Why Now?

There is a growing realisation that the knowing about the Kingdom of God is something that, though birthed in the Middle East and held in trust by the great Middle Eastern monotheistic religious traditions through the Ages of Aries and Pisces, is larger than those traditions, a birthright of anyone who makes a choice to align with Divine Purpose and Plan, and to do God’s will.

There is also a new level of recognition of the way in which political agendas over many centuries and in many parts of the world have used, distorted and abused the Kingdom message. Nowhere has this been more evident than in the outlook of those who birthed both full-blown twentieth century communism, or its cousin, socialism and the ‘welfare state’, with their ‘utopian’ social engineering and state-engendered ‘Kingdom’.

Suddenly it is extremely relevant and, in fact, vitally important to understand the underlying valid teachings around the concept of the Kingdom of God, as global factions vie for ‘chosen people’ status – and stake their claims to be sole representatives of that Kingdom.

It is also crucial, in this cuspal time of breakdown and renewal, to begin to understand the whole apocalyptic/’end-time’ scam (1). In their book Captain America and the Crusade Against Evil (2), Robert Jewett and John S Lawrence talk of the powerful role of the Book of Revelation in shaping the American psyche as a whole – and even more the psyches of the apocalyptic-‘end-time’ movements - almost all of which originate in the USA. The whole apocalyptic message is summed up in the American Battle Hymn of the Republic (based on Revelation 19.13-15), and currently in the best-selling Left Behind series, with its deliberate incitement of fear, anxiety, urgency and exclusivist ‘chosen people’ mentality.

It is crucial that we begin to appreciate at this time the danger of the Kingdom’s being invested in any political or religious system – “The Kingdom has come and it is the USA, or the Roman Catholic Church, or Pentecostal Christianity or fundamentalist Islam etc.”- which can only breed the incredibly dangerous ‘us against them’ or ‘us rather than them’ mentality.

This is clearly not the Kingdom message which either Jesus or John the Baptiser taught. According to Jesus, the Kingdom is invested in those who do God’s will. And what is that will? What is it that God desires? It is a life which is a full-time expression in action of the Great Commandment to love, and that love is now to be extended not only to one’s neighbour, but also to those traditionally seen as one’s enemies – in other words, everyone.

Jesus and John preached consistently against the ‘chosen people’ mentality. John would tell the Pharisees and Sadducees in no uncertain terms, “Do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” (3) Jesus’ message would always be that history and ‘chosen status’ counts for nothing. From his first sermon in the Nazareth synagogue to his parables of the banquet and the good Samaritan he would emphasise that God’s chosen people choose themselves with their willingness to take his invitation to relationship and service seriously and their godly acts of love to fellow humans.