On Earth

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.

 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:9-13 ESV)

Notice the words, “your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth” On Earth. That chunk of rock in space that we just happen to live on.

So what does it mean to create the Kingdom of God on Earth? What would it look like if the Church Universal worked together to create the Kingdom of God on Earth?

I wonder what would happen if the Church stopped making the purpose of Church attendance and money and made the purpose of the Church community and restoration.  I wonder if attendance would just naturally increase if the Church left the four walls of the sanctuary and became active in the community. I wonder what would happen of the Church Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” seriously. I wonder what would happen if the Church took seriously its charge to care for the Earth. I wonder what would happen if the church stopped serving structures and started serving people.

After all Jesus said, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35 ESV) and “ It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28 ESV).

In his book, “If the Church Were Christian” Philip Gulley says, “In the first story of the Bible, after God created the world, God gave humans the responsibility of caring for it. Old gospel tunes not withstanding, this world is our home and our responsibility. To shirk that duty in order to focus on a world we have no verifiable proof even exists is misguided. Yet many Christians still contend that preparing people for an afterlife should be the church’s chief priority and willingly commit much energy and money securing entry to heaven even as people suffer and starve for lack of basic necessities.”

It is almost Advent. I love Advent/Christmas/ Epiphany. The reason for my love is hope. Jesus came to restore our broken world. Jesus actively brought the Kingdom of God to Earth. This Jewish Rabbi understood that Heaven is not only this far off place, but that it could be a present reality. As a follower of “The Way” I am committed to bringing the Kingdom of God to Earth.

I want to leave you with some lyrics from one of my favorite songs, “You gave your life to make a difference.  You gave your life to make a change.  You welcome all to your table, you’re calling us to do the same.  I want my life to make a difference.  I want my life to make change.  I want my life to do some good here.  I want my life to make change.” Rachel Kurtz- Make A Difference

go in PEACE. live PEACE. be PEACE. 

Not a Marketing Campaign.

Churches are not business. Businesses are marketed. Therefore churches should not be marketed. Churches are business in the sense that they have bills to pay, but once the bills are paid the church stops being a business.

The goal of a church should not be to have better technology, newer carpet and more members than the church across the street. Too many churches are trying to recruit new members and forgetting about the amazing people that already belong to the church.

When I was looking for a church to join, I wasn’t just looking at the materials used to build the church I was also looking for a community to join. I was concerned about how the church treated the marginalized populations of our society. I was not looking for a church that looked like a commercial for Apple.

I am a firm believer that if someone wants to go to church they will go. I am a firm believer that if a church has a strong community they will be the church that grows exponentially. I firmly believe that if a church is more concerned about technology than it is about community, it will grow exponentially, peak, and then drop.

In their book Jesus Wants to Save Christians, Rob Bell and Don Golden talk about the dangers of a church that is more concerned about technology than community.

“…the Eucharist is not a product . Glossy brochures have the potential to do great harm to the body and blood. Church is people. The Eucharist is people. People who have committed themselves to being a certain way in the world. To try to brand that is to risk commodifying something intimate, sacred, and holy. The church is not a center for religious goods and services, where people pay a fee and receive a product in return. A church is not an organization that surveys its demographic to find out what the market is demanding at this particular moment and then adjusts its strategy to meet that consumer niche. The way of Jesus is the path of descent. It’s about our death, It’s our willingness to join the world in its suffering, it’s our participation in the new humanity, it’s our weakness calling out to others in their weakness. To turn that into a product blasphemes the Eucharist.”

The church that I walked out of had amazing technology, super comfortable seating, and awesome coffee. But it had no sense of community. In fact it helped further marginalize the marginalized members of our society.

The church I attended after that had some pretty awesome technology, not so comfortable seats, and iffy coffee. But they were concerned about building a community that embraced the margins of our society.

The church I eventually joined has horrible technology, not so comfortable pews, and decaf coffee. But they rock at creating a welcoming community.

The group I hang out with on Saturday nights has almost no technology, hard metal folding chairs, and really good food. Most importantly we are concerned about building a community that welcomes everyone.

Technology is a wonderful thing when it is not used for marketing. Technology is a wonderful thing when it isn’t used to have higher attendance than the church across the street.

When a church forgets that is first and foremost a community, it eventually forgets about God and in doing so forgets about doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly.

go in Peace. live Peace. be Peace.