Stuart Swartzentruber
God’s kingdom is unstoppable! It has a mind of its own, and has a King who bows to no one. This kingdom will not cave to peer pressure or popular thought. In its truest form, it can never be hijacked by anyone for personal gain or status.
God’s kingdom topples other kingdoms, but not with a sword. It declares justice for all. It gives favour to the humble, the weak, and the vulnerable. It curtails and opposes the arrogant and the proud.
Violence, force, and coercion are standard fare for other kingdoms. Jesus invites us to join a kingdom where the most powerful weapon is love; a kingdom where a person’s ability to love their enemy is the benchmark for maturity.
In God’s kingdom we submit to one another other, laying down our rights. In this kingdom, true power is described as being cloaked in insignificant things like yeast, mustard seeds, little children, a turned cheek, and a small rock rolling down a mountain.
In this God story, yeast infiltrates and expands in mysterious ways. (Matthew 13) Childlikeness becomes the standard for entering God’s kingdom. (Matthew 18) The insignificant stone crushes the powerful, significant statue, and becomes its own mountain filling the whole earth! (Daniel 2) In God’s economy, the conquering of evil happens not by force and violence, but by the turned cheek and love for our enemies. (Romans 12)
God’s kingdom will not be conscripted for use by denominations, nationalism, or political parties. This kingdom is portrayed at times in scripture as a river. This river sometimes flows together with denominational streams and political creeks. At times it shares the same waters. Many other times, its powerful current moves away from all other systems, cutting its own riverbed and carrying its citizens with it.
As disciples of Jesus, we follow a king with a master plan. This plan brings humans and all creation to wholeness as image bearers of the Creator. This agenda and purpose is one which the kingdoms of this world can never understand. Our allegiance and loyalties must lie with this amazing kingdom above all others. This kingdom has endured through the ages and is moving toward completion. It is in no danger of extinction. This is the kingdom we are invited to join and participate in.
With Jesus as our example, and the risen Christ giving us new life and power, let us humbly lay down our lives for all, and invite others to be a part of this unstoppable kingdom.
