(If you are looking for House Church Basics Pt. 2: Participatory Church, scroll down to the next post).
Good discussions over the weekend at both churches. We ended up talking quite a bit about what "Kingdom Living" means.
Jesus lived for the Kingdom: healing, caring, giving, teaching, washing feet, living with upside-down values, and telling everyone the Good News about the Kingdom. He lived it, taught it, and demonstrated it.
We want to live Kingdom lives, but what does it mean in our context? Some are married, some have families, most work at jobs, and we live in our present-day context. Okay... but we are still called to live upside-down, care more for the needy, let go of our materialistic goals, love others, and speak of our faith in God's Kingdom.
But where are the sick, lame, and oppressed that came flocking to Jesus because of their needs? In our discussions, I expressed frustration that people in our community don't have the kind of desparate, obvious pain that a leper did, or others who were sick and thus unemployable. Most people, where I live, avoid desparate pain by taking a pill for it or by finding some type of bandaid solution. We have a quick fix for almost any hurt.
And where is the open marketplace where people come to hear the ideas of others? In short, where are the people who are looking for Good News?
Interesting how God directed these conversations. We began to talk about the many people who are around us in much pain... you just have to get to know them, really know them... Oh yeah... it's about relationship. And where are these people? In our own marketplaces: our own spheres of influence. Oh yeah, it's those who are right in front of us.
It amuses me how often I want to find my "ministry" somewhere other than where it is: right where God has placed me. It challenges me because I want to go "over there" and make some great "impact." Sometimes God does send me "over there," but more often it's right here that I am called to live for the Kingdom, love for the Kingdom, and embrace others for the Kingdom.
