Now, at the end of a year most of us wont miss, we look forward to a new and better one. With faith, hope, and never ceasing prayer, were eager for better health, restored community, open schools, thriving restaurants and businesses. The day is nearly here we can feel it when well know again the joy of hugging our best friends on Sunday mornings.
A life that brims with that kind of hope will, from the worlds perspective, look a little different.
Jesus demonstrated what a different life looks like throughout Scripture, but most vividly, perhaps, in John 18:33-38. This is where Jesus is on trial and Pilate, the Roman ruler, needs to know if he claims to be a king. For Pilate, this is the make-or-break issue, so he posed the question directly: Are you the King of the Jews? Rather than providing a simple answer, Jesus provides more significant information; he tells Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world. Its one of those shrewd replies Jesus is known for; it puzzles the questioner, prompting more questions and, when pondered for a while, changes the way we see things.
When we look at the whole of this conversation, we see that Jesus reply wasnt about geography. As theologian N.T. Wright points out, His reply wasnt about where His kingdom would come; it was about how. Jesus went on to explain, If my kingdom were of this world, my followers would fight to prevent me being handed over. Thats how the worlds kingdoms take power: they raise armies and gather weapons and the strong overpower the weak. But in this exchange, Christ is telling Pilate that His power comes from a different source. His kingdom is not from this world; rather His authority comes from God, who also happens to be the creator, sustainer, and ruler of the universe. Jesus is telling Pilot that his kingdom is real, but that it expands by a strategy nobodys ever seen before.
In the coming year, in our disease-plagued, angry, and divided world, lets keep in mind that Jesus doesnt depend on political parties, or cable news channels, or big techs blessing. To the contrary, His kingdom comes through humility. As author James Davison Hunter pointed out, Jesus, the one who spoke the universe into existence, voluntarily became a man. He took on the nature of a servant. He endured insult and humiliation, and he did it out of love for fallen mankind and the whole of His creation. Christ doesnt overcome by force, but through compassion.
Lets imitate Jesus, who never coerced people, but instead fed them, healed them, taught them, and shared with them the truth of His saving grace.
And that, Hunter said, is why sympathy was both the source of His power and the weapon he wielded most often. As we talk with friends and enemies, lets imitate Jesus, who never coerced people, but instead fed them, healed them, taught them, and shared with them the truth of His saving grace. He came to earth not to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).
Unlike the power brokers of this world, Jesus never wormed His way into societys upper echelons, striving to gain favor with the rich and well-connected. He won hearts by serving people who were afraid, hungry, poor, disgraced, demon-possessed, blind, and crippled. He came to make us fully human physically, spiritually, and intellectually. Christ triumphs by freeing people, not constraining them. He triumphs not by manipulating people, but by giving of Himself and using His power to serve those He loved. The same should be true of His people especially in this coming year of renewal.
Theologian Al Wolters continues, going on to explain that when Christ inaugurated His kingdom, His strategy wasnt to build himself up, it was to pour himself out (Philippians 2:7). His disciples would do likewise, and thereby expand the kingdom by the same paradoxical wisdom.
When Jesus tells Pilate that His kingdom isnt from this world, hes telling him that as time presses on, Gods people will infiltrate every sphere. Theyll go into business, but armed with faith, love, and hope theyll conduct business for the sake of their neighbors. Theyll move into politics but, because they understand Gods purpose for government, theyll empower others, not themselves. As a part of Christs kingdom strategy, Gods people wont shy away from science, education, and the arts theyll charge in, pursuing truth and revealing Gods wisdom to a culture that yearns for meaning.
For the next 12 months lets make a concerted effort to occupy every sector, aware that were to keep ourselves unspotted from the world (James 1:27), but aware, too, that were not to withdraw; were not even to avoid the worlds messiest and most sinful parts. Were to occupy every sphere, knowing that in our cities, towns, and country were the leaven thats hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened (Matthew 13: 33). Lets permeate our part of the world from the inside out, as Wolters puts it slowly perhaps, and at times even imperceptibly but relentlessly engaged in Christs battle to restore His created order.