Quote:
Originally Posted by YP0534
Fundamentally, all we ever REALLY know is HERE and NOW.
It's a concept that's a little foreign to classic western ritual Christianity and its tales about a distant afterlife but it's one that has resonated with me since I was young.
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I started a thread, once, entitled "the two kingdoms" and I'd like to revisit the concepts I introduced there; but I'll do so here because my thinking is linear and it seems related to this, more recent, discussion.
A kingdom is a domain, a realm, a sphere of influence, a field. The animal kingdom is the domain of carbon-based biotic organisms; a gravitational field is the area in which the attractive pull of an object's mass is felt; a man's kingdom is the area over which he has some sway. Where you have subjects, you have a kingdom; conversely, where folks ignore you, you have no kingdom.
You know, "the Spirit is given without measure", but what is measured is our ability, our capacity to receive. One has "one talent", one has "two talents" and one has "five talents". Our job is to maximize the talents we are given, but like the card game of "21", we don't want to overbid, to go beyond our capacity.
Look at the seven sons of Sceva: they went beyond their capacity. And look at the parable of the man going out to battle with 10,000 troops -- he sees an adversary coming with 20,000 and he sues for peace. He wisely doesn't "overbid".
If we overextend our reach, we will be like the man in the parable of the wedding feast, where the master of the feast tells him to sit down further, where he goes with shame. Note that the man doesn't get cast out of the feast, he is just modified negatively. Contrast that with the man who takes the "last place", and the master of the feast says, "Friend, come sit up higher".
In the inner kingdom, our soul, we should rule. But in the outer physical kingdom, we should endeavor to take last place. This includes, even especially, what is known as the "church life". We should not lord over others, but serve others.
As I've said elsewhere, the best way to change the world is not to try to change the world, but rather let God change your soul, your inner "kingdom". Then you'll have influence, because the world will have to adjust to your changed spiritual "field", the effects of which will be felt beyond your borders.
I believe someone wrote that Benson Phillips felt a calling that he'd one day head a wordwide religious organization. I myself would rather not overbid like this in the external realm. Rather, I'm going to try to let God change my person. What influence this change has in the external world is God's arrangement. When you see people like Jonathan Edwards and the "Great Awakening", you realize the Holy Spirit can do much more than any man's organizational talents.