Chapter Eight--In the Center of It All
Chapter Eight
In the Center of It All
pre·em·i·nent: superior to or notable above all others, greatest in importance
The bottom line: big kingdom living means living with Christ at the center of everything I think, desire, say, and do.
He just had to be the center of attention. No matter where they were or what they were doing, he seemed unable to be quiet and stay in the background. He got agitated when forced to share the stage with others and did everything he could to steal the spotlight. He was not interested in sharing, and he found no delight in serving. He did not like to obey, and he always thought that his way was the best way. He saw people as obstacles and circumstances outside of his control as dangerous. He demanded the attention of others and loudly protested when he did not get it. The problem was, not only was he obsessed with being at the center of it all, he was only eight years old!
I sat in my office with his exhausted, fearful, and discouraged parents. They were simply at the end of their rope. They had done everything they knew, and nothing seemed to make a difference. They dreaded the long nights at home, they feared taking him into public, and they were encountering all kinds of problems at school. He was the little lord of his universe, and he had done a good job of whipping his parents and others into shape.
As I sat with his parents and watched the dynamics of his relationship to them, there was one thing that kept coming into my mind. In the selfcenteredness of this strong-willed little boy, I was looking at an example of what sin does to all of us. Sin causes all of us to want to live at the center of our worlds. Sin causes all of us to want the spotlight on ourselves. Sin causes all of us to focus our energies on our earth-bound treasures and anxiety-bound needs. Yes, sin really does cause all of us to shrink the size of our lives to the size of our lives. This is what the little kingdom is about. In the little kingdom, self is always at the center. In the big kingdom, the kingdom of God, the center is the one place self can never be. The fundamental difference between the two kingdoms can be seen in who resides in the center. Transcendent, big kingdom living always has the center reserved for someone other than you. This chapter is all about that Someone.
The Bible: The Story of the King
As we have said, the Bible is the story of a battle between the two kingdoms—the kingdom of self and the kingdom of God. But even more than that, the Bible is the story of the King. The bright and shining hope of the Old Testament, as it chronicles the failed kingdoms of man, is that a King was coming who would establish his kingdom and reign in justice and righteousness forever. (See Isaiah 9:6—9, Isaiah 32, Ezekiel 37:24ff, Zechariah 9:9—13.) The Old Testament calls the people of God to shift their hope from the flawed rule of human kings to the promise of One who would rule without sin forever. The Old Testament is a detailed history of how God accomplished all the necessary steps leading to the coming of the Promised King. At the same time it chronicles the irresistible tendency that sinners have to opt for self-rule, even in the face of the promise of this benevolent King. The Old Testament ends with God’s people waiting, looking, and hoping for the King.
The Gospels announce the coming of the King and the establishment of his kingdom. This is the backdrop of every teaching of Christ, every miracle, and every provision. The long-awaited time had come. The feet of the King had touched the sod of earth. Matthew has an announcement or description of the kingdom in every chapter. The Epistles detail the glorious hope that sinners find in the Savior-King’s rule of grace. In a real way, the entire Bible is the story of Christ the King. He is the One who alone is worthy of standing at the center of the kingdom of God. The big kingdom is the kingdom of Christ.
What this means practically is that to live for the big kingdom is to live for Christ. Transcendent living is Christ-centered living. Living for Christ is the only way you will ever be liberated from your bondage to the overwhelming tendency to shrink the size of your life to the size of your life. The only way to spin free of the narrow confines of your little cubicle kingdom is to live in the big sky country of Christ-centered living. You will never win the battle with yourself simply by saying “no” to yourself. That battle only begins to be won when you say “yes” to the call of your King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Preeminent in All Things
What does it mean to live in an intentionally Christ-centered way in your daily life—in your marriage, parenting, friendship, work, community, finances, etc.? Remember that only when you live for Christ can you recapture the transcendence for which you were created. Only in transcendent living can you recover your true humanity. And only in recovering your true humanity can your life really have meaning and purpose. All of this is true because your humanity is not tied to self-discovery and self-fulfillment (as the surrounding world proposes) but in investing your life for Christ’s glory and the success of his kingdom on earth. You were put here for the purpose of the glory of another. This is not a lifestyle option; it is in the very nature of your humanity. To live for yourself is to rob yourself of your own humanity. It is only in living for Christ that we actually begin to become what we were meant to be.
Let me state it again. To live for the big kingdom is to live every dimension of my life in a Christ-centered way. Let’s consider two passages from the Apostle Paul that focus on this truth. These passages are so foundational that I have included the full text of both. Let’s look first at Colossians 1:3—23.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”
In this prayer/hymn, Paul says it all. Christ is your hope. Christ is your wisdom. Christ is your strength. Christ is your rescue. Christ is your reconciliation. You have been called to a daily lifestyle where this Christ is preeminent in everything that makes up your life.
Or consider 1 Corinthians 1:18—2:5:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
What did Paul tell the Corinthian believers was the one irreducible element of his ministry? The centrality of the crucified Christ! Kingdom living, for Paul, puts Christ and his cross central in everything in the Christian’s life. Having made brief comments about both of these passages, let me summarize them with the following principles.
The created world was designed to have Christ at the center.
Romans 11:36 says it well: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” Take this principle to every arena of your life. Your marriage has come from Christ, your marriage is to be lived unto Christ, and your marriage exists because of the grace of Christ. Your children are from your Lord, your children belong to him, and your children will only be what they were meant to be through his love and grace. Your possessions are from his hand, your possessions belong to him for his purpose, and your possessions will be kept by means of his care.
There is nothing in your life that does not belong to Christ.
People were designed to live Christ-focused lives. True humanity is never to be found in autonomy, because human beings were wired to live in necessary community with the Creator. So anytime I functionally live for myself, I am denying the things for which I was made and opening my life to the negative fruit which will result. From day one, Christ was meant to be the focus of the life of everyone he created. That is the paradigm of the garden.
Christ-centered living is foolishness to the world. To most of the world, religion is the luxury of the strong and the sad necessity of the weak, but it is utter foolishness to structure your life around the purposes of a being that can neither be seen nor heard. The human ideal of Western culture is the self-made man. We honor the person who has made himself and who rules himself. From this perspective, it only makes sense that our own minds should be the court of highest judgment, and that pleasure should be our highest goal. It seems wise to deify the creation and to ignore the Creator. In this economy, this life is our focus and eternity simply doesn’t exist. It is then the height of foolishness to think that my life would exist for the glory of another.
Focus on Christ will always result in focus on the cross. You cannot be Christ-centered without becoming cross-centered. The crucified Christ is to be the center of everything I know about myself and my world. You cannot have any real hope for flawed people in a fallen world unless there is a Redeemer to rescue us from the evil that resides both inside and outside of us. Real restoration to God’s created design requires the cross. It is the cross of Christ that alone will restore my allegiance to Christ and his rightful place at the center of everything in my life.
So What Does It Look Like for Christ to Be Central?
Sam was a Christian, but his faith lacked zeal and direction. He did all the right things, but they seemed empty and without energy. At work, however, he took on a completely different personality. He was positive, driven, interactive, and zealous. He arrived early to get a jump on his day, not because he was forced to but because he wanted to. Often he was the last person to head for home. In his walk with the Lord and his life with his church, he appeared neither excited nor engaged. Yet at work he was alive, every pore opened. Why the contrast? What was missing?
Here’s what happens. When Christ isn’t central in the life of a Christian, his Christianity will always get reduced to theology and rules. It will cease to be the central organizing principle of his life. It will give way to other powerful motivations and move to the fringes of his life. I think this is the experience of many Christians. Their Christianity is missing Christ! It then becomes little more than an ideology with an accompanying set of ethics. What is incredibly dangerous about this is that if Christ isn’t central in our hearts, something else will be. Christianity as theology and rules will allow self to be at the center. It is only Christ who can free you and me from bondage to the little kingdom. Functionally, Sam’s faith had been reduced to beliefs and commands. But Christianity gutted of Christ is devoid of both its beauty and its power. Only love for Christ has the power to incapacitate the sturdy love for self that is the bane of every sinner, and only the grace of Christ has the power to produce that love.
Yes, it is possible for Christ to be replaced, even in Christianity! It is possible for the little kingdom to look just like the big kingdom. Christian activism, a commitment to and enthusiasm for moral causes, can masquerade as a love for Christ. Legalism will masquerade as love for Christ with its rigid attention to law and its confidence in human righteousness. Formalism will wear the mask of love for Christ with its dedicated commitment to participation in all the scheduled gatherings and ministries of the church. Emotionalism with its powerful moments of heartfelt emotion will present itself as love for Christ. Creedalism with its strong allegiance to the purity of truth will seem like love for Christ. Externalism with its zeal to participate in all the outward signs of true Christian piety will look like love for Christ.
All of these things have a place in the big kingdom. All of them can be elements of love for Christ. But the danger of each is that they have the power to masquerade as love for Christ, effectively replacing him in our hearts. A person is fully able to pursue his little kingdom purposes and simultaneously think that he is living a Christ-centered life, when, in fact, his heart is ruled by neither the comfort of Christ’s grace nor the call to love him above all else.
There really is no place for Christ in many people’s Christianity. Their faith is not actually in Christ; it is in Christianity and their own ability to live it out. This kind of “Christianity” is really about the shadow glories of human knowledge and performance. It does not require the death of self that must always happen if love for Christ is going to reign in our hearts.
So, what does big kingdom, Christ-centered living look like? This is what the rest of this book will be about. I want you to put down this book with a clear sense of what big kingdom, Christ-centered, transcendent living looks like in your everyday situations and relationships. Let me start by offering four words. In the next chapter we will look at a passage that will give us more concrete direction for living a Christ-centered life that really does make a difference in this fallen world. To live in a Christ-centered way means that Christ is my source, motive, goal, and hope.
Source. Here I am recognizing that everything that is really worth having is a gift from his hands. Here I recognize that I could not have written my own story. My location, gifts, talents, abilities, opportunities, and blessings all come from him. Here I also admit that I cannot be what I am supposed to be or do what I am supposed to do apart from a constant and continuing supply of his grace. I need wisdom, strength, love, patience, perseverance, and faith that I do not have on my own. To see Christ as your source means to measure your potential not by the limits of your natural ability, but by the unending resources of his grace. And since I am constantly dependent on his grace, I seek his grace wherever it is to be found. I read his Word, I fellowship with other believers, I participate in corporate worship, I am active in ministry, I participate in the Lord’s Supper, and I seek the wise counsel of spiritual leaders. I do all of these things not out of duty, but because Christ is my source and I am a seeker after his grace.
Motive. To live a Christ-centered life means that he really is the reason I do everything I do. I want to know him. I want to be part of his work on earth. I want to please him with my life. I want to value what he values. I want his purpose for me to define my purpose for myself. I want to follow his words and incarnate his character. I want to be his disciple and represent him like an ambassador so his will shapes my actions, reactions, words, thoughts, and desires. My decisions are more about what pleases him than what pleasures me. I am enthused that I have been selected to be part of his big kingdom, and I want to live in a way that fits with the goals, values, and purposes of it.
Goal. Living a Christ-centered life means that I willingly submit every other attainable glory in my life to the one glory that has captured my heart and structures my life, the glory of Jesus Christ. I do want him to be known, honored, worshipped, and obeyed. I do want his purposes to succeed. And although there are things that I would like to experience and accomplish, there is one orienting compass in my life. It is his honor and glory that I live for. I no longer live, decide, act, and relate for the purposes of my own glory. No, I have found something way more wonderful and beautiful, and he is what gives my life direction and joy.
Hope. What are you hoping for? What basket have you put all of your eggs in? Where do you tend to say, “If only I had _________, then my life would be great”? What do you look forward to and hope that you can experience? What occupies your mind and controls your dreams? Are you constantly investing in what can’t deliver and won’t last? Is Christ your hope? Is he the solid rock on which your life stands? When Christ is my hope, he becomes the one thing in which I have confidence. I act on his wisdom and I bank on his grace. I trust his promises and I rely on his presence. And I pursue all the good things that he has promised me simply because I trust him. So, I am not manipulating, controlling, or threatening my way through life to get what I want, because I have found what I want in Christ. He is my hope.
Consider these questions: What kingdom are you actually living for? What is the “good life” that you daily pursue? What hope gets you up in the morning and keeps you going throughout the day? Is Christ the center of your life? If I watched the video of your last month, listening to what you said and why you said it, what would I notice most? If I watched how you made decisions and related to others, noting what you were interested in and fought for, what kingdom would it reveal? If I saw how you dealt with responsibility and invested your free time, and if I saw you in both busy and quiet moments, even hearing your silent conversations with yourself, would I conclude that Christ is the center of your life? Is he really your source, your motive, your goal, and your hope? Is it possible that your Christianity may, in fact, exclude Christ? Is it maybe possible that the little kingdom is alive and well, smack-dab in the middle of the big kingdom?
The final question: what tends to compete with Christ for the center of your world?