By S. Crawley

My family and I recently attended a wedding. Over 200 people, dressed up in the usual western-style outfits - smart suits, elegant dresses. Except for one couple. 

They were wearing togas.

Imagine the scene. Picture the couple. How do you feel? Embarrassed? Awkward? Curious?

There is one important piece of information I haven’t told you yet. On the wedding invitation it said, "come dressed as Greek Gods".

That one detail changes everything! The emotions shift from awkwardness and embarrassment to honour and admiration. This brave couple were the only ones with the courage to take a social risk and do what the bride and groom had requested (and they were richly rewarded with a cash prize as "the best-dressed guests").

Invitation details are important!

God is offering a profound invitation to us.

But the pressures of life and the demands of those around us are loud and persistent. So much of what we pour ourselves into is temporary. Only the things of God will endure. It’s important we periodically check the details of His invitation and make sure we are in sync with Him (this corresponds to the “Be-ing Disciples” on the DMM pathway to God’s vision).

Two particularly profound images of God’s invitation are "Kingdom" and "Household".

Today, I’ll explore the Kingdom Invitation. 

The Kingdom Invitation

Jesus' message is consistent throughout the Gospels,

"The time has come, and the kingdom of God is here" (Mark 1:14-15).

The good news is that the time has come, and God's Kingdom is here! 

The invitation is for us to repent and believe that the time has come and God's Kingdom is here.

It is striking how different Jesus’ “Gospel presentation” is from the ways we’ve been taught. 

Part of the reason is that cultural and historical distance make God’s Kingdom a difficult concept to get our heads around.

Even though Jesus was speaking to Jews who were deeply familiar with God's story and His character, the Gospels record Him spending a LOT of time explaining what God’s Kingdom was like and how it worked. Even after His death, resurrection and an extra forty days of teaching, Jesus' closest disciples still didn’t understand (Acts 1:3, 6).

How can we bridge the understanding and experience gap?

God’s Kingdom v1.0

For context, we need to go back to Genesis 1-2, which describes God's Kingdom in its original form. 

Creation, in all its splendour and diversity, was integrated and united under the authority of the King. People were given special honour as God's image bearers with delegated authority and responsibility to rule over parts of Creation. There was no rebellion or resistance to God's authority.

That changed when people chose not to trust God's authority. They rejected His voice and chose instead to trust and obey the voice of the serpent and their own desires. They rejected the King, and transferred their allegiance to these other voices. 

With rebellion came disintegration and alienation. Intimacy and trust were broken between people and the King. Between people. And between people and Creation.

But the disintegration was not the final word. God immediately began working to heal and restore His Kingdom.

Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom

Centuries later, Jesus came and announced the good news—the time has arrived, and God's Kingdom is here and accessible to everyone who will receive it. He invites everybody to respond by embracing the Kingdom and the King’s authority in their lives.

Jesus didn't just talk about the Kingdom—His life reflected a wholehearted "Yes" to the Father's Kingship. He embodied the same relationship of trusting intimacy with God that Adam and Eve had. He lived a life that was completely surrendered to the Father—listening, trusting, and obeying Him, including when it was painful and costly.

Even to the point of death on the cross. But His death and resurrection made that restored relationship with the King accessible to all of us. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out and made available to all, opening up a direct relationship with God, just as He promised (e.g. Joel 2:28-29, Jer 31:33-34, Ezek 34:11-24).

We no longer need somebody to stand between us and God. Jesus has opened up direct access to the King (Heb 10:19-23), and the giving of the Holy Spirit has activated a new closeness (2 Cor 1:21-22, Rom 8:12-17).

What's our response to God’s Kingdom Invitation?

We are not invited to a one-time decision about whether or not we agree that God exists. We are invited into an ongoing, living, trusting, surrendered relationship with God. 

The choice to relate is continual. Moment-to-moment and day-to-day, we are drawing closer or drifting apart.

This question is important: “Have we said "yes" to this invitation?”

This question never ceases to challenge and stretch me: “Am I continuing to say "yes" to this invitation?”

3 Essential Elements of Discipleship

We face a continual battle against internal and external voices that are competing with God for our attention and trust. 

Directing our submission towards God is not a switch that can be flicked but a spiritual muscle that needs to be strengthened and developed. This process is discipleship. 

When everything is stripped back, the discipleship journey has just three core elements:

1. "Listen" to God. 
   Fundamentally, this is about creating space for Him to communicate with us, in whatever way He might choose to do that. Our challenge is to create rhythms where we can dial down the volume of the many other voices in our lives and tune in to His whisper.

2. Trust God.
   Believing in God is fairly easy. Trusting God is a completely different level, and that’s where transformation and breakthrough happen. Trust means "believing that He exists and rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (Heb 11:6) - it changes the way we receive and interpret His communication.

3. Obey God.
   Obeying God means taking action. We discern what God is communicating. We trust His goodness and competence. We surrender ourselves to His authority and, to the best of our ability, act on what we think He is ‘saying’. 

Listen, Trust and Obey are the logical and appropriate responses to a King inviting us into His Kingdom. On a personal level they provide a learning loop that keeps us growing and strengthening our discipleship muscle. They will draw us continually into deeper communion with our King, and deepening relationships with others.

Listen, Trust and Obey also provide a compass as we seek to pass the King’s invitation on to others. We must ensure we are we being faithful to His invitation rather than transmitting our own culture or personal convictions.

We’ve discussed the Kingdom image of God’s invitation. In another post, we look at the Household image.

Reflection and Response

1. A Scripture - Mark 1:14-20
   - Read this as if it's the first time you've ever heard of Jesus' good news. What strikes you? What questions does it raise for you?

2. A thoughtful question
   - Which of these three areas ("listen", "trust" and "obey") do you most want to grow in this season of your life?

   - What rhythms could help you?

3. A possible application
   - What are the implications of God’s Kingdom invitation for outreach and discipling others?

Discipling the Urban Harvest provides practical insights and encouragement to walk with God in multiplying discipleship in an increasingly urban world - growing as children of the Father, serving the communities He has called us to, and discipling those hungry to know Him.