When we met with Marcus Borg, one of the issues we discussed was the primacy of the Kingdom of God in Jesus' preaching. As a result, we discussed culturally relevant metaphors for Jesus message. For first century Christians to say that Jesus was King or Lord was a powerful statement. It meant first of all that Cesar, Herod and all the others were not true kings nor Lords. But for Americans, King and Lord have negative connotations. We don't like Kings. We don't want a king--even a good one. We learn that at a very young age
So what are some contemporary metaphors that give the same sense about Jesus?
We can't say he is our president, because presidents are elected, have term limits, and can be impeached or replaced if we don't like what they are doing. Borg suggested Commander in Chief--but that just reminds me of the president and it also seems to me to be a military title. Who in our culture demands/deserves our allegiance over everything else?
What do you think?
2 comments:
I'm not sure there is a good example for the modern era, because I at least like to pretend to believe in democratic virtues, and so elevating any individual to the equivalent role of King is problematic.
In our culture, we do have people who our culture piles adulation onto--CEOs, movie stars. Somehow the saying that Jesus is CEO doesn't quite work, though--especially since I'm not exactly enamored of capitalism.
Maybe it is time for a completely new metaphor? Maybe instead of Kingdom of God, we can become the Community of God? The Family of God? The Interconnected Web of Being of God?
Perhaps we can go even further back; back to the beginning and call it Paradise. There are glimpses of Paradise in everyday life that if we can only focus on, reveal God in all his love and perserverence.
I heard a sociologist talk of this very problem at a Leadership Conference in San Diego right after 9/11. I know that Kings and Kingdoms are difficult for the American Culture, but if there is only one true Kingdom of God, one Paradise, then I'm happy to live with the term. Community of God sounds wimpy; family of God brings many images ... some healthy and some not so and the Interconnected Web of Being of God is a church somewhere isn't it?!??!!
And so I've thought of this question off and on in the six years since the leadership conference and still I say that the only Kingdom I would be willing to live in is God's Kingdom ... a little bit of paradise for all.
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