Another simple example of such violation of norms and extension of grace is now routinely demonstrated in the innovative arena of microfinance. These are financial services for poor and low-income clients, including loans to unsalaried borrowers who have little or no collateral. The brainchild of Nobel Peace Prize–winner Muhammad Yunus, microfinance development has been utilized for over three decades by dozens of organizations, such as Opportunity International and World Vision. It has become so popular that both religious and secular organizations now offer small loans (the average loan is less than $400) to the world’s poorest populations. When lenders focus on both “nurturing the profitability of borrowers’ businesses—and, in turn, their clients’ overarching economic and social well-being,” the practice is so effective, it has now become the darling of poverty-fighting relief agencies all across the globe. In an age when institutional lenders seem to expect borrowers to demonstrate their lack of financial need before a loan is even considered, the concept of lending money to those with little to no resources but with an abundance of character has shown the potential for increasing not only income but also health care, housing, nutrition, and education. Client-centered microfinance is yet another idea that rattles the economic norms of our societies.1
We need to learn some very important lessons from our brothers and sisters in Nickel Mines and those creative innovators in microfinance. The people of God are to be ambassadors of good in our world, demonstrating, personally and through its systems and institutions, the ways of God for the benefit of all people. Just as John, writing Revelation, saw a vision of reality that needed to be revealed and understood by the struggling early churches scattered around the ancient world, we also must endeavor to recapture God’s vision of our current world under the rule of King Jesus.
Part of our difficulty comes from a view that the world is on a countdown timer, which we sense is coming close to ringing. For so many believers, such an impending sense of doom creates a slow-burning fear that drains energy, optimism, and expectations of God’s blessings in our lives and the lives of others. We can be assured God is worried about neither the present nor the future, and thus we need not worry about, or be distracted by, any doomsday scenarios that tend to cycle through our religious institutions. Yet just saying we shouldn’t worry is very different from actually not worrying. Much of our preaching and teaching today that centers on fear of an imminent apocalypse and the unstoppable moral decay of our societies actually leads people to surmise that in fact Jesus is not in control at all. John’s message was just the opposite. The risen Christ is very much in control, despite what we read and see on the evening news. All is well in his church.
TRUE BLESSINGS
A second difficulty is found in the rise of what has been termed the “prosperity gospel,” which has created a sense that God is ready, willing, and able to provide for every consumerist desire or creature comfort vaguely connected to the American dream. Some have even argued that such God-ordained prosperity has become some sort of right or privilege we are entitled to, and believers are therefore righteously justified in demanding God’s favor. Again, this appears to be a historically recurring twisting of the teachings of scripture. The Sadducees maintained a similar theology, to ill effect.2 Today the same tendency is seen in the fact that our fascination with and confidence in materialism are working their way back into our interpretations of scripture.
Still, as is often the case, such “twisting” comes from a core truth of the gospel. The castle built on the rock is an undeniable blessing; it is strong, well developed, and withstands the storm. All kinds of people living in a state of confident assurance of God’s love and care are blessed—not because of their condition, but despite any condition. The conditions we face are temporary. The blessings remain eternal. The people of Nickel Mines were richly blessed despite their situation by their willingness to let go of the bitter feelings of hatred and revenge. Those living in the most marginalized and impoverished cultures in our world who are learning to sustain their families with an incredibly small investment in a new business are also blessed through the intentional service and sharing of those with the gifts of education, planning, wisdom, leadership, and discipline. As he did with the boy’s small lunch of fish and bread, Jesus is able to multiply our seemingly insignificant efforts in phenomenal ways. Such is the nature of the kingdom of God.
These applications of both the spiritual and material gifts of grace, service, and stewardship are just a few living testimonies that demonstrate that nothing can separate anyone from the love of God (Rom. 8:39) and that Jesus is with us, ruling in all things, even through our worst fears and largest problems, through the end of this age (Matt. 28:20). This king suffers violators, and the violators are forging dramatic new paths into the world. With this king, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).
The chapters that follow sketch out some new paths to consider as we follow God’s calling to reflect his kingdom light in our world. We will explore a variety of social structures God wants us to change. We do not presume to offer a complete plan. Such a grand unfolding of God’s intentions will require engagement with and contribution from the entire body of Christ. Here we simply seek to add to and further what is already occurring. This requires very explicit thinking in order to cast a vision or paint a portrait as grand as we can imagine in order to merely highlight some of the qualities and features of abundant living that mark the essence and beauty of the kingdom of God.
There was never a nation great until it came to the knowledge that it had nowhere in the world to go for help.
CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER
PERHAPS THE BEST place to begin our consideration of the central tenets, ethos, and ethics of the kingdom of God for contemporary life lies in the words David recorded in Psalm 23:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil; for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.
Many people can recite Psalm 23. It is routinely treated as great literature and likened to words of Homer, Shakespeare, or Cervantes. But there is much more to be gained here. Psalm 23 is not merely beautiful poetry. What many people miss is that this psalm spells out clearly what life with God is like.
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
The kind of life David describes in Psalm 23 is one bathed in shalom, or “peace,” which proceeds from understanding that Yahweh, the Lord, is a shepherd and hence a provider, protector, teacher, and loving host. The shepherd is one of the oldest and most enduring of Hebrew metaphors (Gen. 49:25; Pss. 77:21; 80:2; 95:7). What David understood and experienced was the reality of knowing a loving, attentive, present, powerful, and purposeful guide for his life. Our greatest assurance and soul-filling hope is that the Lord, Yahweh, is our shepherd. It is because of this simple, yet endlessly profound reality that we can begin to understand our place in the world and the joy that is ours forever.
The shepherd’s vocation is largely lost on us today. There is an intimacy in shepherding. Shepherds know their sheep