Make the church great again

Photo by Jeremiah Higgins on Unsplash

I’m sure someone wrote something like this somewhere before.

If so, I haven’t read it.

So, I’m not plagiarizing (if any of this sounds familiar).

But I may be led by the same Spirit that inspired someone else to write the same things.

Our Christ did not plant his church in the world to make nations great (or great again).

The church of Christ does not belong to a human nation, nor does a human nation deserve the allegiance and loyalty of the church of Christ.

Christians are loyal to the kingdom of our Christ. We pledge allegiance to that kingdom alone. We believe that that kingdom is independent and stands apart from the nations of this world.

Therefore, our priority is always the kingdom of our Christ.

A kingdom that lives among all peoples of the Earth.

A kingdom without borders.

This is the kingdom–the only kingdom–for which we strive for “greatness.”

The good news is that our Christ told us in plain terms what it takes to make that kingdom great:

…whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Gospel of Matthew 20:26b-28).

Do we really care about the greatness of the kingdom of our Christ?

Do we really?

Then we do as our Christ did: Get down and serve. Give our lives away even for those who seem unfit, ungrateful, or unworthy.

This is Christian greatness.

We will only understand the greatness of the kingdom of our Christ when we know that we are in that kingdom only because he serves us and gives his life as a ransom for us.

So we do the same for our neighbors.

We do the same for strangers.

We do the same for enemies.

We serve. We give our lives.

Then, and only then, does the church of Christ reflect the greatness of our Christ and his kingdom.

This is the Way.

Grace and peace.