The Coming of the Kingdom, Part V

The Kingdom Through Thick and Thin

One of the glories of the Kingdom of God is that it is “thick” in the sense that its coming will transform the entirety of culture. The Scripture teaches that the Kingdom comes gradually, working to transform from the inside out, as the leaven transforms the entire loaf.

We have argued that as the Kingdom comes more and more upon earth, the will of God is obeyed upon earth in the same way that it is obeyed in heaven. Obedience to God and conformity to His will in heaven is total, comprehensive, all embracing, instinctive, and complete. As the Lord answers the first petition of the Lord's Prayer, and the Kingdom comes upon earth it will increasingly be the case here as well. The Christian believes these things in faith, and plays a "long game".

Heaven, of course, is populated by myriads and myriads of creatures, whose service and obedience to God is not like that of automatons but of creatures who will to do God's will, who love to obey, who cannot conceive of any other way of being, living, and acting. God is at work in them, so that they all will and work for His good pleasure. As the Kingdom comes upon earth, the same reality will increasingly come to pass in human culture and society. (Philippians 2:13)

We forget just how “thick” human culture really is. When Clifford Geertz used this term, he alluded to culture as being all embracing, influencing and shaping even the most mundane activities. Even those cultures which many in the West would call primitive reflect nuance and complexity and comprehensive integration into a commonly understood frame of meaning. Outside observers watching a traditional activity, such as a traditional Balinese cockfight, have no idea of just how integrated that activity is into the local culture—of the nuances and shades of significance and meaning that either directly or indirectly reflect the entirety of the world-view of (in this case) the local villages. The so-called primitive culture turns out to be inordinately complex, integrated, and “thick” with significance and meaning. Geertz's research traced all this out.

We would argue that this is always the way with human beings. Mircea Eliade has argued similarly in his research into comparative religions. If the Kingdom of God is to come upon earth, it comes in a manner that is itself “thick” and transforms “thick” cultures. It touches, shapes, influences everything. One of the mistakes that has been made repeatedly in redemptive history is to view the Kingdom of God far too superficially. The Kingdom will have come if only Christendom could win back the Holy Land. The Kingdom will have come, if only we make the world safe for democracy. The Kingdom will have come if we establish world government and prevent all future wars. All of these, which have actually been advocated in the past, trivialise the Kingdom of God. Focusing upon such superficial trivialities not only reflect an idiot's view of human culture; quickly it degenerates into an ugly idolatry.

The Kingdom of God transforms believing men and women from the inside out, as well as from the outside in. It begins from the outside. The Gospel comes from the outside in; it is first heard externally (Romans 10:14), then believed upon internally, as the Spirit of God moves from the external means of grace to applying grace internally, to the heart. This results in a person being born again, repenting, and believing. But, once regeneration occurs so that the individual repents and believes, the Kingdom of grace starts to influence and transform all that the Believer is, does, and touches. This means that the Kingdom moves from the outside in, and then from the inside out. The outside is transformed as well as the inside and vice versa.

But because human culture is thick and all embracing, the leaven of the Kingdom ends up transforming the whole loaf. A helpful way to break this down is to recall that human cultures, as well as human hearts, reflect goals, motives and standards in everything and everywhere. As the Kingdom of God comes, the goals, motives, and standards of human individuals and their cultures become transformed to conform to God's will.

The movie, Chariots of Fire provides an effective illustration. The two protagonists, Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell both run to win Olympic gold, but with very different goals, motives, and standards. Liddell runs to bring glory to God, Who made him fast; Abrahams runs to prove himself to his peers. Liddell runs subject to the law (the standards) of God—and so will not compete on the Sabbath; Abrahams runs subject to his own rules, employing a professional coach. Liddell cares not that King and country pressure him to compromise, the approval of the King of kings being far more important; Abrahams longs for King and country to accept him. Liddell is motivated by a profound love of God; Abrahams is motivated by a profound love of self. Both run, both win. But the goals, motives, and standards of each is distinct and different; both are completely under the control of their particular cluster of goals, motives, and standards. It affects everything they do, how they do it, for whom they do it, and why they do it. Liddell is one in whom the Kingdom of God has come; Abrahams remains captured by the kingdom of this world.

The coming of the Kingdom of God upon earth as it is in heaven involves millions and millions of people, eventually billions of people, acting so that throughout their lives, their goals, motives, and standards in all that they do are day by day becoming more reflective of God's will. This is something that only the power of God can do; it is beyond, way beyond, the province of men. But the upshot is a thick transformation of human culture from the all-embracing goals, motives, and standards of Unbelief to those of Belief. Only God can do such a thing.

We confess and acknowledge that in these things we have made only a small beginning. So, we continue to pray, “Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”