Mark 4:26-29
Even though it is opposed by principalities and powers, the gospel is the best news that is being circulated on this planet. Why then was Jesus so focused on the kingdom of God? How many times did Jesus say, “The kingdom of God is like…….. (pick your parable). In this passage the kingdom “is like a man who cast seed on the ground“. “Casting” in this story is the only contribution by man to the kingdom. The rest is a total miracle dependent on circumstances that takes place beneath the soil – unseen by man.
What is the difference between the gospel and the kingdom of God? How are they related? I think its safe to say they are not in competition with each other, at least not as far as God is concerned. But, how about us modern western Christians? Is the gospel in competition with the kingdom of God in contemporary Christian culture?
A few years ago, this question would have seemed silly. I would have said, “of course it’s not!”. But my answer would have come out of a total vacuum of thought regarding the kingdom. I have not cornered the market on kingdom insight but it has definitely become more prominent in my thinking since I found myself resisting it a few years ago. I was the beneficiary of God’s grace, born anew and dramatically transformed yet beneath the surface of my life, the soil conditions were not conducive to kingdom growth. The plant that God was growing was stunted. There was no 30, 60, 90-fold harvest on the horizon.
Ironically, the outward plant had a trunk, limbs, leaves and even a little fruit. It looked pretty healthy as seen by men. However, If you knew me well enough to have listened to my heart, you would have known that the fruit was not too sweet. As good as it may have looked, it had a bitter taste to it. I have learned since that this was because their was some bitter roots in my life that I had not dealt with. I now know that a bitter root system is incapable of drawing from the Living Water (Christ) our roots are intended to reach.
I have come to think of the kingdom of God as that domain where God’s rule is active. It took me by surprise that I could be saved yet living in opposition to the kingdom. It was not until I had help from a few folks who knew bad fruit when they saw it that I was able to do my part in tending the soil. One of these people in particular was gifted and trained to trace bad fruit down into the root system and show me how to take responsibility. I will forever be grateful. Since dealing very intentionally with this bitter root, Living Water has flowed more freely through me than it has for two decades. That same Living Water has quenched my thirst.
It has given me a new sense of rest and peace.
So, yes, I have to say the gospel and the kingdom of God can be in competition with each other at the human level. I may have been a legitimate product of the gospel but a poor citizen of the kingdom because Love was not ruling in my heart. Unless God (who is Love) is ruling, the kingdom has not yet come. How sad that what was seen above ground that looked acceptable by most earthly standards of measurement (see 4:24) was unfit for the kingdom! And if Love is not ruling than the things being said (even if with zeal and conviction) will be nothing more than a loud unpleasant religious noise. (see 1 Cor 13:1)
Father, there is always a mysterious and miraculous interplay between the eternal Seed, the Living Water and the soil of our souls. May we grasp the kingdom implications of Your rule over our hearts. May we be honest about the bad fruit that is present in our lives when we hear our words subtly flavored with cynicism and resentment. Please show us how to trace these things
down into the soil of of our hearts. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.