We opened this series clarifying Jesus’ agenda – that of ushering in the Kingdom of God. And we recall that His two-part kingdom arrival puts us in the overlap:
We live between Christ’s cross and Christ’s return with the call to live for His kingdom now, to be His hands and feet in the world so that His kingdom will continue to be ushered in, one person at a time. One way to articulate our place in God’s plan is to say we’ve been given authority and agency.
My friends, it would seem we’ve been recruited. Given a mission. So, we better know what the kingdom agendas are!
God’s Kingdom and Its Agendas
Kingdoms have kings who govern people – with vision and power, provision and protection, place and purpose. All of which come with expectations. It might be hard for twenty-first century Americans to grasp kingdom realities: people ruled by a king simply obey.
Such language causes our modern sensibilities to shudder, and with humanity’s history with tyrants, it’s no wonder. So, here’s a major point of differentiation – our King is holy and good. He leads with love, offers mercy, and extends grace. And while He definitely rules a Kingdom, our King always desires what’s best for us. In other words, we can trust His motives are pure.
Because our King knows what it’s like to live in sin-soaked skin, He’s well-aware of our inclinations to live under the rule of our own personal agendas – such as greed, pride, selfishness, vanity…
Our King actually knows what we need most. Like parents who lovingly lead their children with boundaries for protection and expectations for their benefit, our King governs with guidelines set only for our good. But often we, like stubborn children, balk, resist, and defy the desires of our King.
Yet, at the same time, we desire to leave our childish ways, so we study Jesus’ teachings to know what it is He asks of us – to know what life is like in His Kingdom. And we discover that His ways are quite upside-down to the world’s; His values are backwards to so many of ours.
Kingdom Agenda 1: Be Humble in Love*
Perhaps the most profound and paradoxical picture of God’s Kingdom is snapped when the King becomes the servant by washing the feet of His followers (John 13:3-15).
Jesus’ actions shock His disciples, for only the lowest of the servants kneel to wash dusty feet. Peter can’t reconcile his Rabbi’s actions, but in the end he receives the humbling gesture because he wants to be part of everything Jesus is doing (vv.8-9). The foot washing stands as a vivid illustration of leading with humility. It’s a snapshot of remembering – do as He’s done for us (vv.14-15).
Jesus goes on to reveal a deep truth of His kingdom’s agenda, “No servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him” (v.16). And, we hesitate. His words flow in reverse.
The Kingdom of God goes against all the shades of pride, self-confidence, and vanity of typical leaders and kings. This Kingdom has agendas rooted in humility and love. Its founding and forever purpose lies in its call for the people to love God and each other (Matthew 22:37-39).
Paul carries on Jesus’ exhortation to love, praying that our love will flourish (Philippians 1:9), teaching us to let love be our unifying foundation (John 17:26; Colossians 3;14).
Rooted in the love of the Father, Jesus never puts sinners down. He lifts us up,1 demonstrating His love for the Father through love and humble obedience. To be part of this crazy-love Kingdom, we must do the same, learning “to obey God from a posture of humble love” and growing “in love and humility with every relationship we have.”1
Kingdom Agenda 2 – Surrender and Obey
Love is the foundation of God’s kingdom – it covers sin, purifies motive, and fulfills God’s law (Galatians 5:14). When we love God with all our hearts and souls and strength, we come to our King with reverence and repentance (Deuteronomy 6:4-6). Our desires change in His presence to the point that we want what He wants. We let love lead us into obedience.
But our human nature, our cultural norms, and our assumptions can get in the way of walking out this life in God’s Kingdom the way we’re meant to, the way we desire to.
I’ve always been drawn to the story of the rich, young ruler (Matthew 19) – probably because I can relate to the inner battle I see in him, that of wanting to follow Jesus but not quite able to let go of the ‘things’. But I came across an article that gave me a whole new facet to consider – agenda.
The rich man approaches Jesus with a key question, “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16). Jesus’ response: “Keep the commandments” (v.17). The man’s reply sheds light on his assumptions: “All these I have kept” (v.20).
It would appear that our young ruler considers “himself faultless concerning the Law.”2 Perhaps he believes himself already ready, assuming he has checked all the boxes. But Jesus sees his heart, knowing he has not actually kept all the commands, and “exposes the greed in the man’s heart.”2 In effect, the man has broken the first two of the Ten Biggies.
And this breaks me. I see myself in the man who has the hidden agenda of proving himself worthy – even while sincerely desiring what Jesus offers and asks.
When I watch the dejected rich man walk away, I feel his disappointment. Yet. Herein lies another truth about God’s Kingdom: It’s not all on us. Jesus has sent a Helper to give us strength – however, not so we can do what we want.
“God’s kingdom agenda is the visible demonstration of the comprehensive rule of God over every area of life. If we want life to work the way God intended it, we’ve got to follow His plan instead of ours.”
Tony Evans4
With the Spirit, we have all we need to persevere and endure, to thrive and overcome every obstacle of life. When we live in Christ and for His Kingdom, we’re able to offer our bodies as living sacrifices and resist conforming to the ways of the world (Romans 12:1-2). In Christ we have the strength to surrender our agendas for His (Philippians 4:13).3
Kingdom Agenda 3 – Be Generous and Kind
After the rich, young ruler walks away, Jesus turns to His disciples and comments how difficult it is for the wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God. Their surprised reply, “Who then can be saved?” reflects their cultural beliefs – that wealth is a sign of God’s blessings while poverty implies God’s displeasure.5
Yet in God’s inside-out Kingdom, the ‘poor in spirit’ are the ones who inherit the Kingdom (Matthew 5:3).
In the Greek, ‘poor in spirit’ is a broad term that covers all people who are “lacking in anything,” but Jesus’ use is more specific, pointing to those who are aware of their spiritual need.6 So, maybe that’s the hinge. Kingdom living means no longer defining ourselves by our wealth or lack of it (as the world does). Instead, we live with awareness of our need for Jesus.
While on earth, our King never sat upon His throne, lording it over all the peons and paupers. He didn’t snub the stinky or cower from the contagious. He consistently went to the ‘poor’ – He fed, clothed, healed, delivered, and loved any who would admit they needed Him.
In short, the Kingdom way equates to generosity. It overcomes scarcity. It fills the gaps. It gives everything it has to the ‘poor’ – with love and kindness.
Kingdom Agenda 4 – By Faith and With Fruit
The Jews of Jesus’ day lived to earn their favor with God by following all 613 laws. Jesus flips the script, telling them (and us) we no longer earn salvation. Instead, we are saved by grace – grace by faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Yet, Jesus calls us to serve others. To do good works (Matthew 5:16). Friends, there’s movement in this faith journey – where we move forward from our moment of decision (faith) into a lifetime of transformation and serving (works). It’s important not to see our works as a means for earning our place with God – but it is the fruit of our faith.
James helps us grapple with the nuances of faith and works (James 2:14-26). Life in the paradoxical Kingdom of God is not meant to be parceled into compartments – here’s my faith; here’s my works. Rather Kingdom living is both-and. We have faith that Jesus is the Son of God, and we put forth effort to keep growing in our faith. We believe Jesus to be our All-in-All, and we do good works for the people in our paths – out of the overflow of our faith.
James says it well; if there’s no fruit in our lives, we have to wonder about our faith (v.26).
Authority and Agency
Bottom line, “God’s Kingdom comes with a King,”7 One who reigns and rules from His throne in heaven. Our Three-in-One God became a man with all the authority of the Father in order to be the agent for Kingdom business. And the miracle in all of it – He has deemed it good and right that we, His Kingdom People, would have all His authority and agency here on earth.
In His name and by His power, we have been ordained to go and do greater things than what He did (John 14:12). I know, I can’t fathom it either. And yet, when our hearts and minds are surrendered to His Kingdom agenda – determined to obey His will – Jesus has promised that what we ask, He will do (vv.13-14).
Like ‘secret agents’ who cross enemy lines in order to do good work for their country, we’ve been given a mission – to be witnesses of King Jesus and His Kingdom. And as we live out our Spirit-empowered missions, we’ll offer to the world a preview of what the world will look like when Jesus comes to reign on His forever throne.8
Friends, it’s easy to lose the sense of ‘kingdom’ living in free-will America – where freedom is defined as the ability to do whatever we want. It’s hard to let go of the independence that’s been spoken over us our entire lives. That’s what makes Jesus’ Kingdom so upside-down. And so beautiful. All our faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, all our humility to live surrendered and obedient lives, all our effort to lay down our will for His and to live with love and generosity in the world – all of it builds the Kingdom of God, on earth as it is in heaven.
*This is not an exhaustive list. I’m sure we could come up with many more. 😉
Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.
- 1 – The Daily Text, 8/23/17, JD Walt
- 2 – This article unpacks the rich, young ruler story more fully
- 3 – The Daily Text, 9/26/17, JD Walt
- 4 – Tony Evans, on Lifeway.com.
- 5 – This article explains more about what Jesus meant by His response to the disciples’ question.
- 6 – This website gives the Greek meanings for ‘poor’ in Matthew 5:3.
- 7 – ”Praying Like Jesus” Seedbed course, JD Walt
- 8 – Lectio 365, Tyler Staton, 4/4/24
- On our current playlist, “Hidden Agendas,” MANY songs proclaim the truths and realities of God’s Kingdom agendas. The opening song, in particular, directly speaks to God’s “Simple Kingdom” — one that’s simple, humble, and backwards. The last verse pegs God’s Kingdom and heralds a call to action:
Your Kingdom is backwards, it flows in reverse
What You call a treasure this world calls a curse
The small become great and the last become first
Your Kingdom is backwards, Lord, teach us to serve
As it is with Your Kingdom (come on), let it be with Your church - I’ll be posting another “Teacup Video” this Wednesday to unpack an element in this week’s blog. You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page and Instagram — and…my YouTube ‘channel’!
- I hope you had a chance to read May’s issue of my newsletter, The Abiding Life! It was a therapeutic adventure as I continued processing our tendencies to hide. If you didn’t get it, email me. You can subscribe here.
Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike. In this series, we’re putting into practice the rhythm of repentance.
John the Baptist preached repentance, baptizing many in the Jordan River as a sign of the forgiveness of sins. He tells the crowd, including Pharisees, to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8). His words parallel so much of what we explored today. But if we have any doubts, The Message version really unpacks it in our vernacular:
When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin! And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and flourishing? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.”
Matthew 3:7-10 MSG
- This week, let’s choose one Kingdom Agenda to focus on, asking the Holy Spirit to reveal where we tend to take instead of give, where we fail to surrender and obey, where we forget humility and love, or where we cling to stuff instead of Christ. Then repent and begin the process of life change — by grace and with grace.
- And while it’s not a spiritual practice or rhythm, I invite you to share this site. It’s my most sincere hope that what we explore here together will encourage others to step more fully and deeply in their walks with Christ.
Featured Photo by Luis Fernando Felipe Alves on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Sahand Babali on Unsplash.