{"id":38160,"date":"2024-09-05T15:19:31","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T22:19:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=38160"},"modified":"2024-09-05T15:19:49","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T22:19:49","slug":"build-a-sign-with-these-stone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/build-a-sign-with-these-stone\/","title":{"rendered":"Build a Sign with these Stones"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I reflect on the writers and theologians that have had the most influence in my life, NT Wright quickly comes to the top of the list. His book, \u201cSurprised by Hope\u201d[1]<\/a> has changed the way I see and work for God\u2019s Kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. Needless to say, I was very excited when we were assigned to read his new book with co-author Michael Bird, \u201cJesus and the Powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

This text offers hope and insight to churches and faith leaders during a time in the Western world that is fraught with divisiveness and uncertainty as to the future of healthy democracy amid the rise of Christian nationalism and other forces that are loud and influential. This has left me as a local church pastor with whiplash and trepidation when it comes to trying to navigate how church and politics intersect and to do it well in a world that is complex.<\/p>\n

It seems that, in the arc of history, when Christianity has been at the center, it has mixed goodness with harm and the seduction of power has thwarted a fuller representation of the sacrificial nature of our faith. While Christianity at the center has produced noteworthy advances in history from democracy to medical care, rights for the poor and abolition of slavery, it has also contributed to enslaved people, marginalization of the poor, bloodshed and violence. This mixed bag makes me think at times that Christianity has been better from the margins, without the mechanisms of government and power at our disposal. Is this then what we should advocate and hope for then? A loss of power in the political arena and instead, opt for the desert? This is not what Wright and Bird advocate for. Instead, they advocate for the setting up of signposts of God’s Kingdom in the midst of our world.<\/p>\n

After I graduated from high school I worked at the Oregon State Capitol in the Senate chambers, hopeful that I could live out in real life what I had seen on the \u201cWest Wing\u201d growing up. I walked away from that world, both admiring the politicians and leaders I saw that seemed to navigate the political waters with faith and conviction and extremely skeptical that faith and politics could ever be done well.<\/p>\n

Most of my pastoral ministry has functioned this way. While focusing on the Good News of the Kingdom and seeking to bring God\u2019s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven in my local church, the world of politics has seemed too \u2018hot to touch\u2019 if I wanted to have influence and credibility with the people I was hoping to lead.\u00a0 While I\u2019ve worked towards \u201ccaring for the poor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and providing the poor wanderer with shelter,\u201d[2]<\/a> I have always been wary of the seduction of how politics and the church, when mixed together, create, in my opinion, a dangerous blend of nationalism and patriotism, of legislating a particular morality and ostracizing or demonizing anyone who sees things differently.<\/p>\n

Wright and Bird\u2019s book is a breath of fresh air that gives me renewed hope and a reminder that I can \u201cbuild for<\/em> the kingdom\u201d in my home, my community and my church. I don\u2019t have to change the world, but instead, am called to be a faithful builder in the cathedral of God. They poetically state, \u201cthe Church’s vocation is to build for <\/em>the kingdom…the kingdom of God is not from this world, but it is emphatically for <\/em>this world. The Church’s kingdom-vocation is not only what it says <\/em>to the world, but is also what the Church does <\/em>within and for <\/em>the sake of the world.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Today on the radio while I was driving the news segment did a piece of \u201cEvangelicals for Harris\u201d[4]<\/a> during this current American election cycle. My ears perked up at the name of the organization. Pastoring a church that recently let go of the word \u201cEvangelical\u201d in our church name because of the word\u2019s unnecessarily, and often misguided, polarizing effect, I was surprised to hear the world Evangelical used not in association with Republicans or traditionally conservation Christians. This group is doing work to try to bridge the divide between the issues that are at the forefront of this election<\/p>\n

While I\u2019m not endorsing or promoting a particular candidate (something I decided early on in my pastoral ministry I personally wasn\u2019t ever going to do) it was a testimony to what Wright and Bird are suggesting in their book, that kingdom people must be involved in the political sphere, albeit with much caution, in order to participate in the in-breaking of God\u2019s Kingdom in the world. While I don\u2019t see that organization as my particular calling, this book has renewed my resolve to see my church, family and community as places where I can build for God\u2019s Kingdom and create \u201csignposts\u201d pointing the way to the coming of Christ and His Kingdom in our world.<\/p>\n

Tim Mackie and the Bible Project have created an incredible resource and series based on many of the same teachings and concepts from Wright and this \u201cHeaven reunited with Earth\u201d[5]<\/a> theology that calls every Christian to engage in kingdom work in the real world.<\/p>\n

Finally, the most powerful part of this book for me was the metaphor used of the cathedral and the stonemason.<\/p>\n

A stonemason helping build a cathedral is given a certain number of stones and a task to craft them in a certain way. They may not even be aware of what other stonemasons are building as part of the cathedral and they are certainly not responsible for the building of the entire cathedral itself, they are simply hired to do the task well that was given to them.<\/p>\n

While I may not see the cathedral (or even my section of the wall) completed in my lifetime, I trust that Jesus, King and Architect, is building the cathedral of His Kingdom and I can participate with him, and with others, in the restoration of this world that He will one day set right.<\/p>\n

What are the stones that I\u2019ve been entrusted with? My family, the community I love, the people I am called to minister and pastor alongside. How can I build for<\/em> the kingdom in these areas, to \u201cproclaim Good News to the poor, bind up the broken hearted and set the captives free?\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

What are the stones that you\u2019ve been entrusted with?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Wright, N. T. 2014. Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church<\/em>. 1st ed. New York: HarperOne.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Isaiah 58:7, NIV<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Wright, N. T., and Michael F. Bird. 2024. Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies<\/em>. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Reflective, 7.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> HOME | Evangelicals For Harris<\/a><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Learn Where Heaven and Earth Overlap (youtube.com)<\/a><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Isaiah 61:1, NIV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I reflect on the writers and theologians that have had the most influence in my life, NT Wright quickly comes to the top of the list. His book, \u201cSurprised by Hope\u201d[1] has changed the way I see and work for God\u2019s Kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven. Needless to say, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3244],"class_list":["post-38160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-wrightbird","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38160"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38162,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38160\/revisions\/38162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}