Faith First Media

The following is an excerpt from the book A Theology of Peace by Matthew Elton, copyright 2009 Matthew Elton.

The Kingdom Lifestyle

We must remember, however, that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was prophesied in the context of prophesies regarding the final judgement of the world and the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God on Earth in the age to come. It is one of the Kingdom events that came “early”, so to speak. But nevertheless, we must remember that it is something from the Messianic age. Keeping the hope of the Kingdom of God forever in our hearts, the Holy Spirit leads us to enlightenment, heavenly gifts, the good word of God, and the power of the Messianic age to come (Hebrews 6:4-5). As the people of the New Covenant, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God - a Kingdom yet to be established on Earth - living only temporarily in this present evil world. As citizens of this future Kingdom, our lives should emulate the Kingdom lifestyle that will exist in the age to come, when there will be no more war, and all evil will be forever defeated and destroyed. We are commissioned by God to give the world a preview of the Kingdom of God through the way we live our lives. We are ambassadors for the Kingdom of God - called to represent the Kingdom in everything we do.

Because the Kingdom of God will be fulfilled on Earth in the age to come - when there will be no more war but only love, peace, and joy in perfect paradise - our lives now must represent this coming Kingdom through the kind of self-sacrificial love that we have learned from Jesus. We must never adopt the ends-justify-the-means philosophy that has been used to rationalize sickening amounts of bloodshed and genocide throughout the history of the Christian church. A Christian that takes part in or supports war and violence not only betrays the commands of Christ, but fails to represent the Kingdom of God in his or her lifestyle. Furthermore, if Christianity accepts war and bloodshed, it is no different from the rest of the world, and a lifestyle that accepts or supports violence is certainly very different from the lifestyle that Jesus taught to us through his living example in the Gospels. Our acceptance of Jesus as Lord should be marked by a change in our lifestyle as God’s transforming power works within us to enable us to carry out God’s will:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

--Romans 12:2

Jesus commanded us to love everyone - even our enemies - and to live at peace with everyone. But we are not so illogical as to think that the world will magically become a perfect place if we simply waltz around smelling the roses. There are evil individuals in the world who will do everything they can to take advantage of those who refuse to use violence to defend themselves. Fortunately, God did not call us to fix the problem of evil. Evil will be dealt with in the future when Jesus returns to carry out the final judgement and establish the Kingdom of God on Earth. Our purpose is to represent this coming Kingdom by living according to the peace that it will bring to the Earth. Our lives are like living prophesies of the soon-coming Kingdom of God.

Too many Christians have been strayed from the teachings of Jesus by asking, “How can I bring to justice the evildoers of this world while committing as little evil as possible myself, and while doing as little colateral damage as possible?” Such a question relies of the ends-justifies-the-means philosphy that says, “It’s okay if I kill some evil individuals, becuase in the end they would have killed hundreds of people if I didn’t kill them.” This philosophy goes against everything Jesus taught, and it will make evildoers of us all if we adhere to it. Furthermore, the ends-justifies-the-means philosophy forgets that Jesus is soon going to return to judge the living and the dead, and at that time perfect justice will be established without the need for us to carry out violence and bloodshed in pursuit of it.

We must trust that in the age to come, God will establish far more perfect justice than we could ever accomplish ourselves. Rather than pondering the paradox of how we can force evildoers to justice ourselves while committing as little evil as possible ourselves, we should be asking, “How can I best represent the Kingdom of God in my life by living the way Jesus lived?”

Polycarp was a second century bishop who was commanded to offer incense to Caeser and curse the name of Jesus Christ. Polycarp replied, “How can I blaspheme the King who saved me?” He was seized and burned at the stake, where he died in extreme agony. Someone who adheres to an ends-justifies-the-means philosophy would argue that Polycarp’s refusal to curse Jesus was stupid. “If Polycarp had just cursed Jesus once and burned a little incense,” they would argue, “then he would have been able to survive and continue to preach the good news of the Gospel! What good will Polycarp do for God if he’s dead?”

But a better question to ask would be, “What good will Polycarp do for God if he curses the name of Jesus Christ?” As ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, we refuse to adhere to an ends-justifies-the-means philosophy. Instead of condemning Polycarp for doing what was right by refusing to commit evil, we praise Polycarp for the faithfulness he showed even unto the end. Through his life and through his death, Polycarp testified (the word “martyr” literally means “one who testifies”) that Jesus is Lord. Polycarp would rather die than curse Jesus because he had faith that no matter what injustice was set against him in this age, it would be made right in the age to come. Jesus will return and reward Polycarp for his faithfulness unto the end - a faithfulness that mirrors that of the martyrs of Scritpure, including Stephen, who was stoned to death for preaching Christ’s message of repentence. But in his final moment before death, Stepehen looked up and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God. In his dying breath, Stephen asked God to forgive those who were killing him. Polycarp and Stephen were faithful even unto the end because they lived not for the temporary things of this life but for the everlasting Kingdom of God that is to come. The Kingdom of God was their hope, and it was the Kingdom of God they lived for - as followers of the commands of Jesus Christ - even unto their last dying moments. The empires of this world no longer had any power over them, for the rule of law was enforced under the threat of death, but these men did not fear death!

It is important to recognize, however, that the ambassadors of the Kingdom of God are more than just doormats who passively accept any persecution that oppresses them. Rather, the ambassadors of the Kingdom of God are called to carry out positive, nonviolent social change. There are literally millions of examples of this throughout history. One of the most well known examples from modern American history is the African-American Civil Rights Movement, in which thousands of people organized to carry out nonviolent protests that eventually convinced the U.S. government to do away with unjust laws.

It must be emphasized, however, that the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of social movements in bringing about positive social change is not our pimary concern. What matters most is living the lifestyle of peace and love that Jesus called us and commanded us to live, come what may. Perhaps we will change the world, or perhaps we will be burned at the stake. In any case, we strive to live like Jesus in everything we do. If we live, we live for Christ. If we die, we die for Christ. In either case - whether through life or through death - we represent the Kingdom of God by refusing to compromise the teachings that Jesus gave us.

The devil thought that he had won when Jesus died on the cross. But then Jesus rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit to dwell inside every believer. If we live according to the Spirit, it will enable us to live like Jesus lived. The result is not just one Jesus in the world, but many Christlike individuals testifying to the Kingdom of God. The devil’s greatest victory has become his greatest defeat!

Our lives must serve as a preview of the Kingdom of God that is to come. We must live in this present evil age as if we are living in the perfect age to come. When people look at us, they will say, “The Christlike, self-sacrificial love and peace that these ambassadors of the Kingdom of God embody is rare in the world today, but it is what is going to fill the whole world in the age to come!” For thousands of years, the world has tried to solve its many problems through technology, medicine, consumerism, and war. All of these efforts have failed miserably. The world continues to suffer becuase evil still exists in the hearts of men and women. But our lives should be living proof that a time is coming when there will be no more evil - when God’s justice will reign supreme and the world will experience eternal peace. We must live our lives according to the hope of this glorious promise. By living the Kingdom lifestyle, we will give the world a foretaste of the age to come.

Our lives should be living signs of the Kingdom of God that is to come. When you see a sign on the highway that reads “Exit 20, 1 mile” it does not mean that you have arrived at exit twenty. The sign testifies that exit twenty is coming in just one more mile. This gives people an oppurtunity to pull over to the right lane in preperation for the exit. Similarly, as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, we testify that this present evil age is about to come to an end, and the Kingdom of God will soon be fulfilled on Earth. Our witness gives people the oppurtunity to accept Jesus as Lord and repent of their sins in preperation for the soon coming Kingdom of God. We are the figurative roadsign on the highway of history, declaring, “Kingdom of God, 1 mile”. We are not the Kingdom, but when people hear our witness and see the way we live our lives, they will know that the Kingdom is coming, because that is what our lives are all about.

Becuase the Kingdom of God is inherently peaceful, if we are to eombody the Kigndom of God then we must emoby peace. This theology fits perfectly with everything Jesus taught about pacifism. Other theological approaches to pacifism run into the problem of explaining how the wars waged by Joshua and other military leaders of the Old Testament are justified while violence is inherently wrong. The answer is that times have changed. In the Old Testament, God specifically commanded the children of Israel to go to war in order to take control of the Promised Land and establish the kingdom of Israel. But now that the Messiah has come, we no longer live for this present age but for the peace of the Kingdom of God that is to come. Kingdom events have occured early in order to enable us to live according to a newer, better Covenant that promises the coming of an eternal, perfect Kingdom without the need to wage war in order to establish it. With this glorious hope forever in our hearts and minds, we follow a new way of living that was not available in the time of the Old Testament. Empowered by the Holy Spirit to live holy lives in accordance with the teachings of Jesus, we are called to embody the peace of the Kingdom of God in every aspect of our lives.

When writing to the church in Corinth, the Apostle Paul addressed the issue of Christians suing one another. Paul considered this to be preposterous and was shocked that it was even taking place. This proves that the coming of the Messiah - including his death, resurrection, and pouring out of the Holy Spirit - had brought about major theological changes. According to the Old Covenant, it was perfectly acceptable for a Jew to sue a fellow Jew. In fact, the Old Testament spends entire chapters describing the proper process for suing. Why then was Paul so shocked that a Chrisitan would be suing a fellow Christian? The answer is that times had changed between the giving of the Law of Moses and the writing of Paul’s Epistles. During this time, the Messiah had come and established a new Covenant with a new, better way of living outlined for us in the Sermon on the Mount. The idea of Christians suing each other stands in complete contrast to the unconditional, self-sacrificial love that Jesus commanded us to have for one another in the Sermon on the Mount. But only this, but the sight of Christians suing other Christians tarnishes the reputation of the Christian church. Paul reminds the church of Corinth that Christians are supposed to represent the Kingdom of God that will be established in the age to come. He asks them, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” His point is that they should be living according to the Kingdom that is coming, and seeking to represent this coming Kingdom in the present age by living holy lives. If Christians cannot even settle minor disputes among themselves, how then will they be able to judge the world in the age to come? Our role as future citizens of the Kingdom of God must affect the way we live in this present age, as citizens of whatever earthly nation we happen to live in. If we are truly ambassadors of the Kingdom that is coming, then we will seek to represent the Kingdom of God in every aspect of our lives. This means living according to the peace and unconditional, self-sacrificial love that Jesus lived by, becuase that kind of peace and love is what the world is going to experience when the Kingdom of God is fulfilled on Earth. Although we live in an evil age where those who refuse to participate in violence are often taken advantage of by society, we are called to represent in every aspect of our lives the glory of the coming Kingdom of God today.