Soon you'll be there

Jesus said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”  Yesterday I had a robust discussion with a friend about the nature of that Kingdom.  Jesus taught that His kingdom was like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in a garden. It grew and became a large tree, and the birds nested in its branches.  He said it is like a yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large batch of flour until it worked all through the dough (see Luke 13:18-21).  He used comparison because His kingdom is best understood by comparison.

The physical kingdom of man comes with much noise and spectacle – arguments, fighting and infighting, news stories and public demonstrations.  The kingdom of heaven comes quietly and unseen, as yeast grows inside the dough and a seed takes root under the ground.  The kingdom of man is exactly what you’d expect it to be – people jostling for position, making rules that try to include all and fit no one.  The kingdom of heaven is different - as a tree is to the seed, as rising dough is to the yeast. 

The tree comes up where you thought a bush would be – nevertheless beautiful, productive and peaceful.  A place of singing birds and joy.  The kingdom of man, even after all these years of building it, is still a place of argument, strife and destruction.

There have always been people pointing out the slow degeneration of society’s values and morals.  To do that is not new, or in vogue, or even necessarily profitable from a change-management standpoint.  Realistically the most people can be expected to do at news of incremental negative change is shrug.  Compartmentalization rules.  Worse, because our media feed us a constant stream of information overload about evil people doing evil things, there is a tendency toward hyperbole.  That taints legitimate warnings of offence, and I think it is for that reason that many refuse to speak up against the gradual erosion of civilized societal norm. 

But while we hold back, lest we be branded as troublemakers or shamed by the morals and values we’ve built our society on, the trend doesn’t just continue - it accelerates.  What used to be an occasional glimpse of what I would call society’s descent is now commonplace.  More than commonplace, it has instead become the excepted norm to ridicule historic values, or to (at best) ignore past common sense.  Such is the path the world is on as it rolls toward the best mankind can do.  Mankind, you see, is defining its kingdom.

Some might think that I’m just speaking like an old man, lamenting the passing of the good old days.  Not true (hey, I’m not even 50!).  No, I will not lament society’s past, even when I perceive the immediate future bleak.  And not because I fear shame or label.  Rather, because I perceive that as society moves in the direction it is headed, there will be an ever-greater delta between what most believe and what some believe.  That polarization of worldviews (current society worldview vs Christ-follower worldview) makes comparison stark and choice clear (for those who might yet make that choice). 

Next month we will celebrate the birth of the King of the Kingdom.  At His birth the angels said, “…peace to men on whom his favor rests”.   Later, Jesus Himself said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”  Read the paper.  Look at the world.  Decide for yourself if you want more of that, or if you want the peace that Jesus gives to those who follow Him.  If it is the former, well - good luck.  If the latter, you have already entered His kingdom.