A Vision for Others

Jesus ushered in an upside-down kingdom. This is why people were so confused by his purpose, plan, actions, and speech. Even his disciples who spent the most intimate time with him didn’t understand a lot of what he said. His kingdom is a turn-the-other-cheek, give-them-the-shirt-off-your-back, go-the-extra-mile, love-your-enemies, pray-for-those-who-persecute-you, first-will-be-last, pick-up-your-cross-and-die-daily kind of Kingdom. Jesus took everything we thought we knew about life and flipped it upside-down.  It is shocking when we live this way as followers of Christ. We have bought into the lie that his Kingdom is a be-nice, vote-correctly, attend-church, live-a-quiet-life kind of Kingdom, but Jesus’s kingdom is shocking. His call to consider others above ourselves requires us not just to forgive our enemies or ignore our enemies or tolerate our enemies, but love our enemies. How do we love our enemies? We look to Jesus who died on the cross for his enemies, all while they mocked and taunted him.  It is our job to advance this same Kingdom that Jesus established. When we start cursing those who disagree with us, spreading hate, putting ourselves above others, fighting back, and withholding our possessions, we start spreading the kingdom of the enemy instead. We have to know and be a part of God’s Kingdom in order to advance it. Are you a part of the kingdom? Reflection/Discussion Question: What comes to mind as you think about the different kind of Kingdom that Jesus came to bring?

Ephesians 2:14-16 says, “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility” (NIV). Though Paul is specifically talking about Jews and Gentiles, he is also speaking about us. If we aren’t Jewish, then we are Gentiles. We were “separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world” (Ephesians 2:12, NIV).  We were nobodies, speeding down the road of destruction that ended in separation from our Creator until God sent Jesus to reconcile us through his death on the cross. We did nothing to earn this or deserve it—he did it out of his love for us. He did so, not only that we would be reconciled to God, but that we would be reconciled to one another. Jesus is our peace who builds bridges of unity by destroying walls of hostility. He commissions us to carry on his work of reconciliation to reconcile the world to Christ. When the world is reconciled to Christ, they can also be reconciled to one another. This means that our work is not to be right, to win arguments, to share our opinions, or to lash out on social media. These build walls of hostility that Jesus died to destroy. Christ’s very work on this earth was to create a new people who carry on his work of reconciliation. As the Body of Christ, we must do whatever it takes to reconcile people to their Father who loves them. We must start asking ourselves: “Will this build a bridge, or build a wall?” When we enter into conversations, when we scroll through social media, when we speak to co-workers, when we share our opinion or perspective, when we develop relationships. Every day we have opportunities to build walls or build bridges. What are you building? Reflection/Discussion Question: Take an honest look at the way you’ve been interacting with others. Are you building bridges or building walls?