The Heart of the Kingdom: Following Jesus

Taken from moral laws given in ancient China, Babylon, Anglo Saxon culture, American Indian culture, Judaism, Christianity, ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Hindu culture, the moral code or core of every religion is:

[1] Don’t do harm to another human by what you do or say.
[2] Honor your father and mother.
[3] Be kind toward brothers and sisters, children and the elderly.
[4] Do not have sex with another’s spouse.
[5] Be honest in all your dealings.
[6] Do not lie.
[7] Care for those weaker or less fortunate.
[8] Dying to self is the path to life.

The core of the movement that Jesus started is found in Mark 1:16-20. Unlike the morality and rules-centered religions of the world, the movement Jesus started revolves totally around a relationship to Jesus himself. Let me state the main idea right at the beginning: The heart of the kingdom is to have a heart for the King. What does it mean to have a heart for Jesus, the king?

1. Having a heart for Jesus means imitating him.

Jesus, the Son of God, became flesh in the form of a Jewish rabbi living in Jewish culture. As a rabbi, his role was to embody the torah or “Book of Instruction” found in the first 5 books of the Scriptures. A rabbi’s role was not only to be an example but to pass on his way of life to disciples. In Hebrew, talmid is the word for disciple. The plural form is talmidim.
The decision to follow a rabbi as a talmid meant total commitment... Since a talmid was totally devoted to becoming like the rabbi he would have spent his entire time listening and observing the rabbi to know how to understand the Scripture and how to put it into practice...Most students sought out the rabbis they wished to follow. This happened to Jesus on occasion. If a student wanted to study with a rabbi he would ask if he might “follow” the rabbi. The rabbi would consider the students potential to become like him and whether he would make the commitment necessary. It is likely most students were turned away. Some of course were invited to “follow me”. This indicated the rabbi believed the potential talmid had the ability and commitment to become like him. It would be a remarkable affirmation of the confidence the teacher had in the student. (FollowtheRabbi.com)

Today, at the very heart of participating in the Kingdom of God is the response to Jesus’ invitation to follow Jesus as a talmid or disciple. This doesn’t mean that we follow Jesus’ teachings only. Rather, discipleship requires that we know Jesus’ mind and will, Jesus’ heart, Jesus’ vision for our society.

This means that we need to learn to hear his voice for today. We need to see what he is doing in our world. We need to feel his heart for the people around us. We need to grasp his vision for our society. And we need to do the things he did. This includes following him in his death and resurrection. When Ariel was 2 years old, she had a saying which she repeated often. She would imitate something I did and proclaim, “Like you, Daddy! Like you!”

I am not trying to convince you to become a Christian. I am not trying to get you to join the Christian religion. In fact, I hope that you never call yourself a Christian. The label “Christian” conjures up images that are so UN-Christlike that I don’t ever want to be called a Christian. Rather, I am trying to convince you to follow Jesus Christ. I am trying to convince you to join Jesus’ cause and movement. I am hoping that you will identify yourself as a disciple of Jesus Christ. I am trying to get you to live your life in such a way so as to say to Christ, “Like you, Jesus! Like you!”

This kind of thing isn’t something we will quickly embrace because imitating Jesus means that our lives cease to be our own. It means that we have to change. It means that we have to adjust. The problem is that it’s in our nature to be in control of our own lives. We would rather make God in our image than be shaped into his. This is the essence of religion. Religion puts us in control of God.

Following Jesus also liberates us from consumerism. We’ve been taught all of our lives that everything comes secondary to our needs and wants. We’re told by our market-driven society that we are the center of the Universe. But follwing Jesus requires that we repent; that we change our minds about ourselves. Imitating Jesus means that we relinqusih our needs and wants to submit to his will. Imitating Jesus means that we’ve changed our minds. We’re no longer the center of the Universe. Becoming like Jesus is everything to us.

2. Having a heart for Jesus means your life gets re-interpreted through his mission.

Jesus said to these fishermen whom he calls to be his first disciples, “I will make you fishers of men.” He is re-interpreting their life experiences through his Kingdom mission. They were to give up living for fish so that they could be begin living for God. While most of the people Jesus called did not have to abandon their jobs to follow him, I believe that Jesus calls all of us to reinterpret our vocations in light of his Kingdom mission. Being a part of the movement Jesus started 2000 years ago means that we stop living for our paycheck or our passion and start living for his purpose. We begin to see our workplaces through the eyes of Jesus. We begin to see our workplaces and schools as mission fields. This means that while we’re at work we seek Jesus’ purpose and will. Following Jesus means that we play an active role in bringing a taste of heaven to our classrooms; a taste of heaven on earth.

Every thing becomes secondary to following Jesus.

This also doesn’t come easy. We would rather follow the religious route. In North America this normally means that we compartmentalize our lives. We have our personal lives here. We have our family life here. We have our professional life here. We have our hobbies here. We have our spiritual life here.

This also flies in the face of consumerism because rather than encouraging us to be consumers, following Jesus calls us to be contributors. This is a major concern for me because there are those who have allowed consumerism to be the driving force of the church. You see these churches whose programs and ministries exist to fulfill the consumeristic needs of its members.
There are actually advocates of contemporary church growth principles who say that the church should be more like a shopping mall that provides all sorts of choices for its members. Their message is no longer a kingdom message where people are called to change their minds and embrace Jesus’ mission; to live for Jesus. Instead, the message is that God lives for us; that Jesus’ mission is to meet our needs and wants. And when this happens, the church ceases to be the church and becomes instead a cheap imitation of the world.

No, what we’re really trying to do here is not be a mall but be a movement.

3. Having a heart for Jesus means embracing uncertainty.
When you decide to follow Jesus, there is a level of uncertainty that comes with it. You never know what he will do. You never know what he will say. There is an element of risk in a relationship with Jesus. And that’s where trusting him comes in.
This is why religion is so appealing. Religion gives us a way of controlling uncertainties. Religion makes God predictable. Religion puts us in control and makes God our servant. But in reality, those of us who lead the church are really more like Morpheus in the movie The Matrix where he says to Neo, “I can only show you the door. But you have to be the one to open it.”

Conclusion
The heart of the kingdom is to have a heart for the King. It means imitating him. It means being on mission all the time everywhere. It means trusting him to lead you. And today he is inviting you to come and follow him.