Lookahead: I’m not trying to have a laugh at the former Vice President’s expense. And I’m sure that a politician who was able to pragmatically reframe all the partisan backstabbing, forgave SNL long ago if/as necessary.
During COVID I became much more deliberate about studying the Word, to the extent that I’m currently attending three Bible Studies. One is held in my church; the second one is a home study that is led by one of our associate pastors; and the third is a virtual study that’s been led for the past year+ by someone from the workplace (God bless her!).
In two of the three studies we have been immersed in the Old Testament (Exodus and Ezekiel resp.) and I have noticed not only a curious dichotomy, but a whole different atmosphere, between those studies and the third. The dichotomy centers around the perception of Who God is. In the OT studies, we are grappling with a lot of bad news. We see a seemingly judgmental God Who is represented as saying harsh things; also, He is, at a minimum, stating His intention to facilitate strong and imminent punishment for the intransigent sinners who are thumbing their noses at Him. In truth, His mercy extends to 1000 generations. But in the book of Ezekiel, evidently the people exceeded the thousand generation limit and God appears to be preparing to release some wrath. The third study is on the Book of James and in this study, we are feasting on good news which presents a totally different picture of God. In James, there is welcome reinforcement that God is a loving God Who’s not upset with us, as we are deemed righteous in His eyes due to the incomparable gift that Jesus provided.
Side Note: Jewish people unfortunately have not read the New Testament, in most cases, and so they don’t know how the Messianic story unfolded over the centuries after Malachi. I should mention that there may be some OT/NT agreement in terms of how the story ultimately ends (e.g., in Daniel and Ezekiel). But most Jews don’t have the opportunity of reading the Book of Revelation (which BTW has a name that describes its role perfectly—it provides revelation of what is yet to come and fills in many Old Testament blanks).
The OT/NT dichotomy that is exemplified in these three studies has existed for ages and ages and I believe that a lot of the reasons that more people do not become Kingdom Occupiers on this side of Glory is that they fall into People Category 2, where…
Category 1 = They believe that “God is love”
Category 2 = They believe that “God is love BUT He…”
Finally, I believe that people who are genuine KO’s are different from other Children of God in an essential way. As scripture says, …God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. 1 Corinthians 1:27 KO’s don’t always seem to be the sharpest tools in the Snap-On Roll Cart and might almost appear to be “otherworldly:” You’ve heard the expression, “So heavenly minded, they’re no earthly good?”
I stumbled across a good example of the worldly response to KO’s as the 2020 Presidential Election loomed—soon after the Vice-Presidential debate. It wasn’t that our former vice president acted in an overt otherworldly fashion during the debate. To me, he was just acting like an exemplary Christian (case in point, he stepped in as peacemaker, giving the opposition the benefit of the doubt, and clearly walking in forgiveness; he told one inquirer not to be discouraged by the ostensibly extensive strife and backbiting: (~) Americans enjoy the freedom/opportunity to debate on inevitably differing opinions. It’s what we do.
But I thereafter found the SNL parody on YouTube, and it was very interesting to see the worldly perception of the former VP. He was depicted as being super-religious, politically disconnected, and, in fact, disconnected from reality in general (Note 1: I have to preface that both debaters were equally ridiculed. Their respective comedians were excellent impressionists who nailed the mannerisms. But people were laughing at the words the comedians were speaking more than mannerism mockery. Pence’s opponent was portrayed as a sarcastic, mudslinging martini drinker who was constantly working her hidden agendas. On the other hand, the former VP was portrayed as someone whose ingenuous truthfulness was exposing his…complete cluelessness.)
Pence’s Impressionist, talking in a deep, well-intonated politician’s voice:
“12 feet apart and separated by plexiglass is how mother and I sleep.”
(When asked how the president’s recovery from CV-19 was coming along:) “The president is doing amazing, thanks to his team of terrified doctors…”
(When questioned about how Trump asked him to be on the ticket in 2016: “Trump) texted me, ‘I can’t believe those religious psychos made me pick Pence. Oops wrong person.’ And then he hasn’t texted me since. Oh, except in March when he wrote…Corona Virus yours now.”
(In comparing the opposition’s proposed Corona Plan to their former Swine Flu Plan:) “2 million dead!! 2 million dead if you include the swine, those poor little piggies.”
Then he continued talking, impervious to the fact that a fly had landed on his head:
….”President Trump will make the economy better…by…making it worse”…
….”there’s a giant lack of respect for militias? You’re darn right”…
Then he shrugged his shoulders, still impervious, after his opponent hit his head with a fly swatter. 😊
But there seems to be a, shall we say, stereotype that might be applied to the Christian brethren/sistern. 😊 The world cannot totally put their finger on Christian behavior, because they don’t have the benefit of Jesus’ clarification that these Christians “are IN the world, but not OF the world.” So we seem clueless at best, and foolish at worst. Where KO’s are concerned, this behavior is even more amped, and it stems from the fact that they have a totally different priority system vis-à-vis the worlds. Having said that, I was trying to think of people, whom I personally know, who might be KO’s.
One American guest speaker at a small church that I attended in Tucson years ago probably came close. He spoke of a time in his life when he had dropped everything, open-ended basis, to travel to the deepest parts of a third world country—to locate a mountain tribe that he had heard about. The entire tribe was alleged to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And he was not disappointed in his quest—the whole town was overwhelmed with the LOVE of God, healing miracles were popping like popcorn, and the worship was glorious. The tribe was still essentially cut off from civilization, except for a missionary who had carried the Good News in to them. The guest speaker acted like he was still on the mountain when he was describing the shared experience—as he proclaimed that this was for everybody! 😊
Another example might be a neighbor of mine, who was miraculously healed of brain cancer. I would characterize her as spending a great deal of her time in the Kingdom. Many times, when I have the pleasure of talking with her, she just can’t seem to stop talking about Jesus. 😊
However, my conclusion is that KO’s are few and far between in my personal experience (and probably in sample groups much larger than mine), ultimately representing a tiny percentage of today’s population. I should further conclude that I don’t think God wants it to be that way!
Next up in the Kingdom Series, we’ll be addressing Kingdom Org aspects including—Hierarchy? Is there such a thing as Kingdom Career Advancement? And what is the Kingdom hiring process? etc.
Cross-Denominational Bible Study 