The concept of the Kingdom of God plays a huge part in my worldview. Whether you call it the Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, Beloved Community or Peaceable Kingdom, a cursory reading of the teachings of Jesus will show that he was all about making it on earth as it is in heaven.

That being said, it does not get a lot of ‘air time’ in most pulpits, so many would be Kingdom Builders are at a loss on practical steps to make this happen. (Of course, they could start by reading the Sermon on the Mount, and then do it…)

Last Thanksgiving I found myself in Memphis, visiting some friends for the holidays. They live in a marginalized section of the city and work for social justice and fight for those who get left behind. In fact, they were a primary influence in my decision to do the sort of work I do.

I saw this on their wall and thought I would share it.  The poster was about how to build global community, but if we followers of Jesus would take the following steps, it would go a long way toward ushering in a Kingdom where no one was left behind.

How To Build Global Community

• Think of no one as “them”
• Don’t confuse your comfort with your safety
• Talk to strangers
• Imagine other cultures through their poetry and novels
• Listen to music you don’t understand
• Dance to it
• Act locally
• Notice the workings of power and privilege in your culture
• Question consumption
• Know how your lettuce and coffee are grown: Wake up and smell the exploitation
• Look for fair trade and union labels
• Help build economies from the bottom up
• Acquire few needs
• Learn a second (or third) language
• Visit people, places and cultures-not tourist attractions
• Learn people’s history
• Redefine progress
• Know physical and political geography
• Play games from other cultures
• Watch films with subtitles
• Know your heritage
• Honor everyone’s holidays
• Look at the moon and imagine some else, somewhere else, looking at it too
• Read the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Understand the global economy in terms of people, land, and water
• Know where your bank banks
• Never believe you have a right to anyone else’s resources
• Refuse to wear corporate logos: Defy corporate domination
• Question military/corporate connections
• Don’t confuse money with wealth, or time with money
• Have a pen/e-mail pal
• Honor indigenous cultures
• Judge governance by how well it meets all people’s needs
• Be skeptical about what you read
• Eat adventurously
• Enjoy vegetables, beans and grains in your diet
• Choose curiousity over certainty
• Know where your water comes from and where your wastes go
• Pledge allegiance to the Earth: Question nationalism
• Think South, Central, North- There are many Americans
• Assume that many others share your dreams
• Know that no one is silent though many are not heard- work to change this

Gina and her husband took some pictures of the Picnic in the Park on the Fourth of July. Here are a few samples, all of the pictures she sent are loaded on our flickr account, where you can look at them, comment on them and share them with your friends.

By the way, Gina earlier this week wrote an account of her experiences at the picnic on her blog.

Amy writes her perceptions of our “party in the park’. My favorite line:

“I was asked time and again what church was hosting this picnic; people wanted to know the name of the church that put this thing together. It makes me smile that I was not able to label the event. It wasn’t one ‘church’, but rather The Church.”

Not one church, but The Church, indeed.

Dear Friends,

If you come into this expecting to save everyone, you will be dissapointed. You will not get most addicts to stop using crack, you will not get everyone a job and you will not get most Christians out of their nice, safe suburban churches and get them actually engaged in loving people who have less than them.

These things often do not happen.

But sometimes they do.

And sometimes, you are grateful for what you can get, like the guy who calls you, so excited because he got a two week ticket at the day labor place. Or the couple you help get a place to live, and they actually pay you back for the deposit you fronted them. The church that takes you in and asks ‘What can we do to help you?”, and then they do it. The ‘bag lady’ who offers to lend you money when you mention you left your wallet at home.

None of these things are big, I know. But, then again, one image Jesus uses again and again is how things start small and grow into something extraordinary. And the longer I do this, the more convinced I become that God’s love expressed through relationships is pretty much the only thing that will change things out here and in fact, anywhere.

So, out here we are not trying anything too big. We are trying to love people, to get to know them and get them to know us. Don’t get me wrong; we want to change the world. But we know that history tells us that the only thing that has ever changed the world was a small group of dedicated folks.

This Revolution (and don’t be confused, we are talking about no less than that) comes about by having supper with Ramon. It comes from making sure Betty has Tylenol. It is about taking Tammy and Brian shopping for groceries. It is about playing in the park with Terry and Jamal. It means watching William lay on the sidewalk and draw, and laying down next to him and asking questions about his art. It is walking to get a milkshake with Chris and Steph. It is plotting a cookout for your neighbors with Alyssa and John. It is a Revolution where the weapons are relationships and the stakes are priceless.

So that’s what we do… small stuff. Unimportant stuff. Minor stuff. Revolutionary, world changing stuff. Some of you are out here with us, are supporting us, are beside us, pushing against boundaries, fighting for the people society has given up on. And some of you are not. For you, we invite you to believe, just a little bit, that another world is possible, and then come alongside us and help us to build something really, really… small.

Love Wins. Always.

Hugh Hollowell

http://lovewinsalways.org

Gina and her family also came out to celebrate with us on the Fourth. Go read her description of what she experienced, and I think you will agree with me that she saw a hint of what the Kingdom of God could look like.

Jan Cartledge is Pastor of Homestar Fellowship, a faith community that meets in Downtown Raleigh. Jan and her community kicked in a bunch of hot dogs, condiments and chips Friday for the party in Moore Square, but probably more important, Jan and her husband came out to party with us.

I was delighted to see that Jan had written her perspective of Friday on her blog. I promise you I will get me reactions to Friday up here eventually, but please go read hers. You will be glad you did.

Yesterday we fed about 250 people, cooked more than 550 hotdogs, cut up a slew of watermelon, got soaked in the rain, laughed, played football, heard some sad stories, met some really cool people and experienced the merest hint of what is possible in the Kingdom of God.

I promise I will do a full writeup on the whole event shortly, but right now, suffice it to say it was an unqualified success. We could not have done it without the help of everyone who showed up, brought food, kicked in cash and those who came and helped us eat it all.

Thank you to all of the above.