What is a normal, everyday Christian capable of and expected to do in the kingdom of God, the church?
I don’t think we define it concretely enough.
Do they have to
- ingest one Christian book a month,
- study the Bible everyday devotionally (and intermittently, theologically),
- pray,
- be involved in “ministry” at their local “church building” community
- and outside the “church building” in their particular civic community,
- show up for church every Sunday,
- be involved in a small group,
- journal,
- etc?
What does it really mean to be a spiritually involved person?
What does it mean to be an active participant in the expanding spiritual kingdom of God in this world?
And particularly for the normal, everyday human being?
How much stuff is too much?
\What is reasonable, sustainable, appropriate, etc?
When are we supposed to just live and recognize God is entirely okay with that…actually more than okay than we think?
Perhaps our lives (normal and everyday as they are) are the labratory of God’s kingdom. Perhaps the daily decisions we make as God’s special people actually bring about his kind of kingdom (or world). Perhaps we shouldn’t lump a lot of really good, “spiritual” thing on people, but teach and instruct a viable “kingdom-living ethic”, modeled after the pattern of Jesus (who being in very nature God…). Maybe then we will truly be exercising God’s will on earth as it is in heaven.
Pastors, in particular, seem to do a marvelous job living beyond what a normal, everyday person has the time (realistically) to handle. It’s not necessarily bad, it’s actually fairly good to be able to have the time to devote to the spiritual life in order to lead people through their spiritual lives… but I wonder if pastors are supposed to be modeling a “daily living, everyday/normal, kingdom ethic” as well?