Chapter 1 – Kingdom Consciousness
An interesting take on the move out of the big Fundamentalist versus mainline christianity is that evangelicals developed a social consciousness in response to the overemphasis on beliefs, which seemingly were not matching up with the biblical mandates for things like serving the poor. I do not remember those days, as he pegs it as an era beginning about 1950. And The Community of the King was first published when I was 4 years old.
Snyder notes there became a dichotomy between social action and personal conversion during the heart of the fundamentalist versus mainline liberal battles. Carl Henry and others began to point out that there was not a separation between the two. Henry says,
The Biblical view declares both individual conversion and social justice to be alike indispensable. The Bible calls for personal holiness and for sweeping societal changes; it refuses to substitute private religion for social responsibility or social engagement for personal commitment to God.
While Snyder is encourages by the social consciousness, he feels it does not go far enough.
If the social conscience consensus were boiled down to a formula, it might be this: God saves people who in turn have responsibility for evangelism and social action. The perspective is that of the individual Christian looking out upon the world. But there is another possible view, the perspective of one who steps back behind the evangelism/social action debate and attempts to view God’s total plan for his creation. This is what Paul does in the first three chapters of Ephesians, when he speaks of God’s plan to unite all things in Jesus Christ through the Church (Eph. 1:10; 1:20-23; 3:10). Here one sees not two poles–evangelism and social action–but one cosmic design. At the very center of this design is personal reconciliation to God through Christ, but within the circle one perceives a cosmic plan for the reconciliation of all things. If there were a formula, perhaps it would be: God in Christ is reconciling the whole creation to himself, and his action through the Church is central to his plan. (Emphasis mine)
Being aware of God’s salvation plan for all of creation with the Church being central to his plan is what Snyder calls, Kingdom consciousness. It is more than saying we are saved so we should be involved in social action or environmental issues. A Kingdom consciousness recognizes we are saved as a part of God’s grand reconciliation plan for all of creation and for the purpose of being agents in the reconciliation of all things. So the saved become God’s agents in his salvific plan for a fallen world.
The Church today must not live as if the Kingdom were already fully established; it is called to live the paradox of the King who ended up on a cross. Therefore, a new consciousness of the Kingdom today means a new awareness of the demands of discipleship… The Kingdom of God has not fully come but it is coming. Its full establishment awaits the return of Christ. But through the life and work of God’s people–the Church–it continues to expand and grow. And understanding the Kingdom is closely bound up with understanding the Church.
We are active participants in the Kingdom of God, here and now. That does not mean, as Dallas Willard is fond of saying, there are no competing kingdoms. The Kingdom of God spreads as the parables point out like a mustard seed bursting forth into greatness of size or yeast working through a whole batch of dough (Matthew 13:31-33). God has saved us to participate in his rule and reign. You may even say participating in God’s rule and reign is salvation.
If you’re interested in going through this book with me, check out used book stores. They often have this and Snyder’s classic, The Problem of Wineskins: Church Structure in a Technological Age available at a very good price.
Or you could order it from Amazon: The Community of the King
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