How To Build The Kingdom

The concept of the Kingdom of God plays a huge part in my worldview. Whether you call it the Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Beloved Community or Peaceable Kingdom, a cursory reading of the teachings of Jesus will show that he was all about making it on earth as it is in heaven.

That being said, it does not get a lot of ‘air time’ in most pulpits, so many would be Kingdom Builders are at a loss on practical steps to make this happen. (Of course, they could start by reading the Sermon on the Mount, and then do it…)

Last Thanksgiving I found myself in Memphis, visiting some friends for the holidays. They live in a marginalized section of the city and work for social justice and fight for those who get left behind. In fact, they were a primary influence in my decision to do the sort of work I do.

I saw this on their wall and thought I would share it.  The poster was about how to build global community, but if we followers of Jesus would take the following steps, it would go a long way toward ushering in a Kingdom where no one was left behind.

How To Build Global Community

• Think of no one as “them”
• Don’t confuse your comfort with your safety
• Talk to strangers
• Imagine other cultures through their poetry and novels
• Listen to music you don’t understand
• Dance to it
• Act locally
• Notice the workings of power and privilege in your culture
• Question consumption
• Know how your lettuce and coffee are grown: Wake up and smell the exploitation
• Look for fair trade and union labels
• Help build economies from the bottom up
• Acquire few needs
• Learn a second (or third) language
• Visit people, places and cultures-not tourist attractions
• Learn people’s history
• Redefine progress
• Know physical and political geography
• Play games from other cultures
• Watch films with subtitles
• Know your heritage
• Honor everyone’s holidays
• Look at the moon and imagine some else, somewhere else, looking at it too
• Read the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Understand the global economy in terms of people, land, and water
• Know where your bank banks
• Never believe you have a right to anyone else’s resources
• Refuse to wear corporate logos: Defy corporate domination
• Question military/corporate connections
• Don’t confuse money with wealth, or time with money
• Have a pen/e-mail pal
• Honor indigenous cultures
• Judge governance by how well it meets all people’s needs
• Be skeptical about what you read
• Eat adventurously
• Enjoy vegetables, beans and grains in your diet
• Choose curiousity over certainty
• Know where your water comes from and where your wastes go
• Pledge allegiance to the Earth: Question nationalism
• Think South, Central, North- There are many Americans
• Assume that many others share your dreams
• Know that no one is silent though many are not heard- work to change this

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