Church

The church is a foretaste of Kingdom of God. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is already here. It has started. It is a present reality. But he also declared that the Kingdom is to be found perfectly only in the future. How this already/not yet character of the Kingdom can be embraced in churches today? Then, firstly we need to know what the Kingdom of God is. What are some characteristics of Kingdom of God in perfect form? When the Kingdom of God exists in its fullness there will be no sickness, wars, man’s fallen nature and no poverty. All the relationship between Man to God, Man to Man and Man to Creation will be in perfect love, which is the fundamental nature of the Trinitarian God. How can these qualities of the Kingdom can be found today, if we declare that the Kingdom is here?

Woe! The church has such a great responsibiliy and yet most of our churches are busy organizing evangelical campaigns. We are busy choosing which clothes to wear when we go to church. We are busy being involved in programs, for example, men or women's fellowship, youth fellowship, cell groups and special celebration programmes. One ought to note that it is not wrong to participate in these programs. But if one observes carefully, most of us are rushing to finish one programme after another. In our heads, we are thinking how to organize or run those programmes perfectly. Obviously, this kind of environments dose not gives space to love one another. Thus before we start to plan for campaigns or programmes, we ought to practise the fundamental nature of the Trinitarian God. By genuinely loving one another, we can embrace the Kingdom of God in our church.

There will be different types of people in our churches. Among them, let us focus on those who are weak in health, education and wealth etc. Let us take our first step to talk to those who are quiet, shy and those who dare not speak. Let us befriend those. Let us love them as a friend. We may say that we do not have enough time and the congregation is too big. Yes, there is a price to pay for living out the Kingdomic life. But we have no choice but to live the Kingdomic life because we are chosen to be his followers. It is our responsibility. This is what the church is for. Let them taste what the Kingdom of God is like.