Tuesday, December 18, 2007

the present Kingdom

Any Dallas Willard fans out there? When released in the late 90's, Willard’s book, The Divine Conspiracy, sent shockwaves through the church as it challenged church leaders to rethink Jesus’ message of the Kingdom of God. This quote captures the essence of Willard’s premise:

“The eternal life that begins with confidence in Jesus is a life in his present kingdom, now on earth and available to all. So the message of and about him is specifically a gospel for our life now, not just for dying.” Willard, Dallas, The Divine Conspiracy (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1997) Introduction XVII.

When I asked my friends at The Well what they had been taught that the Kingdom of God is, nearly every person said that it was either a reference to heaven or it was merely a reference to the worldwide Christian family. Clearly, this is not what Jesus had in mind. What about you? What has been your understanding of the Kingdom of God?

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