The Kindom of God

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 7:21

Jesus spoke regularly of an alternative community of mutual care, which he called, subversively, the kingdom of heaven. It inverted the hierarchies of his day (and ours) and led to activities like rabbis washing the feet of their disciples, women providing for men, and even God taking on human flesh and dying. Contrary to all other kingdoms, this one was non-military and was known for its peace and self-sacrifice. And, notably, women played a prominent role in this kingdom.

Starting with Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, some theologians and Christian thinkers have highlighted the radical nature of Jesus’s teaching about the kingdom of God and have imitated how he himself redefined contemporary terms by using the term kindom of God instead of ‘kingdom of God.’ Can you feel the difference? Kindom inherently pushes back on the patriarchal and imperialistic undertones of ‘kingdom.’ At the same time, kindom emphasizes the familial connectivity of kinship which figured so prominently in Jesus’s teaching - making a beautifully potent translation.

To actualize this kindom, the Apostle Paul popularized the Greek word adelphoi - literally, siblings - because that’s how he viewed others through the lens of Christ. To this day, that’s how Christians refer to one another. And as a theological summary, scholar Reta Halteman Finger writes that kindom “reflects the kind of society Jesus envisions—as a shared community of equals who serve each other.”

As you roll that new word around on your tongue, how does it sit with your heart? Where is their excitement? Where is there resistance? Listen to both. Honor both. Talk with Jesus about this new way of thinking about the alternative community of love and service that he initiated in the world and about your place in it.