The Politics of the Kingdom

This post is from the defunct blog “Dying Church”

A prophetic call from the late Edmund Clowney, at the end of an essay called “The Politics of the Kingdom” (PDF):

The politics of the kingdom demand that Christians take seriously the structure of the church as the form of the people of God on earth. Today the church stands not so much as an institution as a ruin. Preachers of another gospel are not only tolerated; they control the church. The church is in Babylonian captivity to secular goals and values. While radical theologians serve the political left, there is no lack of conservative preachers to proclaim a fascist nationalism in the name of Christ. No longer does the church’s ministry of mercy bear witness to the compassion of Christ’s gospel. Instead, Christians spend on extravagant luxuries the funds Christ has entrusted to them for the relief of the poor and needy.

The deep fellowship of love that joins the Lord’s people finds little expression in churches that meet for one brief hour of formal boredom every Sunday morning. Evangelism has been shifted by default to para-ecclesiastical organizations, many presenting a truncated gospel, and most by their very specialization detaching the gospel from the life of a serving and loving community.

It is time for judgment to begin in the house of God. Let the church break with the deadening customs that have stifled its living service of the Lord. Let it put in practice the politics of the kingdom, and a reformed church will show the world the meaning of true life in community. It will also find an open door that no man can shut in proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the Lord of history and salvation.