John Paul Jackson Facebook Bloopers#2

I didn't think I would need to do this two days in a row but, hey, here we are. The latest John Paul Jackson Facebook Blooper goes like this:

John Paul Jackson said: Jesus said the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, then we need to be the Kingdom of Heaven to those who meet us.

And so what could possibly be wrong with a statement like that? Well, the sentiment is well meant, but that might also be the problem here: Sentiment leading to sentimentalism. People approve of these statements because of their feelings about them, rather than actually checking them to see if they are true.

Here is the Scripture quote of the actual statement in Luke 17:20-21:

Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, “See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”(NKJV)

So my first problem is the misquoting of scripture. It simply would take one minute on Bible Gateway dot com to be able to check to see if you are remembering a Scripture right. Right?

My second beef with this little statement is that it has a theological problem. The Kingdom of God is a huge concept in Scripture, but in a short definition, it is the activity of God’s rule and reign and the places to which it extends. Jesus made this statement about the Kingdom being “within you” to Pharisees who I would suggest were not convinced or committed followers of Jesus. And yet, the context clearly includes them as part of the “you,” which in fact is a plural term meaning “you all.” So the kingdom is within “y’all,” as they say in Texas. And so there is no need to “be” the Kingdom of Heaven “to” someone, because they are just as much in the Kingdom as you are, not that they are Christians, but they are under God’s rule, reign, and influence. The important part of being in a Kingdom is that there is a Sovereign King, one who rules and brings peace and order. These days being a “Christian” may not be cool, but it is the best thing we can be.  In the days of the New Testament the term was a derogatory one, meaning “little Christs,” which points to the fact that even those who were detractors of the early Christian movement were seeing the King of the Kingdom in the Christians. So we really need not to “be” the Kingdom, but to “be” Jesus to others. That is do-able because God gives His Holy Spirit to you for that very purpose. Be Jesus to others, thereby expressing His Kingdom to them.   

We live in a day of hazy internet truth. We accept fuzzy statements and logic as just normal and approve of them whether they are accurate or not, based on how we feel about them. Now that is OK if you are spouting your personal opinion about the Tea Party, Global Warming or Barack Obama.  But when you half-quote a Scripture and then make a conclusion based on that, that is a dangerous habit that at it’s least is a little lazy, and at it’s worst could become cultic.

So, since I love John Paul Jackson, and wish him well always, I once again repent of this my terrible sin of not being able to let something go without blurting out my opinion. Forgive me, Father, I know not what I do.

So here is my encouragement:

Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you(Luke 17:21) so we need to be aware of that and be Jesus to others, so that they may see His Kingdom.