The Kingdom

I am busy reading a book called Death by Church which sounds pretty predictable, except that it's not. Initially, I only bought it because I found it for next to nothing at a depo. But it has been awesome so far and is really just a book on the Kingdom of Heaven, the gospel. This is a quote from the book which I really loved, lots to think about in these few sentences.

(The church) was designed with the particular mission of bearing witness to God’s advancing kingdom of beloved community through participation in the crucified and risen Christ, and of being consumed by him on behalf of the world for which Christ died. As such, that beloved community should be breaking down divisions between male and female, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, and it should be confronting those demonic forces that distort and reduce people to races and classes, to rugged individuals in isolation, peoples whose value lies in how much they produce and consume. The church becomes a fallen power when it loses sight of its fundamental allegiance to God’s kingdom, when it becomes proud and autonomous and thus distorted in its use of power, seeking political advantage in the secular sphere so as to win benefits for its members, benefits that will allow them to achieve and maintain a Laodicean standard of living and leisurely lifestyle, as they are – in the meantime – reduced to a function of the state, market and consumer culture.

Paul Louis Metzger (Death by Church – Mike Erre (pg63)

That's it. I have been quiet of late but have a few things I want to write again when time permits. Adios!