The Church as the Kingdom of God
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The Kingdom of God
From the first chapter of St. Mark’s gospel, Jesus is presented as going about preaching and telling everyone that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Throughout His public ministry, Jesus proclaims the kingdom, describes the kingdom, and establishes the kingdom.
We know the Messiah was prophesied as one who would establish an everlasting kingdom, so it isn’t surprising that Christ would spend a great deal of His time talking about His reign.
What is initially difficult to understand is the way He talks about the kingdom. It soon becomes clear that the kingdom of God, Jesus’ kingdom, is utterly unlike any other kingdom ever known.
This kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36), and yet Jesus also says that “the kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:21).
The parables all use metaphors to present various surprising aspects of the kingdom: the kingdom of God is like a man sowing seeds, or a woman mixing yeast with flour, or a mustard seed growing into a tree, or a man finding a buried treasure, or a net that catches all kinds of fish (cf. Matthew 13:1-50).
So what exactly is the Kingdom of God?
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The kingdom of God is the gathering of people into union with Christ and so into the family of God. Or, to put the matter more simply, the kingdom of God is the Church, which is nothing other than the community of those united in Jesus.
Now Jesus’ kingdom is open to everyone: “Everyone is called to enter the kingdom.” But, sadly, not everyone will enter. Not everybody wants to be part of the Church. And, maybe even worse, even those who think they want to enter the kingdom won’t be able to, because they think they have a privileged access, a sort of superior status that entitles them to a special spot. Then, when they find out that they don’t get special treatment, they refuse to enter.
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Pride and Difficulty Entering Christ’s Kingdom
Over and over, Jesus has to explain to people that the more special you think you are and the more preferential treatment, the more exceptions you expect, the harder it will be for you to enter. That’s why it’s harder for the rich, because they’re used to special treatment. Jesus makes it clear, entering the Church will be difficult for them: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:24). While on the contrary, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
That doesn’t mean having a lot of money necessarily keeps you out of heaven, or having little money necessarily gets you into heaven. But it does mean that those who trust in their own resources (such as wealth, intelligence, the ability to get things done, beauty, or power), if they place their trust in these then they won’t realize their need for the Lord, while those who see their own personal poverty will naturally seek a relationship with Jesus. Thus Christ’s “kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts.
Similarly, the people who think they have some kind of automatic entrance into the kingdom because of their own virtue or because they’re on the “right side” of all the issues, those folks will be unable to relate to Jesus as their Savior.
Christ says, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).
We’re all sinners, but only those who know they’re sinners will look for the healing and mercy that only Jesus can give.
To take a final example, Jesus calls both the children of Israel and the gentiles to communion with Himself. Those Jews who refuse to rejoice at the salvation of their gentile brothers will struggle to accept Christ’s word, which is the condition for entrance into the Kingdom. In other words, if you have a hard time with the idea that any other person, or any other group, will be in heaven with you, well, that means it’s going to be hard for you to enter the Universal Church yourself.
This is the truth which so many of the parables express: all are called to the kingdom, and yet unless we are willing to give up our worldly attachments and our sense of self-importance, we will be unable to make our way into that kingdom.
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The Laws of the Kingdom
Christ is King of this Kingdom and as such He is the lawgiver.
Nobody would ever think they could go to a foreign country and be considered good citizens of that country if they broke all that country’s laws. So too, the Church, which is Christ’s Kingdom, is based on the commandments which Christ Himself gave.
So how can you call yourself a good citizen of the Church, of Jesus’ Kingdom, if you are not trying to live according to the laws of the Gospel?
Christ is very clear. All are all welcome to the Kingdom of the Church, but your standing in the Kingdom will depend on how faithfully you keep the commandments Christ gave.
In Matthew 5, He says it plainly: “Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
We’re all called to this Kingdom. We’re all welcome to this Kingdom. But just like any other nation, this Kingdom has rules designed for the well-being of the community. And when we enter Christ’s Kingdom, we are bound to follow His laws.
His laws, which express the way He designed the human person to flourish are communicated through the Church and are synthesized in the Catechism. So, let’s be clear, the moral teachings of the Catechism are the laws of Christ for His Kingdom. If you reject one of those then you reject both Christ and His Kingdom.
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Saved in Community
Don’t you think it’s interesting that Jesus didn’t go around preaching “The Personal Relationship with God”? He preached “The Kingdom of God.”
That’s because, while we must have a personal relationship with God, it’s not enough to have a personal relationship with Him. Or maybe it would be better to say that the only way we can have a personal relationship with God, and with Jesus is because of this community of the Church.
Salvation happens in the Kingdom of God and so our efforts to come close to Christ are inseparable from our desire to enter into the life of the Church.
Thank God He has invited us to be a part of this Church despite our unworthiness. May He give us the grace to live as committed and full members of His Kingdom.