Professor at at Hope College and Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan.
Matthew 13, for instance, is a profound collection of parables by Jesus, whose primary focus is the kingdom of heaven. Writing to a primarily Jewish-Christian community, Matthew honors the devout tradition of minimizing public use of the name of God by using the term “kingdom of heaven.” Elsewhere among the gospels and throughout the New Testament the equivalent idea “kingdom of God” is dominant.
Some of us have the notion that the kingdom of God is primarily a secret and personal rule of God in individual hearts. God is no earthly ruler whose fortunes are dictated by the latest research poll. His name won’t appear on the ballots when we vote in November.
Time magazine is not likely to declare God as a list topper in one of its annual collections of “most powerful leaders in the world.”
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God doesn’t have his own political party, though a few small groups attempt to lay claim to him as leader. Back in 1951, shortly before he was forced from his throne by a military coup, King Farouk of Egypt confided bitterly to British Lord Boyd-Orr, “There will soon be only five kings left — the Kings of England, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades and Clubs.”
That is sometimes the way we see the Kingdom of God, sifted through the world like the kings in a deck of cards. The King of Heaven may have a kind of power when we play a certain game called religion, but for the most part it is a rather invisible and private authority, one held closely in your hand so no one else sees, and played as a trump card when you run out of other options.
Perhaps there is some reason for this view. Didn’t Jesus himself tell Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world” (
John 18:36)? And another time, when the Pharisees came to Jesus and asked him about the Kingdom of God, Jesus told them, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you” (
Luke 17:20-21). Even the Apostle Paul seemed to echo that when he wrote about the rule of God as being “in your heart” (
Rom. 10:8).
Another thought we sometimes have about the kingdom of God is that it is really the same thing as the church. One of the great hymns puts it like this:
“I love Thy Kingdom, Lord, the House of Thine abode;
The Church our blessed Redeemer saved with His own precious blood.”
These words tie the kingdom of God directly to the church. While national governments may wield temporal power of armies and economies, the church claims spiritual power and a moral sway over values and behavior. This view sees the world in two parts: a “secular” life of weekdays and business and family and school, and a “sacred” life of the church and spirit which sneaks in now and again like the weekend “Religion” pages of the newspaper.