Long ago, when the prophet Isaiah peered into the future and saw a vision of the messianic kingdom, he described that vision and that kingdom in terms of peace. The era of the Messiah would be a time when the God of peace would preach a gospel of peace through his Son, the Prince of Peace, and establish with his people a covenant of peace.

This kingdom would be characterized by a single unified faith and worship and temple . . . where many different peoples and nations would gather . . . where all disputes would be settled and harmony would prevail (Isaiah 2:2-4). No need here for swords or spears or the study of war. This would be a kingdom of peace. In a related passage (11:6-9), Isaiah described a kingdom where the lion would lie down with the lamb, where the weak would not be threatened by the powerful, where might would not make right, but all God’s children could come together in peace under the loving lordship of Jesus Christ.

When at last the Messiah finally arrived (in the person of Jesus), peace themes broke out all over. Reconciliation. Acceptance. Inclusion. The tearing down of walls and barriers.

The disciples wanted to send the Gentile woman away—rid themselves of her sick daughter and her strange ways (Mark 5:21-23). But Jesus saw in her a “woman of great faith” and welcomed her to play a role in his peaceable kingdom.

The disciples couldn’t understand why Jesus would want anything to do with a Samaritan woman and her sordid history (John 4:27). But Jesus understood she was part of the vast harvest his Father sent him to gather. So he spoke to her about worship in Spirit and truth. He gave her a drink of living water.

No one expected Jesus to bother with a Roman centurion—representative of a foreign occupier, a man with blood on his hands (Matthew 8:5-13). But Jesus managed to see past the sword and the armor to the “great faith” in the soldier. And he told all who would listen that people like him would have a seat at the Messianic feast.

The disciples wanted to stop a stranger from doing miracles in the name of Jesus (Mark 9:38-40). “He’s not one of us,” they complained. But Jesus rebuked them, teaching that being “one of us” is not a prerequisite to being a valued part of God’s kingdom.

At every turn Jesus includes, embraces, unites, absorbs, assimilates. A woman caught in adultery. A thief on a cross. A tax collector. Gentiles. Lepers. The failed and the broken. Children. Where the disciples would limit, deny, push away, exclude, Jesus (in every instance) does the opposite.

Nor is this simply Jesus being a nice guy, showing his compassionate heart. There is principle underlying his inclusiveness, a kingdom agenda at work in this gathering of the lion and the lamb. You see, Jesus believed that his ministry and message were to be the great unifying power of history—a force capable of overcoming all differences and diversities, all divides of race and culture and status and gender—a vision that would overwhelm mere opinion, sect, ritual, and habit.

Jesus came to establish his peaceable kingdom, a truly new thing in the world, something that crossed lines and tore down walls and destroyed barriers and encouraged people to rise above the petty and the small to see the possibility of a divine unity.

It is this united kingdom that demonstrates to “all men . . . that you are my disciples” (John 13:35) and encourages the world to believe that Jesus is Heaven sent (17:21). It is for the sake of this kingdom that Paul urges his churches to “make every effort to do what leads to peace” (Romans 14:19); reminds them that, though there are many parts, there is only one body (1 Corinthians 12:12); and insists that, through the cross, Jesus has made peace (Ephesians 2:15). It’s why John demands that his little children “love each other” (1 John 4:7-21).

These are not just pretty sentiments expressed as pious platitudes in hopes of encouraging a kinder, gentler church. These are core values on which the peaceable kingdom is founded. These are expressions of the world-changing impact the gospel of peace is intended to have. Peace, unity, acceptance, harmony are not “kingdom options,” added on when we get all the details of dogma and practice and structure ironed out. They are at the very heart of the kingdom Jesus came to build.

That we have failed to make this peaceable kingdom a top priority, that we have sacrificed “peace” on the altar of “correctness,” that we have imagined God is more concerned with church polity and worship forms and millennial theories than with his “one body,” only demonstrates how little we have understood the peaceable kingdom and its peace-preaching Lord. |L

OTHER COLUMNS:
November 8, 2009 - Why I believe in God
October 25, 2009 - Commuting in days of evil
October 11, 2009 - Poets and don’t know it
September 27, 2009 - How Hollywood proves abortion is wrong
September 13, 2009 - Significance
August 30, 2009 - Dance alternatives
August 16, 2009 - Gluttons for gossip
August 2, 2009 - Truth from Twilight
July 19, 2009 - Visitor-friendly churches
July 5, 2009 - The Shack
June 21, 2009 - When forgiveness fails
June 7, 2009 - Re-imagining Education (Part Six)
May 24, 2009 - We are not alone
May 3, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part five)
April 26, 2009 - Conviction
April 12, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part four)
March 29, 2009 - An evangelistic proposal
March 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part three)
March 1, 2009 - He makes me sick
February 15, 2009 - Re-imagining education (Part Two)
February 1, 2009 - Spiritual insecurity
January 18, 2009 - Re-imagining education (part one)
January 4, 2009 - Church and politics
December 21, 2008 - Heaven’s music
December 7, 2008 - The church and marriage
November 23, 2008 - God and the president
November 9, 2008 - A time for courage
October 26, 2008 - Likes and dislikes: the Prince Caspian movie
October 12, 2008 - What’s that noise?
September 28, 2008 - Modesty matters (part two)
September 14, 2008 - All it takes is some TLC
August 31, 2008 - Modesty matters (part one)
August 17, 2008 - What would you fight for?
August 3, 2008 - Staying through the credits
July 20, 2008 - Honor to whom honor
July 6, 2008 - Tyler Perry and the movies you’re missing
May 25, 2008 - Another generation grew up
May 25, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part two)
May 11, 2008 - Technology and the Bible (part one)
April 27, 2008 - What is truth?
April 13, 2008 - And the geek shall inherit the earth
March 30, 2008 - A charactered God
March 16, 2008 - The college choice (part two)
March 2, 2008 - Good news can be hard to hear
February 17, 2008 - The college choice (part one)
February 5, 2008 - Ten suggestions for a godly standard of living
January 20, 2008 - Expelled: that “Bueller” guy’s pro-God movie
January 6, 2008 - Choosing a lifestyle
December 23, 2007 - Teachable TV?
December 9, 2007 - Owners or stewards?
November 25, 2007 - Christians teaching Christians to change TV and film
November 11, 2007 - My money is God’s business
October 28, 2007 - Navigating under the radar
October 14, 2007 - The things God values
September 30, 2007 - Movie moments
September 16, 2007 - God’s economics
September 2, 2007 - The best books to read
August 19, 2007 - There’s a rat in ‘separate’
August 5, 2007 - The art of reading
July 22, 2007 - Atheist chic
July 8, 2007 - Why books matter: the sequel
June 10, 2007 - Books: why they matter
June 3, 2007 - The non-impact of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
May 27, 2007 - The universal gospel
May 13, 2007 - Loving Muslims through culture
April 29, 2007 - Hope
April 15, 2007 - God in the dark
April 1, 2007 - The gospel goes to the movies
March 18, 2007 - What the Bible movies can teach us
March 4, 2007 - What will you hurt for?
February 18, 2007 - Why Heroes . . .
February 4, 2007 - Give peace a chance
January 21, 2007 - When fairy tales are true
January 7, 2007 - WYSIWYG lives
December 31, 2006 - What’s coming next?
December 17, 2006 - Mercy, mercy
December 3, 2006 - Proof of evolution!
November 19, 2006 - Hungering for God
November 5, 2006 - Violence and government, war and peace
October 22, 2006 - The mighty meek
October 8, 2006 - The Battlestar and the Bible
September 24, 2006 - Soap for the soul
September 10, 2006 - Right vs. cool
August 27, 2006 - The painful truth
August 13, 2006 - More Lies Hollywood Tells
July 30, 2006 - Christian counter culture
July 16, 2006 - The lies Hollywood tells