The Kingdom of God on Your Street/In Your Apartment Building

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said that if aChristian moved out of their neighborhood and no one felt a sense of loss, hewondered if that person was ever legitimately saved? Strong words, I know, butsobering.

Our family is settling into our newNorthern California neighborhood, and all that comes with it—meeting newneighbors, figuring out grocery stores and vetting potential barbers. Amidstall the newness plays an old familiar question in our souls as we walk thesidewalks, “How can we bring the kingdom to this rustic neighborhood populatedby old Victorian homes?” Of course this question leads to another moreessential one, “What exactly is the kingdom?”

Jesus shows us in Matthew 9:35, “AndJesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagoguesand proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and everyaffliction.” In this one verse, we see the kingdom is both preaching ANDhealing; it addresses the physical AND the spiritual; the body AND thesoul.  

We Christians have made this simple,comprehensive question of the kingdom so complex and messy. Someone once saidthe mark of brilliance is the ability to make the complex simple. Well, ifthat’s true, then the mark of idiocy is the ability to make the simple complex.Historically, the church hasn’t been too bright. During the fundamentalist/modernistsplit of the early 20th century, the fracture took place over this veryquestion of the kingdom with one side saying it’s essentially preaching, andthe other countering with the kingdom being more about the body and issues ofjustice and care. During the civil rights movement, it was the church whomarched in the streets, standing up against injustice, and it was the churchwho sat in the pews, at the same time, listening to truth and giving altar callsfor people to get saved. A few years ago, there were some aspects of the churchwho were content to sit in bars, smoking a cigar and dropping a few expletivesin jest as they took a break from reading the latest Brian McLaren book to formcommunity with “pre-Christians.” While at the same time, hoards of Christians chosethe cognitive route, rediscovering Calvin, and trying (and mostly failing) tomake their way through his Institutes.  

Whatis the kingdom?

Asis often the case, Jesus presents us a third way, a way not marked by aneither/or scenario, but a both/and posture. The Jesus of the gospels would’vecalled people to repentance in church on Sunday, then jetted out the back doorto march for voter rights in Selma. Jesus would go to the backyard party overmy neighbor’s house, miraculously cause cases of the best wine to appear,blessing everyone there, and then proceed to preach an extemporaneous sermoninviting people into the joy of the kingdom.

Bodyand soul. Physical and spiritual. Feeding and proclaiming. This is the kingdom.

Sowhat does it mean for us to bring the kingdom to our neighborhood? A fewthoughts come to mind:

1. Mindful. I need to be mindful that God hasplanted our family on that block for a much bigger reason than a good investment,or safety and security. What if God wants us to be the chaplains of our street?I need to be mindful of this.

2. Presence. The house we bought doesn’t have agarage, and I’m kind of glad about that. It makes it much easier to interactwith our neighbors. Already our family has taken long walks, and on the waywe’ve met some people and had some great conversations. There’s just somethingabout being out among the people. Jesus modeled this well.

3. Seek. What if Korie and I started to seek fortangible ways to bless others in our neighborhood? Gifts. Invitations.Cookouts. Help. All of this is in the category of Jesus healing and feeding.

4. Pray. While we’re helping to get the mail ofour neighbors who’ve left town for a week, why not pray for them and othersthat God would save their souls.  

5. Proclaim. Picking up mail is part of bringing thekingdom, but to do so without proclaiming how their deepest needs are met inthe person of Jesus Christ is only half the story. Yes we need to be carefulhere. We don’t want to do the old bait and switch and make people feel as ifour kindness is setting them up for a punch line. But people need to hear thegood news. I want my street to come to know Jesus. How can they come to believewithout hearing?

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