Spheres of Kingdom Life

by Graham Buxton

1. Celebrating Life – my new book – has everything to do with affirming the goodness of God’s creation and of human life, including the myriad different ways in which human beings express that life in contemporary society, whether in poetry and politics, in movies and management, or in sculpture and science … these are spheres where the Kingdom of God may be present on earth.

2. My focus will be on two out of these spheres: literature and the creative arts. Both have to do with what we read, what we view and what we listen to. Science, politics and business (other spheres covered in Celebrating Life) will have to await another occasion.

3. If we really want to understand what it means to live in the Kingdom of God on earth, then we need to do some thinking about the Trinity. Entry into the life of the Trinity means entry into the life of a God who is involved in every part of creation, a God who invites us to celebrate the joy of life and seek renewal in all the areas of brokenness around us.

4. The gospel is not so much about God giving us a new life, but of us being caught up into the very life of God himself, so that humanity and Trinity – and creation – are bound together forever. The Kingdom brooks no dualistic separation between sacred and secular.

5. God has created us to live in the fullness of his ‘spilled-over’ life in the creation that is bound up within his life as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And this ‘spilled-over’ life is full of the goodness of God, though of course it has been corrupted because we are sinful people.

Literature and poetry

6. As we explore through literature the worlds in which others live out their lives, as we enter their feelings, their joys and sorrows, their hopes and fears, we ourselves are enriched as human beings. Indeed, it may well be that the primary goal of literature is to make us more human. So our humanity is enhanced as we read.

7. A warning – given the vast range of literature to which we are exposed today, great discernment is needed regarding our reading habits. ‘To read or not to read’ – even in today’s ‘aliteral’ age – is not nearly as important as the question: ‘what are you reading?’

Creative arts

8. Engagement with art is important not only because our beings are enlarged, but also because art speaks to us in moral terms: it influences (not always obviously) how we think and behave. As Kingdom people, Christians should bring to their engagement with the creative arts a distinctly Christian perspective. Paul writes in Philippians 4:8: “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.”
9. Intimations of God’s truth can penetrate us – even transform us – as we open ourselves to the creative endeavours of painters and poets, musicians and moviemakers.

10. Christians need the wisdom to discern where the Spirit is at work, often in the unlikeliest places and in the most improbable ways. It is the Spirit’s privilege to unveil the Kingdom of God, and he will accomplish this in ways that resonate with the culture of the day, immersing himself in whatever cultural ‘texts’ offer the best vehicles for communication.

11. We have been created by God as unique human beings, shaped by our own background, environment and genetic makeup, and the very diversity of our humanity is a rich expression not only of God’s creative genius but also of the cultural fabric in which we live and move and have our being.

12. “We are called to be part of God’s new creation, called to be agents of that new creation here and now. We are called to model and display that new creation in symphonies and family life, in restorative justice and poetry, in holiness and service to the poor, in politics and painting.” (Tom Wright).

Summary

13. The church is not only called to be relevant, learning to speak the language of the culture: it is also called to be prophetic in its redemptive presence in the world.

Editors note: During this session Graham encouraged delegates to broaden their understanding by reading more widely. Below are some books he recommends as a starting point.

George Eliot – Silas Marner
J D Salinger – The Catcher in the Rye
George Orwell – Animal Farm
Ian McEwan – Enduring Love
C S Lewis – The Cosmic Trilogy
Morris West – The Devil’s Advocate and The Shoes of the Fisherman
Chaim Potok – My Name is Asher Lev
Jostein Gaarder – Sophie’s World
Victor Hugo – short stories
Shakespeare – King Lear, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet
Charles Dickens – David Copperfield
Ben Okri – The Famished Road
J M Coetzee – Disgrace
Richard Flanagan – The Sound of One Hand Clapping
Poems of Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, John Donne, Seamus Heaney, George Herbert, William Wordsworth, John Keats

These are the notes from Session 4 of the recent Rediscovering the Kingdom of God Conference. CDs of this session are available for $9.95 plus postage. To order your copy please get in touch.