When John the Baptist uttered his nine words of clarity, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (Mt. 3:2)," it ushered in one of the most remarkable shifts in history. Never before had the phrase "Kingdom of God" been uttered. New vocabulary had to be created to capture the new revelation dawning on Israel, and ultimately the world. The purpose of the shift? To create and establish a new ethos, a new way of living and relating to God. A new DNA was being created, and all who accepted Jesus Christ as their savior would receive this new DNA.
What was the value of this new ethos, new kingdom? Jesus gave us a glimpse in his parable, the Pearl of Great Price (Mt. 13:45-46). It was worth EVERYTHING. Once you touch it, you want to cash in everything to get it. It's that exciting and amazing and desirable. Nothing compares to it. And in experiencing the Pearl of Great Price you imbibe of one of the great qualities of the Kingdom: GENEROSITY. God giving Jesus to us was the greatest expression of generosity.
Out of that comes something transformational...greed, selfishness, coveteousness have the opportunity to be broken as we learn to become big-hearted, generous and giving like God. The more you give (and give away) the more the grip of materialism and selfish living is broken. Lifestyle changes. Tithing and giving is a joy. You want others around you to succeed because you are a kingdom person. You want other churches to suceed because they are part of the family. You share, and spread you knowledge around freely, because Jesus said "Freely you have received, freely give (Mt. 10:8).
And this is just the beginning. As the new ethos has its way in us, we will flourish like the mustard seed (Mk 4:30-32). We will grow from hiddenness to prominence, from obscurity to "preferred status (birds will love to come and nest in our tree)." Success and favor, and dare we say greatness, can't be stopped because its in the DNA.
This is what God has in mind for the church. Embrace the shift. Embrace the new ethos. For entire message, click here.