A Kingdom of Participants
By: Eric Craft
Tags: Christian, Participation, Bible, Christian Living, Christianity

A Kingdom of Participants

You were never meant to be a bystander

I love watching my brother play football. It’s something he’s good at and passionate about so whenever I can get to a game to support him I make it a point to. However, I’ve noticed that my brother doesn’t love standing on the sidelines in between plays. My brother is someone who wants to get out and play in the game, that's what I love most about him, he is always eager to get out there. I think for a lot of us we too would much rather be in the “game” than sitting on the sidelines. Many of us would rather be playing the “game” (whatever your “game” is) then be a bystander watching. Yet, when it comes to the Kingdom of God so many of us are willing to be bystanders then we are willing to be participants.

There is this story I tell a lot when I preach. It's about something that happened to me in the summer of 2017. It was one of those days where the day had just seemed to drag on, and if I’m being honest I was frustrated with work that day. You’ve had those days, right? Where nothing seems to go right, or your boss won't listen, or a project doesn’t pan out the way you thought it would. It was that kind of day for me. And I knew that above all else what I needed was a break. So I decided that I was going to Krogers, going to get dinner, and head home and just watch Netflix all night. Well, of course, Krogers was busy. And of course, it seemed as though only one register was open for at least 100* people. So I get in line and there I stand waiting for at least an hour* only to get to be the next person in line and the lady in front of me is having issues with her card.

I stood there with the most annoyed expression on my face. I couldn’t wait for this lady to be done. Yet, while she was doing her busyness I kept hearing this nudge from the Holy Spirit to pay for her groceries and finally I did so that I could get through the line. And I remember getting to my car, banging my head on the steering wheel saying

You idiot!

I was so mad at myself once I processed the situation. If I had been paying attention to what was happening I would have realized that she was trying to pay with a food stamps card, I would have noticed that she was in a mobility cart, and I would have overheard her talking about how she was so excited to see her grandkids that she hadn’t seen in a while. Instead of listening to and stepping into this woman's story, I was so hyper-focused on my own bad day that I neglected the story that God was calling me to speak into.

I don’t want this story to guilt you into thinking that it's not okay for you to have a bad day. If anything I want this story to empower you that even when we have a bad day, God is still calling us to participate in his story.

Luke Chapter 9 is one of my favorite moments in the Gospels. Especially for this moment that we find in verse 57–62

57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.”But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (ESV)

This passage above challenges me greatly. The first thing I am challenged by is the idea that none of these characters answer Jesus back. We never hear an end to there story. This struck me as odd at first, however, after careful reflection over this passage I began to insert myself into the story. I imagined if it were me saying I will follow Jesus and him responding back with such statements to me. At the moment when I ignored the lady at Krogers I heard the statement ringing through my head that, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God isn’t looking for a bunch of people who stand around and doing nothing. God isn’t interested in a bunch of people watching his Kingdom unfold. What God is interested in is a bunch of participants living out his word and helping build his kingdom here.