How we think and our thought process in general matter when it comes to the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 16:21-23, we find the story of Peter attempting to rebuke Jesus for his statement of the gospel journey that was ahead of him. “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, “Far be it from you, Lord!” This shall never happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter, Get behind me Satan! You are a hinderance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Peter and the disciples had a different understanding and thought process of what the Messiah was coming to do. They thought that the Messiah was coming to overthrow the Roman Government and restore Israel to its greatest of days, as in the days of King David. That understanding was wrong and the thought process behind it was driven by human desires.
The last sentence of Matthew 16:23, is key for our understanding in thinking and the mind set we have. Jesus told Peter that he was not thinking about the Kingdom because his mind was on the things of man. Had Jesus come to be the Messiah that the disciples thought and desired him to be they would have had a seat at the table of leadership because they had been chosen by Jesus. If we allow our thoughts to be on the desires of our heart, then we will never understand Kingdom thinking. Even good desires that are not centered on setting our mind on God, lead to man centered thinking, which is ultimately a hinderance to the building of God’s Kingdom. Just as Satan tried to hinder the work of Jesus in the temptation, Peter here was attempting to hinder Jesus even though he did not realize that. Now Peter did not have the same desire as Satan did, but it was still an attempt to move Jesus away from the mission that God the Father had for him. Peter had good thoughts of Israel being at peace and ruling with the blessings and promises of God. But those thoughts are not of the Kingdom.
If we set our minds on the things of God, then we will have a Kingdom thought process which leads to a Kingdom life. Kingdom thinking keeps the gospel at the forefront of our minds and hearts, which lead us to gospel living and proclaiming. Kingdom thinking helps us to be compassionate and caring for all people, not just the people in our tribe or the people that think like us. Kingdom thinking leads to a Biblical Worldview. Biblical Worldview is driven by setting our minds on God and His plan and His will and His mission. It sees the world as God sees the world. We understand the brokenness and sinfulness of humanity and the world and desire to see it redeemed through the mission and work of the gospel. We see all people as redeemable, and that gospel can and does transform the most sinful of humanity. Kingdom thinking is truthful about sin (all sin) and the need for redemption. But it also loving and compassionate, knowing that every action that is gospel driven, plants seeds of the gospel. Kingdom thinking is what the church needs today.
The question that I want to close with is one that I hope penetrates the heart of each of us. Does your heart and desires center around your human thoughts and desires or is centered around the transforming Word of God? I believe we can determine the answer to that question by the way that we think and feel about others who are outside of our tribe and who think radically different than us. If anger, hatred, and disgust are centered in our thoughts then more than likely our thinking has human desires at the center. But if compassion, brokenness, pleading and praying for the Spirit to move in the life or lives of people that different than us, then more than likely we are driven by Kingdom thinking. Lastly, I would say if our politics determine our theology then we are thinking the way of man. Unfortunately, political thinking on both the right and left drive the thoughts and theology of those who claim Christ as Savior. Kingdom thinking people will never feel comfortable or at home in any circle that isn’t centered on the whole Word of God.
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