Luke 17:21 ... For indeed the Kingdom of God is
within you
The Kingdom of God is often seen as a kindom of how
we work out our religious faith communities following the principles of
Jesus love commandments. It is kinship of how we relate to the other as
equals as children of God. Hence, it is within us to work out this
relatioship with the other as Christ would have done.
The kindom of God whilst it is a necesarry out
working of the Kingdom of God is not the Kingdom of God where we have
the reign and rule of Jesus Christ in our lives. He is the King, we are
bought by the blood of the Lamb to be His servants. Without the headship
of Jesus Christ, any notion of a kindom would be of our own carnal
strenght and subject to futility and strive.
When Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is within
us, it was in contrast to the Jewish faith which consisted of the
outward adherance to the religious laws and practices thus fulfilling
the religious duties. The Kingdom of God was different and within us
because it comes from an inward decision and choice to follow and accept
Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
The notion of a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ is not a result of what some called self centered notion of
religion, but on the contrary in response to the generalisation of
religious faith where our birth and race essentially determines our
faith without a choice, ie if one is born a Jew, he automatically is
associated with the Jewish Faith. This was further examplified by the
supremacy of Rome which resulted in the mandate that all its citizens
are christians once Christianity became the national religion. However,
there is no compulsion in Christianity, nor one born a Christian. It is
by personal faith and relationship with God in Jesus Christ.
Mat 25:40 And the King will answer and say to them,
"Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of
these My bethren, you did it to Me.
It is very tempting for some Christians to cast the
net very wide and declare that following Jesus is helping the poor,
feeding the hungry, taking care of the sick, visiting the outcasts and
those who are in need in the prisons. This is an over generalization of
what is meant by the Kingdom of God.
The key word here is "My brethren", and not to the
general community. Jesus is emphasising that those who are really of the
Kingdom of God will take care the needs of those within the kingdom of
God. The righteous ones are those who chose to identify with the least
in the Christian faith and those who are thrown in prison because of the
faith.
Being a Christian involves reponsibility and
ownership. There is an accountability for our bethren who are with us in
this Kingdom of God.
Whilst there is a need to minister to the wider
marginalised community, Jesus meant it very differently and
emphasised that our first priority is within the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, for the GLBT Christian community, the primary call is to
minister to GLBT Christians.
Our Gay Christian community is hurting badly. They
are persecuted and rejected by the mainstream Christian community. They
are thrown into jail closets. They are tortured emotionally and
spiritually by the Christian Right being clobered using the clober
verses of the bible. They are hungry for the bible truths that Jesus
loves and accepts them just as they are including their sexual
orientation.
The servants of God went out of their way to feed
the poor, heal the sick, visit those in prison, for they have a
responsibility and accountability. We too have a responsibility to the
GLBT Christian community to actively push the message of reconciliation
between their faith and sexual orientation. It will involve actively
challenging the Christian Right, and going out to gather the harvest of
wounded injured gay christians who no longer attends church.
The Kingdom of God for the GLBT Christians is not
about the kindom of community living and relationships, but an
aggressive venture and defence of our Gay Christian brethren. We are to
be out there, seeking to connect with them, standing beside them in
their struggles, encouraging them to remain in the faith, and praying
for them in their struggles.
The Rainbow Harvest is huge out there. Based on 20%
Christians, and 5% of these being gay, with a resident population of 4
million, there are at least 40,000 gay christians many of them hiding in
their churches or who have abandoned christianity altogether because of
the rejection by the church.
Our hearts should be softened to be concerned of
gays leaving the Christian faith in masses or taken into marriage due to
family pressures which will ultimately meant pain and suffering. Our
hearts must feel the hurt, pain and suffering for those who are out
there alone facing conflicts between their Christian faith and
sexuality. Few would come to our hallowed inclusive churches, for we
are called to go out forth into the back lanes of life to search and
seek out the gay christians who are hungry, lost and in suffering.
We are called to actively engaged with the
sufferings GLBT Christian community. It is not about presenting an
alternative interpretation of the bible, or even queer theology. It is a
matter of life and death for many, physically and spiritually. We are
called the good and faithful servants of the Kingdom where our hearts
have become soft to the needs of our GLBT Christian brethern who are
outside the walls of our queer home church. Welcome Home is never enough
for Jesus went out to find the lost sheep, the one out of the 99. So
should we.
The Rainbow Harvest is waiting for the
workers to bring the sheaths in.