What word of hope do we have to offer to the millions of people in the world who see no meaning in their lives?
For most people in the world the question is not, "Is there a life on the other side of death?" It is, rather, "Is there life on this side of death?" Until we Christians give evidence that there is life on this side of death, the world has no reason to believe our dogmas or our giant churches. It doesn’t need our words of hell. It needs some evidence of heaven.Adapted from Richard Rohr, Radical Grace: Daily Meditations, p. 381
Ironically Jesus talked more about life on this side of eternity. He spoke in terms of the " NOW ", abundant living. Living faith as mere belief keeps us paralyzed, waiting and hoping for the arrival of something to transport us to the ever after. It keeps us defending " beliefs ", without them we have nothing. It's as if the bus stop doesn't exist.
But faith has to be about abundant living. It is about planting the Kingdom of God into the reality of everyday living. People will believe in the Kingdom of God, when they see it sprout before their eyes. Jesus not only told wild radical scandalous parables of the Kingdom...he built it in the midst of everyday living. He ate with sinners, prostitutes, thieves...his inclusion had no borders, or boundaries. You could not find yourself outside of His grace. He not only enacted the reality of the Kingdom...he proclaimed the Kingdom. Acts of charity are good, but we also need to proclaim the truth of the Kingdom...the alternative to the broken, and corrupt systems that keep perpetuating injustices. We really need to look at " us ", and " our churches ", are the really a revelation of the Kingdom...or more a reflection of the pigeon-holed, fragmented world of separation and borders around us. Are we more comfortable with us, rather than them.
Only in one startling parable do we see an image of separation , we can interpret no other way, it's clarity is unavoidable. One merges into the fullness of the kingdom not by just believing in, assuming to know Jesus...but by living " IN " the reality of Jesus.
Believing is not going to change the world, our neighborhoods and streets...but living the Kingdom, revealing and building the Kingdom changes everything. It's not about fighting for religious dominance, who's right and who's wrong. It's not about denominations. The Kingdom is not even just about Christians. Its about people that have caught a glimpse of the profound mysterious beauty of Jesus' Kingdom and have given everything to be apart of it. The Kingdom has consumed them, and they will settle for nothing less.
Faith becomes about living in the reality of the Kingdom. I know longer live, but it is Jesus in me that lives...I live life out of that truth. I awake in the morning and I am consumed by one thought...will I live out of Jesus life? Or will I live something less?
We don't need to persuade the world to believe...we need to persuade them to " live ". Giving the world evidence of the Kingdom draws them into a new way of living...it draws them to Jesus. For where the Kingdom is, Jesus is.
