What Is God's Kingdom and What Does Citizenship Look Like?

César García

• Publisher: Herald Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781513806228
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Teologia cristiana

What is God's kingdom? And what does it look like to live as a loyal citizen of God's reign? César García leads us on a searching examination of what it means to belong to God's kingdom, how Jesus' life and ministry demonstrate about our call to seek it first and how our allegiance to Jesus challenges and reshapes our loyalties to political systems and governments. Learn about theological concepts such as the separation of church and state and kingdom ethics, and explore practices for people seeking to embody God's kingdom community. The Jesus Way: Small Books of Radical Faith delve into big questions about God's work in the world. These concise, practical books are deeply rooted in Anabaptist theology. Crafted by a diverse community of internationally renowned scholars, pastors, and practitioners, The Jesus Way series helps readers deepen their faith in Christ and enliven their witness.

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Faith and Politics

The time is fulfilled,

and the kingdom of God has come near;

repent, and believe in the good news.

—Mark 1:15

Along with countless experiences of warm fellowship, I sometimes have been disrespected by other Christians. As a Christian leader, I learned that I would likely experience criticism and angry emotions from others because of my church role. However, in my experience, it is more painful when Christians insult you than when other people do so. I have tried to develop thick skin, but I have not been very successful!

One of the issues that may make Christians angry is politics. “I wish to express my disappointment with this devotion,” somebody wrote in response to an email I sent in January 2019. “Up until you tried to mix politics and Scripture, you were doing great.” My email message awoke strong feelings among some readers. Several questioned my integrity, others responded disrespectfully, and a few unsubscribed from the Mennonite World Conference (MWC) email list. How can or should the General Secretary of MWC blend faith and politics in his devotional reflections?

Faith and politics do not always mix well during these times of political polarization. Maybe you have received the same advice that I get when I visit family or attend a Bible study group in my church: Never, never talk about politics! And yet we must do so. We signed up for it when we decided to follow Jesus.

POLITICAL GROUPS WERE POLARIZED IN JESUS’ DAY

The political environment during Jesus’ time was disturbing. The ancient kingdom of Israel, as a sovereign and independent nation, had disappeared. An oppressive government—the Roman Empire—occupied Palestine. Devout people yearned for the possibility of a kingdom where God rules, as described in the Old Testament.

Jews responded in different ways to this political reality. Some decided to support the foreign power in order to bring stability and avoid additional suffering as an oppressed people. That was the choice of the Sadducees, who were keepers of the status quo.¹ Many Sadducees were aristocrats and members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish nation’s central spiritual and judicial authority. As people with local political power, the Sanhedrin was interested in keeping things as they were. They allied with the Herodian and Roman rulers.

Opposing the Sadducees were the Zealots. This was a group of Jewish radicals who justified violence as a reasonable means to get freedom. They opposed the oppressive Roman Empire with nationalism and readiness for armed revolution.

The Essenes represented yet another political alternative. This group, influenced by the apocalyptic movement, separated themselves from society and waited for the end of time when God would send one or more messiahs to establish a divine kingdom. Some lived in the desert, with their own community rules, expecting to take up arms when God intervened. The Essenes made no direct effort to transform their nation’s social or political reality.²

In sum, when Jews considered their political situation during the time of Jesus, one group decided to abandon the idea of God’s kingdom by supporting the status quo. A second group wanted to make God’s kingdom a reality through violent revolution if necessary, and a third group preferred to wait for divine liberation. It is in this context that Jesus began his ministry with an electrifying phrase: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). Jesus was proposing another political and spiritual alternative.

JESUS SPOKE WITH POLITICAL LANGUAGE

The “kingdom of God,” or “kingdom of heaven,” is the central topic of Jesus’ preaching. It is mentioned around 140 times in the New Testament, 115 of them in the Gospels. Those terms were not new for Jesus’ audience. In the world in which Jesus began his ministry, there was a common belief in a new age to come. In that age, God alone would be the supreme ruler; people would do God’s will.³ We can perceive these ideas in Jesus’ prayer, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). According to the Lord’s Prayer, the kingdom of God has to do with the practice of God’s will. But why the word kingdom?

The Greek word for kingdom (basileia) means dominion, realm, sovereignty. In English, it is the equivalent of reign, empire, or kingdom. From the same root, the word for “king” (basileus) is applied to God in the Old Testament, mainly in the Psalms and Prophets (for example, as in Zechariah 14:9: “The LORD will become king over all the earth”).

For Jews of Jesus’ time, God’s authority had been usurped by evil powers. That was evident in the loss of Israel’s independence and the Jews’ oppression at the hands of foreign kings. Kingdom is a political word that has to do with a particular government style. It speaks of a monarchy, a community ruled by a king, and a structure of laws that mediate the community’s political interactions.

JESUS GIVES NEW MEANING TO FAMILIAR TERMINOLOGY

It is important to clarify here that the word politics is not equivalent to political parties. The word derives from the Greek polis, meaning “city.” Politics has to do with how a society is organized, with concrete human-to-human relations, typically in an urban context.

Throughout human history, communities have developed diverse ways of organization and interaction. We can mention, among others, monarchy and democracy; federal and centralized governments; feudal, capitalist, communist, and socialist systems; liberal, conservative, totalitarian, and libertarian philosophies. It follows that “kingdom” is a concrete way in which a society is organized; in other words, it is a political system.

However, when Jesus spoke about his kingdom to Pilate during his trial, he said that his kingdom does not fit the usual categories:

Then Pilate . . . summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:33-37)

The Gospels name Jesus as king (Matthew 2:2, 27:11; Mark 15:32). However, in his encounter with Pilate, Jesus explicitly states how peculiar his royalty is. Before moving forward, it is important to clarify Jesus’ sentence “My kingdom is not from this world.” Some people have understood this sentence as if Jesus were saying, “My kingdom is inside my followers,” or “My kingdom is for the afterlife.” These interpretations imply that Jesus’ kingdom does not have relevance to our current political life.

But that is not what the text says! The sentence “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world” shows that Jesus’ mission is developed in history and has emerged in a concrete time and place. To understand Jesus’ meaning, we need to define what he means by “world.” The Greek word for “world” (kosmos) in this passage is equivalent to “world system.” It has to do with the standards of societies (such as the Roman Empire) that were not obedient to the God of Israel. In other words, Jesus is saying, “My kingdom is not from that kind of order or system.” The phrases that follow in Jesus’ conversation with Pilate explain how his royalty is different.

Let’s summarize: Pilate asks Jesus if he is king. Jesus responds ambiguously, but goes on to explain that he is different from other kings. He contrasts his way of governing with that of the other kings. In the typical human order, societies are organized by domination. Kings and governors exercise their will over others, using violence if required. Jesus does not exercise that kind of power.

GOD’S KINGDOM OFFERS A LIFE-GIVING ALTERNATIVE

Following these thoughts, we can define God’s kingdom as an alternative order to human social organizations. In the words of the Mennonite theologian John Driver, God’s kingdom “has to do with the concrete forms which life takes among his people. It is in the relationships among God’s people that his righteous rule is manifested.”⁴

There are specific ways in which this new order contrasts with human politics. Jesus explained some of them through parables. The following are two characteristics of God’s kingdom, to which we will return in the final chapter.

The Parable of the Growing Seed: God’s Kingdom Is Voluntary

“The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:26-29).

In this text, Jesus compares God’s kingdom with seed scattered on the ground. We cannot force or manipulate its growth. Our work involves only scattering the seed. We cannot impose God’s kingdom. It does not follow human methodologies to ensure its expansion. The kingdom of God is a reality for those who decide to receive it.

The Parable of the Mustard Seed: God’s Kingdom Is on the Margins

“With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade” (Mark 4:30-32).

Jesus also compares God’s kingdom with a mustard seed, which he calls one of the smallest seeds. The mustard tree is a kind of bush. Jesus could have chosen a maple, a pine, or even better, a sequoia for this parable. They are large, robust, majestic trees. But instead, Jesus spoke about a shrub. In human terms, there is nothing royal about it. Yet it is a model of the kingdom of God because of the service and shelter it gives to birds when it is grown.

PRACTICAL POLITICAL EXPRESSION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

According to Jesus, people who repent and choose to receive the kingdom of God live a life of generosity and simplicity. They choose service over domination, interdependence over independence, communion over individualism, and simplicity over accumulation. These are political choices, not in the party politics sense, but in how they affect power, economics, and social structures.

In these visible ways, Jesus’ message was political. It was an alternative to the political options of uncritical support of the status quo, violent revolution, or separatism and withdrawal. Jesus’ politics—his vision for the organization of society and the way its members interact—is in deep contrast to our political systems today, which often exercise domination and impose themselves over others.

God’s kingdom is a tangible possibility for those who change their way of thinking and living (that is, repent) and accept Jesus as sovereign. Jesus’ kingdom is not an ethereal or private religious experience. It is a voluntary decision that makes followers of Jesus citizens of a specific domain, a reign often most visible on society’s margins. To speak about Jesus is to speak about politics.

WORLD’S KINGDOMS

I love mosaics. Mosaics are artworks that show an image—a message—made up of many small pieces. In Christian art, it is common to find mosaics representing an image of Jesus. We can see one example of a Christian mosaic in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare N...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction to The Jesus Way Series from Herald Press
• Introduction
• 1 Faith and Politics
• 2 Attractive Politics: The Centripetal Force of God’s Kingdom
• 3 Influential Politics: The Centrifugal Force of God’s Kingdom
• Glossary
• Discussion and Reflection Questions
• Shared Convictions
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• The Author