What Is Important?
Last night we had our first discussion period in my seminary class. The book we were discussing, "The Reign of God," was in two parts. The first part focused on the active, reigning God and our part in coming alongside Him in his reigning activities. The second part concentrated on the kingdom which is to come. The author spent a lot of time defending his view of "heaven on earth" and almost no time discussing why knowing about the future kingdom is helpful for us in the kingdom of today.I liked the first part. The vast majority of our discussion was about the second part.
After only two weeks I'm probably oversimplifying this, but it seems to me that seminary students come in two basic types: those who want to know more about God and help others know more, and those who like to argue. I've had my fill of arguing about the Word, so I find myself guiding the discussion towards helping us all build our relationships with God. Even so, there was a 10-minute free-for-all last night regarding dispensationalism.
Our teacher describes God's Kingdom as "already and not yet." I really like that. But I tend to focus more on the "already," figuring that the "not yet" will take care of itself. That's probably naive. Certainly how we see the future affects how we act today. But the last, the lost, and the least often struggle to get through today, this hour, this minute. So I steer away from theology for the sake of theology, I avoid big words in favor of a clear gospel, and I don't honestly give a rat's patootie if I spend eternity with my Lord in the sky or on earth.
(And yet, with all that, it's still fun to know about subjective genitives.)
I feel like I need a seminary mission statement, something I can keep coming back to if I get off track, something my friends can remind me of if I start to stray. I don't have it all worked out yet, but it includes the idea of learning about God so I can share Him more clearly with others.
Meanwhile, my friend Jim has this to say.
posted by Thurman8er @ 8:01 AM
2 Comments:
Year before last, Ed Fudge (attorney, biblical scholar) had a great class at Pepperdine on this idea of the "already / not yet" kingdom of God.
Seems the "already / not yet" concept of the Kingdom helps to keep folks off the concept that their denomination (including ours) is "THE ONE AND ONLY CHURCH."
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