Asked if there was a compromise in being Kingdom Man, and trying to be all things to all men caused me to check and think through again what my personal values are in what may seem a confusingly challenging world.
There are lots of blokey things that I like and that I take for granted; I don’t ponder too much on this as I have worked through what it means for me to be a able to enjoy all the things that surround me. By breaking it down into constituent parts it started a trail of thoughts that enabled me to consider the difference between the person I think I am and how I might be perceived by others.
For example:
I drive a big car which I would find difficult to replace, it has great armchair seats in the front, I sit up high and have a great view, It will carry seven people easily, I’m not convinced that I should give it up and become a modern fuel efficiency traveller, so there is some cost to my wallet. But for an old car that’s done 250327 miles I think it is me and I am it. Some disagree, others agree!
My favourite beer is manufacture in the east of England, I’m not sure that this defines me.
After the violent football years of the 1970s/80s I stopped following a single football team deciding that I would keep a general interest and follow football from a much broader perspective. I feel better for it. I have more respect for rugby. Maybe something about what I value?
I get angry about much of the social injustice that affect the nation, the inability for people to live comprehensively good lives, lives that are valued but exist supported our social institutions, but, lack of stability, support networks, overwrought officialdom. This is particularly true when it’s personal. Yes, I think its right to get angry at the negative effects of social and personal injustice. Yes it’s a personal value. This anger is different from being a Kingdom Man who understands the Shalom of God.
Becoming a Kingdom Man has for me meant standing in the place where Kingdom values challenge the status quo. The term ‘status quo’, might mean different things to different people, its something to work out for yourself. Occasionally it puts me on a contrary course to that of what the world might expect, this also helps to define me. The values I have accepted and live by are connected to the values of being a Kingdom Man. I stand under the authority of God, who’s Kingdom Son stood in my place on the cross. Who empowered by the Holy Spirit passed on the incredible proposition that I could become a kingdom man by turning from my way to his way thereby becoming a Kingdom Man invested from on high with the wholeness of God himself, through Jesus Christ, whom he raised him from the dead, took on my incompleteness, the tragedies and pain and hurt that was caused by separation from God. This was the God with whom I was disconnected because once I thought I could go my own way. I am equally defined by following this new way.
The values of the Kingdom man are those that allow our God to share his Shalom with us. Shalom is His gift given to each of those who know him. Don’t mistake it for ‘peace’. It is the wholeness and completeness that was always his intension for all humankind. It is our dignity, our love, our compassion, our faithfulness, our grace, our sense of justice, our anger that is made perfect by His shalom. Being a Kingdom Man is a challenge. This challenge defines us, motivates us, and occasionally gets us into trouble. Also gives us courage.
Image credit: Kevin Borrill via Unsplash
