanding." The peace that doesn't make any sense, but
    is real none-the-less. The peace that allows me to rest in
    knowing that the King of the universe is in my corner. As
    Revelation has it, "there is a throne in heaven and Someone is
    sitting on it." Not pacing the floor. Not wringing His hands.
    Sitting. Quite relaxed. Quite in charge. Do you long for a life
    of peace? You can have it. It is part of life in the kingdom.

  • Kindness. In the kingdom, people say, "Please" and
    "Thank-you" more often.


We could go on, but you get the idea. This is the offer of the
kingdom: a life where God is king and where there is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control.


Imagine you could take a pill that made you feel thoroughly
loved. It made you significantly more loving. It made you joyful. It
put your soul at peace. What would you pay for that pill?


That is the offer of the kingdom, and that is the message that
fueled the incredible growth of the early church. It was not a
message about how to go to heaven when you die. It was about how to
live a life that is a little more joyful, a little more loved, a
little more loving, a little more at peace and I ask you, does
anyone reading want that life?


The early church did not throw their bodies to lions for a
message about how to go to heaven when you die. They laid down their
lives because their Lord said, "I have come that you might have
life; life to the full."


Everyone wants that life, and if you teach that life, your group
will grow. Teach them to live life in the kingdom. Teach them to get
up every morning basking in God's love. Teach them to experience the
peace that passes all understanding. Teach them to have a joy that
makes them smile more, hug more, love more.


As I write my lessons each week, I often ask questions like:



  • [Topic: forgiving others] How will learning to forgive help
    us to live the John 10.10 abundant Christian life that Jesus
    promised?

  • [Topic: getting out of debt] How does debt keep us from
    experiencing the second fruit of the Spirit: joy?

  • [Topic: second coming] How does cultivating a longing for
    the blessed hope that is the return of Christ affect our day to
    day lives? How does it help us to live a John 10.10 abundant
    Christian life today?


We will look next week about how the kingdom grew "all by
itself." The Greek word is automate. We get our word automatically
from that word. The kingdom grows automatically.


And why wouldn't it? If you teach people to live lives that are a
little more joyful, a little more kind, a little less worried, a
little less anxious, a little more loved, a little more loving,
people will want to come. You wouldn't be able to keep them away.


If you would like some help in preparing lessons that teach
people to live life in the kingdom, I invite you to consider using
Good Questions That Have Groups Talking. I have just given them a
major overhaul and they are now better than ever!  For $200 you
can put these lessons into the hands of ALL your teachers for a
WHOLE YEAR. It is the greatest bargain on lessons ever! Other plans
available. For details, see

www.joshhunt.com/lessons.htm


 


Continued at
www.joshhunt.com/mail262.htm


 

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