BLOG 5/29/18. “THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT A MATTER OF WORDS, BUT …”

LOG 5/29/18. “THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT A MATTER OF WORDS, BUT …”

What with a bevy of (what I would call) counterfeit ‘evangelicals’ out there hustling all kinds of agendas that are inimical to the teachings of Christ, it is a good moment to stop and remember that that Jesus and the apostles are not those who make a big noise about their profession of faith (though they articulate their gospel message very carefully), or engage in many words that contradict that very profession: “The kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.” (I Corinthian 4:20). Or, perhaps even more demanding is Jesus’ own word: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of my Father, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

That provokes me to share the story of one of my own models of faithful obedience with you. John Perkins is an African-American civil rights practitioner, who, with his family, shared all the venom of the racism in his native Mississippi. John pre-dates many of the better known civil-rights figures. But the fact that John (who designates himself humorously as a “third-grade drop-out”) has just received his 14th honorary doctorate speaks worlds about his enormous influence. There is a compelling humility about John, yet he is bold and insistent in practicing and heralding racial reconciliation, economic and community redevelopment so effectively. The story is that when John’s brother (a WWII veteran) as killed for no reason by deputy-sheriffs, John escaped to California to make a new life for himself. But it was there that he was ‘found’ by Jesus Christ, and was well ‘discipled’ by Christian folk. It was out of that encounter with Jesus Christ, and his commands, that John (and his remarkable wife, Vera Mae) were constrained to move back to Mississippi to be heralds of the gospel, and to practice reconciliation in all of its interpersonal and communal-economic dimensions.

What emerged was so unmistakable that the day came when the state of Mississippi declared a day in his honor. He reproduced himself in a whole new generation of such agents of racial reconciliation and community development. He turned the leadership over to them, and moved back to Pasadena, California to do the same thing there. (Stick with me here). I had gotten to know John early on in his work in Mississippi at a student weekend conference, and we had bonded. So, when he had moved back to California, and I was visiting in Pasadena to engage in my own ministry that I stayed with John in his home. His study was also his guest-room, and on the walls by that time were pictures of John in the oval office of the White House, many honors, and honorary degrees.

He and I were having supper together, and I asked him: “John, how do you maintain your humility with all of the accolades you have received?” Then, after a few moments of reflection, with his mouth half-full of fish, he replied: “Bob, I just have to remember that whether I am chopping cotton in the fields of Mississippi, or a guest in the oval office, that there I am the glory of God.” Wow! I have never forgotten that. I have that recorded I my own prayer notes. It says ‘worlds’ about the ethical responses that flow out of one’s identity with Christ. (Gregory Boyd interprets ‘glory’ as the radiant display of the divine nature. Yes!).

In the midst of all the political confusion, ethnic tensions, ethical differences, and complex encounters that come with the vicissitudes of daily life, those of us who are followers of Christ are to identify as his glory, the radiant display of his divine nature in all our ethical responses. I am continually thankful for the influence John Perkins has had on my life. His latest (and he says it is his last) book: One Blood is just off the press. I commend it. The kingdom of God is not a matter of ‘talk’, but of power and of our Christ-like love, and ministries of reconciliation.

Don’t be hood-winked by the counterfeits. Their very works expose their fraudulence. Look for those whose lives incarnate the life and teachings of Jesus, yes, who are the glory of  God.

About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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One Response to BLOG 5/29/18. “THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS NOT A MATTER OF WORDS, BUT …”

  1. Sarah E says:

    Thank you! I love the quote from Mr Perkins – “there I am the glory of God”. Most of my life is pretty nothing in the eyes of the world. But if I can be the glory of God— well, that’s exciting!

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