The Kingdom Quotient

Today, I’m taking some time to examine my Kingdom quotient. By this, I mean I’m asking myself how frequently I think about the Kingdom of God. I’m conducting a personal audit as to whether I live a life devoted to advancing the scope of that Kingdom, as much as possible, here on earth.

Perhaps you’d like to consider a self-audit along with me. See how you respond to these few questions.

1. Do I understand the theology of the Kingdom of God? What is it in Scripture and how does it function?
2. Is that Kingdom something in the past, in the future, or for the present?
3. Why was the Kingdom of God (sometimes called the Kingdom of Heaven) Christ’s major emphasis in His life here on earth?
4. Have I ever sat under preaching, or in a Bible study, that emphasized the concept of the Kingdom of God?
5. If so, do I think about being related to that Kingdom any way in any part of my average day?
6. If Christ mentioned the Kingdom so frequently that it was one of His major emphases, have I studied the Scriptures related to it?
7. Am I conforming my life, changing my behaviors or reconsidering my goals in any way in light of this biblical emphasis?
8. How does living in a democracy affect my understanding of kingship and kingdomship?
9. When I repeat the Lord’s prayer, what do I feel when I say the words, “The kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”?
10. Are there some things I need to do, or some things I need to change, to create a vital and vibrant understanding of this frequently emphasized scriptural concept?

Years ago, when David was pastoring in inner-city Chicago, the average age of our congregation was 27 years. We met in a Teamsters Union Hall on the city’s west side in a church we planted mainly because of “white flight”—when white people move away from areas becoming more racially or ethnically diverse—and consequently, many churches stood abandoned. The Truck Drivers Union Local 705 gave us an auditorium rent-free, where we worshiped for some ten years. That in itself is an amazing story and was recorded in my husband’s book Full Circle.

At this time, in the history of evangelicalism, there were several theological controversies with what conservatives considered to be the more liberal branch of Christianity as represented in the World Council of Churches. That group was accused by our “tribe” as having a liberal interpretation of the Kingdom of God; they were accused of resting in the position that if humans acted rightly, the Kingdom of God would establish itself on earth. (This is a very truncated explanation of a much more complicated ecclesiastical dilemma; forgiveness is begged.)

Somewhere, in the throes of this controversy, evangelicals stopped emphasizing the concept of the Kingdom—or perhaps it had never been much of an emphasis in their understanding of Scripture. (Does it sound like I’m not much of a church historian? Yep, that would be an accurate assumption.)

David, during those early days of pastoring, began to seriously study this theological concept, resulting in a series of sermons titled “The Christian, the Church and Society.” In it, he explicated and presented the biblical concept of the Kingdom of God. First of all, that spiritual Kingdom does not have geographical boundaries; it is any setting where Christ is recognized as King, His will is obeyed and obedient subjects reap the benefit of His rule, with resulting great good coming to the person and/or to the community or society in which they function. This spiritual Kingdom could be experienced in an individual sense, in a familial sense, and in any corporate setting with evidences of improvement in attitudes, in well-being, in physical health, and in advancement of the common good. It is a place beyond the restrictions of time where Christ’s (the King’s) will is obeyed and where love for God, oneself and others is the highest goal.

Believe me, in that moment, I was radicalized by this concept. I have never seen the arc of Christianity the same way as when I began to live with this reality of the Kingdom of God. It has informed my thinking and radicalized my living.

So much so, in fact, that David and I took the theological concepts of the Kingdom of God and wove them into our three illustrated books for children (of all ages): Tales of the Kingdom, Tales of the Resistance and Tales of the Restoration. We hoped parents might discover these truths as they read the stories, some 36 in all, to their kids.

These books have been in the marketplace for over 35 years. This is because we’ve maintained the rights to them, raise the money time and again to print and publish them (we need to scrape together another $5000 as the next advance for the Hong Kong printer) and often store boxes of them in our home. We feel we have been good stewards of the Kingdom concept, done everything within our power to advance this crucial theological understanding, and are now praying daily for God to do with them what is beyond our human power to do.

There are ancillary products waiting to be developed—a long list that fills a whole page—but one is a participatory children’s-theatre production that keeps waking me up in the middle of the nights, demanding its life in the sun!

All this to say, if your Kingdom quotient is not very high, maybe a mid-winter look at the New Testament Scriptures on the topic will start something blazing in your soul that will enlighten your spiritual understanding.

You see, after all this, when I pray the Lord’s prayer and come to that phrase, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done … my heart quickens.

Thanks to a husband who is the theologian in the family, and who has this gift of going to the essence of complicated ideas and discovering the basic meaning often hidden from others, we are a couple who live with this heart-cry: “To the King! To the Restoration!”

Karen Mains

NOTICES

Teleconference Memoir-Writing Class Registrants Must Sign Up by January 31

The memoir classes introduce writers (or wannabe writers) to this autobiographical form of writing. The memoir can be used simply as a legacy to pass along to other generation. It can be sections of larger writing projects or simply personal anecdotes to illustrate a point. It is always a means to achieve a clearer understanding of our own lives, whether anyone else reads our work, or not.

The class starts the first week of February, will meet twice a month, every other week, on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. CST and on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. CST. This will continue through June, five months in all, and costs $500.

Karen Mains often uses the memoir form in her published writing, has kept a prayer journal for over forty years, takes notes on all her travels and has plenty of the MEAD COMPOSITION black-and-white journals for various enterprises—the last one was labeled "Global Bag Project: Novel."

This is a class that encourages the memoir-writing process; we do not conduct critical reviews but simply ask questions if we don’t understand and try to emphasize the “Hurrah!!” factor.

At this last minute, you can register by going to: https://wwwlifelaunchme.com/memoirs. Registration is at the bottom of the page. If you have any problems with the site, email me at karen@hungrysouls.org.

"Tales of the Kingdom" Trilogy Sets Available

The Tales of the Kingdom trilogy can be purchased through Mainstay Ministries for $89.85. To purchase online, go to http://kingdomtales.com/book/the-kingdom-tales-trilogy-30th-anniversary-edition and click Purchase With PayPal. The books can also be purchased from Amazon.com, though Amazon charges us an 18% fee to store and mail the books to buyers. Due to the financial realities of self-publishing these expensive-to-print books, David and I have not taken regular royalties (actually next-to-NO royalties) from these sales. If you still need assistance (or would prefer to order by phone), call 800-224-2735 and select option 2.

We are dedicated Kingdomers (praying for a generous foundation to cover our up-front printer’s cost) and believe these books create an understanding and even an appetite for a high Kingdom quotient.

Reminder!

The Soulish Food e-mails are being posted biweekly on the Hungry Souls Web site. Newcomers can look that over and decide if they want to register on the Web site to receive the biweekly newsletter. You might want to recommend this to friends also. They can go to www.HungrySouls.org.

Hungry Souls Contact Information

ADDRESS: 29W377 Hawthorne Lane
West Chicago, IL 60185
PHONE: 630-293-4500
EMAIL: karen@hungrysouls.org

Karen Mains

If your Kingdom quotient is not very high, maybe a mid-winter look at the New Testament Scriptures on the topic will start something blazing in your soul that will enlighten your spiritual understanding.

BOOK CORNER

The Kingdom Comes
by David R. Mains

Is Jesus' message about the Kingdom of God sometimes confusing to you? If you believe your knowledge of Christ's Kingdom—or your understanding of its importance—is limited, take heart. This book was not written for theologians, but for the average church person to understand and relate to. In this companion book to David and Karen Mains's popular Kingdom Tales trilogy, you are provided with all the information you need to understand and appreciate this key biblical topic. In 30 short-but-powerful chapters, you will discover, in layman's language, how this exciting message captured the crowds when our Lord was here, and why it continues to do so all across the world even today.