School just started for the
kids on our mission team last week here in Montepuez and I’ve been thinking
about a video that Abby and I did for the Downtown Church
of Christ youth group at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year.
Abby and I were asked to share about the
meaning of the Gospel and we set it in different terms than are usually used to consider
it:
The Gospel as an anti-rebellion-rebellion.
We hoped to show how, in significant and real ways, following the Gospel
for me (Alan) as a parent means… raising rebellious teenagers. Here’s a slightly adapted text of what we
shared. Hope you enjoy it!
Alan
-----
Matthew 9:35 says, “Jesus
went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and
sickness.” (NIV)
The word “Gospel” literally means good news. And the good news that Jesus announced over
and over again was that the kingdom of God was at hand and everyone was invited
to enter it.
Here in Mozambique, our friends are very familiar with
the idea of kingdoms. I’ve known kings
and queens and even a 'king of kings.' So,
when we talk about Jesus’ Gospel or good news with our Mozambican friends it’s
natural to talk about contrasting kingdoms: the Kingdom of Light verses the
Kingdom of Darkness.
Our African friends also know what it is like to announce a
new, coming kingdom. Back in 1975,
Mozambique won its independence from the Portuguese colonial powers. People who heard the good news of the victory
would go to neighbors and friends and share the good news that the old Empire
had fallen – there was a new regime.
One of my favorite verses is
Matthew 9:35 because it summarizes Jesus’ ministry so well.
Matthew tells us that Jesus traveled to a bunch of
different villages announcing the good news that the Kingdom of God was near.
He taught in the synagogues about how to live lives pleasing to God. And it
says that he healed people of all sorts of physical and spiritual diseases.
When the church is acting like the body of Christ, it follows his mission. By
doing those three things it serves as a sign of God's coming kingdom.
In that way, the church functions as 'God's Kingdom
Embassy' set up here on earth… An embassy that exists in enemy territory. So, people who are dissatisfied with life in
this world - a kingdom reigned by sin, death and Satan - have been issued a
standing invitation to leave that corrupt kingdom of darkness and begin to live
under God's good reign.
What that means is that Christians are part of a
rebellion – okay technically it is an anti-rebellion-rebellion. Satan first rebelled against God and set up a
competing Evil Empire. And Christians
are those who live in open rebellion to Satan’s Kingdom of darkness. So, followers of Jesus are those loyal to the
true king. You are part of that
rebellion.
In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis says, “Enemy occupied
territory – that’s what this world is.
Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might
say, landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of
sabotage.”
“A great campaign of sabotage.” I know it may not always look like it in
Searcy, AR, but to the Powers and Principalities of this world – what you are
plotting to do as a youth group is sabotage – it is seditious to the Kingdom of
this world. Now the way we do this, our
rules for engagement mean that we don’t have to carry weapons or coerce people
by force. No, we are part of a peaceful
insurgency. And I know it takes a lot of
work to remember who we are, because the world pummels us with messages that
call us to assimilate to their ways, but the truth is that the Powers are
threatened by your presence. So, as you get ready to go back to school, you
don’t have to tell anyone that you are part of this rebellion – just go out and
act like Jesus. Follow the way of the
Gospel - the good news. Announce the
Kingdom (invitation). Teach the way of
the Kingdom (initiation). And display
the Kingdom of God by your actions (demonstration). That’s good news as Jesus told it and lived
it.
The gospel is the good news
that the kingdom of God has come near and you and I can be a part of what God
wants to do in the world. We don’t have
to live in a kingdom of death and darkness and disease… The good news is that we are invited into a
kingdom of light and life and liberty and love.
When Abby was baptized, her
Mom and I were so excited, but we also knew that what she had done was really serious.
She’s now a full-follower of
the Gospel and is part of the great anti-rebellion-rebellion against the forces
of darkness in the world. And if you are
a Christian you also are called to be a rebellious teenager, subverting the
Evil Empire and your leader is the true King of Kings.
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