Preface
Preface
Some books are a concentrated examination of a topic. Other books lay out a set of skills or techniques for a certain aspect of life. Some books record a person’s experience or journey. Others are funny or sad.
The book you are about to read doesn’t fit into any of these categories.
Here is my best attempt to tell you what you are about to read: This entire book is meant to stimulate you to think about one central biblical concept, the kingdom of God. But this book is not a theology of kingdom, nor an exposition of the kingdom passages in the Bible. No, it is simply a meditation on what Jesus meant when he called us to “seek first his kingdom.” What does it really look like to expand everything our lives contain to touch the size of his kingdom?
Now, the problem with biblical terms like “kingdom” is that they are familiar-but-unfamiliar terms. It is quite possible for us to have heard them many times and even used them in our own conversations, yet not to really understand what they mean. Or we may know technically what they mean, but not how they set the agenda for the way we live every day.
The discussion of kingdom living in this book will not take place in the seminary hallway. I am going to take you to the street where the rubber meets the road in daily life. I want to help you consider Christ’s call from the street level. And my hope is that, as we do this together, you will first become uncomfortable, but then soon become encouraged, excited, and motivated with hope.
God has given you the gift of his Son, not to make your little kingdom successful, but to welcome you to a much better kingdom. Now what in the world does that mean? Paul David Tripp