This is what happens when we try to control people's behaviour with laws. Wrong behaviour might be curtailed when people are watching but it does nothing about wrong thinking. Laws do not change the hearts of people. A mayor and police chief may be very good people with good hearts and best intentions but they cannot control the thinking of the people under them. The police chief is not there with that one patrol officer who is harbouring fear and hatred toward a certain ethnic group. That poor police officer may not even be aware of how society has shaped his thinking.
What we, the Church, must ensure is that we are doing the job of creating the culture of God's Kingdom among his people. We must help people understand the poison of wrong thinking that is systemic in our society and instead embrace a passionate relationship with the King. It is in this relationship that hearts and minds are transformed but we must understand the change this brings.
When we speak of the "righteous" it is not the "holier than thou" thinking but the "doing what is right according to my Father's heart" thinking. I choose to align myself to my Father and do what I have seen him do and say what I have heard him say. I can do this because my birth in the Spirit has given me the capacity to do this. Every citizen of the Kingdom has this capacity.
One of the key elements of the Kingdom is honour. When we look at Israel's laws we can see that they were based on honouring Yahweh and honouring other people. There was a huge emphasis on honouring those who were in weak positions. It was a law that created an atmosphere of prosperity. In a place where I watch your back and you watch mine there is a desire to see each other people succeed. But as I already stated laws cannot change the hearts of people.
That's the beauty of the Kingdom; Jesus came to make it possible for the Law to become part of our DNA. In loving him it makes it possible for his life to be manifested in us so that we do naturally what the law tried to force people to do. The reason we struggle is not because of the power of anything over us (that power was broken) but instead because of habit. Old habits can take a while to change. Spirit God has been given to us to train is in the new habits of the Kingdom. So this is to say that the Church should be an example to our society of what it looks like to be a people who honour each other.
Honour is not based on worth but on relationship. Because you are the object of my Father's love I value you. I find it much easier to honour the people I consider valuable. This is the Kingdom of God, where we consider others more important than ourselves, where we consider the needs of others along with our own, where we have each other's back, long for each other's success and celebrate the victory of others.
It is true that this ideal is not where we currently function in the Church but we can be because we have the capacity through Jesus, our King. Our allegiance is to our King, and his desires. We do not get to re-shape his Kingdom according to our opinions. We are here by invitation, because Jesus paid the price for our entry and even gave us our best friend, Spirit-God, to train and mature us in the Kingdom.
The Kingdom of God is demonstrable. The Kingdom of God is powerful. The Kingdom of God is here, seen through us and we carry this Kingdom wherever we go. This Kingdom cannot be forced on anyone but is available by invitation. We get to share this invitation while demonstrating the benefits of friendship with the King. It is why we are still here.
We are here to influence society but we cannot influence if we are no different. But we have the capacity and capability to be different because of Jesus in us. We have been re-created to be different. We have the answers our society needs. Peter said it best in 1 Peter 2:17 "Honour everyone". That is our King's heart desire because it comes from the Royal Law "You must love and value your neighbourhood as you love and value yourself."
Today, be what you were created to be. Be the change our society longs to see.
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