Scot McKnight (Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University) recently published an article in RELEVANT Magazine about the misuse of the term “Kingdom.” Seeing how I use that term a lot, I thought it would be good to point you all towards this article (granted, McKnight stops just short of the eschatology nature of the word as used by Jesus). 😀
“The most misused biblical term today is “Kingdom.”
One of my college students told me her sister was not working in the Church but was doing “Kingdom” work and “justice” work at a social service. Another student explained to me she was joining hands with a local inter-faith group to further peace. She called it “Kingdom” work and added, “It has nothing to do with the Church.” There’s a common theme here: the “Kingdom” is bigger and better than the “Church.”
We are using this word, “Kingdom,” both to cut out things we don’t like—evangelism and church—and to cast a vision for what we do like—justice and compassion. But it’s time to give this word “Kingdom” a fresh look, because we’re misusing it.
The word “kingdom” comes from Jesus, and so to Him and His Jewish world we must go. It was impossible in Jesus’ world to say “kingdom” and not think “king.” Either the word “king” referred to Caesar, the empire-building, worship-me-or-die emperor of Rome, or it referred to Israel’s hoped-for King, the Messiah. When Jesus said Kingdom, He meant the Messiah is the one true King and Caesar is not.”
ah, man…I thought it was going to be “Love” or “Sin”…
Those would work too. 😀