Bang The Kingdom Drum

“My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm”.  

John 18:36

You have to feel the awkwardness, and tremendous enormity, of Jesus’s words to Pilate in this verse. He speaks of a completely different, alternative reality. A co-existent realm. A wholly different sphere wholly capable of delivering LIFE. Pilate has no clue. Bound by his intoxication and indoctrination to his world, Pilate is blind.  

At a weigh in for a boxing match or a UFC fight the two fighters will stand face-to-face, flex their muscles, and try to win a psychological edge. One fighter tries to convince the other that he knows something decisive that the other does not yet know.  

Pilate and Jesus stand face-to-face. Pilate is a free man. Jesus is bound in some kind of shackles. Pilate flexes the might of the Roman empire, the dominant geo-political force of the day.  

Jesus does not flinch.  

When Jesus speaks, He does not give Pilate a moral lesson. He does not talk about the church. Jesus invokes the surpassing greatness of an alternative reality that is His Father’s kingdom.   

What is Rome, in all its glory, majesty, and accomplishments, when compared to the kingdom of God? What is the capability of the Roman war machine compared to the angel-warriors of the king? What is Caesar compared to the Son of God?  

The kingdom of God dwarfs Rome as Jesus dwarfs Caesar.  

I wonder what the relevance of Jesus and His kingdom mission is to your daily passion and purpose?  

So many of us have been raised to believe that life in Christ is mostly about being changed from a bad sinner to a decent person. You were a rotted man who fell short of God’s glory but Jesus has paid the price for your failure. Receive Him and your sins will be forgiven…so goes the teaching and preaching. 

Argh. 

Where is the glory and majesty and vastness of our Father’s kingdom? Where is the missional training to purpose ourselves, as Jesus did, to advance our Father’s kingdom daily? Where is the honor and privilege for Christians being chosen for kingdom purposes? Where is deliverance into another reality? 

“My kingdom is not of this world.”  

Contrast in yourself the distances in how you feel about Jesus’s morality and His kingdom. Does not His Kingdom seem far off? Does not His teaching on the beatitudes or worry or adultery sound much more familiar and far closer? But the kingdom was in Jesus’s heart, daily life, and teaching. This is not five steps to be a better, Christian parent. This is an invitation to be delivered from one reality, ruled by Satan, into another in which Jesus is king and the Holy Spirit is fuel. This is taking Neo’s red pill from the Matrix or walking through C.S. Lewis’ wardrobe in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.   

As of the end of February 2024, Microsoft is the largest company in the world. Its market cap is over $3 trillion. In 2023, the United States budgeted $905 billion just for defense spending. The army is working on using artificial intelligence to fly drones that can destroy enemy’s defenses with lasers.  

What, exactly, is your church compared to Microsoft or the United States military? What kind of difference can one person make in a world that rapidly evolves with technological breakthroughs? And what of China, Russia, the ascendance of India, or the economic future of the African continent?  

Massive, macro level realities that can make Jesus, the church, and your faith seem insignificant at best, irrelevant at worst.  

“My kingdom is not of this world.”  

But the kingdom. And the enormity of the throne on which Jesus sits. And the truth about the world in which AI piloted drones shoot lasers. And the inevitability that every one of us, even Elon Musk, will one day die. Our lives are vapers.  

My “fear” is that your Jesus is too small, and His kingdom is barely existent in the meager fire of your heart. My fear is that because of this size discrepancy the lure of the widget world or the influence of government is woefully outsized in your passions. You cannot see the relevance of sitting quiet in the presence of God your Father in your living room at 6:00 in the morning to winning. You cannot see the power of sitting across the table from another person and being available to listen to them as they share from their dark places. My fear is that Jesus is “nice” and His morality seems to be better than others but He is not essential for winning in the battle of life.  

Jesus masterfully, brilliantly teaches us to pray daily to our Father, “Let Your kingdom come.” This daily invocation is a strong anchor against getting swallowed by the widget whales. It is wisdom that can guard you against being consumed by geo-political saber rattling. It is a daily reminder that we have been delivered into “not of this world.” It is a daily jolt that regardless of the world and the size of its problems or the might of its threats that we are a part of an unstoppable movement of the living God.  

I pray that the Holy Spirit will open you wide to the magnitude of the kingdom so that you will be delivered from drooling at the world’s largesse. No matter how advanced technology gets, how big companies get, or how powerful countries become, people will always just be people. Your great desire, their great desire, is to be loved and to be a part of something great.  

LIFE in the Overflow of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will satisfy souls as we enjoy kingdom living…one day at a time!