Disciples, Apostles, and Saints!
When we hear Jesus try to explain God’s dream to his followers, it can help remind us that the words we use are always pregnant with possibility—and loaded with the baggage of experience.
Jesus’s own descriptor, the Kingdom of God, is a reference to people living in a world full of kings. Even as their own king was the puppet of an emperor. An emperor who made the people treat him like a God. So Jesus used the language of emperor worship to turn it on its head: to show the people that their true devotion must go, not to this human construct, but to the divine.
This language doesn’t resonate the same way, especially after kings and emperors twisted Jesus to support what he condemned. So we have sought other language to speak of God’s place above the earthly constructs. I’ve landed on Dream of God myself, but there are others that work, too.
Dreams are positive, however. They reflect what Jesus describes as God’s desire rather than what God condemns. So we need to include critique, too. Particularly one that fits for our moment. A good one might be The Economy of God. That God’s way reigns, not nations, CEOs, or the invisible hand. We could try on the Democracy of God; or if you’re feeling technical, the Republic of God.
The point is to name the ways our priorities get in the way of God’s. And how we might order our society (not just ourselves!) in a way that lines up with God’s priorities. Priorities of equality, wholeness, peace, justice, and joy.
With love,
Drew+