Kingdom Conspiracy: Thinking It Through, Part 6 (Murder)

We’re discussing Scot McKnight’s latest book Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church.

I’m not going to work my way all the way through the Sermon on the Mount. Rather, I just want to point out a reading of the text that fits well within McKnight’s theses.

(Mat 5:21-22 ESV) “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’  22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

Now, we tend to teach this as ethics, which isn’t wrong. Yes, we should not murder, and yes anger and insult are to be avoided. Let’s do better. Next verse.

True, but look at it this way. Jesus is  preaching the kingdom. He’s declaring what the coming of the kingdom means for how we live. The kingdom forces us to rethink and re-interpret Torah. No longer is it good enough to refrain from murder. We must also refrain from those things that lead to murder: name calling, insults, anger.

Therefore, the kingdom community, the community of the saints — the church — must be a fellowship free from such things. They are just not allowed.

None. Zero. Nada.

And when a brother or sister descends into anger and insult, when we start name-calling, we are to confront each other — reprove and rebuke. But we do so in a loving, gentle, humble way.

(Mat 18:15-17 ESV) “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.  16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.  17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

In the kingdom, we’ll help each other do better, because we’ll give each other permission to call us to account — because we realize that those who refuse to live by this ethic don’t belong in the kingdom community.

If you think about it, it’s a little terrifying. I mean, if you insult or engage in name calling, a beloved brother or sister will take you to lunch, confront you, and urge you to return to kingdom ethics.

Your brother or sister is too precious, too holy to God, to be spoken of that way. It’s unthinkable that a member of the royal household would be insulted by another — and, worse yet, behind her back! We do not conduct ourselves this way!

You see, when we call people names, we dehumanize them just a little. This is why, in war, the enemy is never referred to as “a good Lutheran” or “fellow Christian” but a “kraut” or “Nazi.” By naming them as something less than human, we justify treating them as less than human.

Just so, in church, when we insult with our labels — “liberal,” “Anti,” “digressive,” etc., we aren’t merely trying to describe, we’re trying to dehumanize … someone who is a part of the bride of Christ. His beloved, suitable helper. (Not all labels are insulting or dehumanizing. When labels are needed, it helps to use the labels people give themselves.)

And so, ethics it is, but it’s more. It has to be transformative — forcing us to rethink not only how we behave, but how we think of each other.

Nothing less will let us become the light of the world. Nothing less will show the world how blessed we are to be children of God.

(Mat 5:19 ESV)  19 “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”