Chapter Four--Welcome to My Little Kingdom
Chapter Four
Welcome to My Little Kingdom
king·dom: a realm or sphere in which one thing is dominant
The bottom line: each of our lives is shaped by the war between the kingdom of god and the kingdom of self.
It was called Puzzletown, and it was his own little kingdom. From the earliest moments of his life, Ethan, our second son, was our artist and dreamer. He was not only in his own world; he constructed it! And when he discovered Puzzletown, it was like he had finally found everything he had been looking for. Puzzletown was a three-dimensional construction toy that allowed the child to build a little community with houses, shops, and gardens. All of the sudden, he was the lord and maker of his own little world! The little town served his purpose and did according to his will. He would spend hours in “Ethan Kingdom,” losing track of time as he enjoyed being creator and in charge.
Ethan is a man now, and Puzzletown is safely stored away in our basement. But I would imagine that Ethan’s desire for kingdom building is still there, as it is in you and me as well. You see, we are all kingdom builders. The issue is whose kingdom are we building?
Let me take you back to the garden one more time. In that devious conversation with Eve, the Serpent was selling her a “better” kingdom. In this kingdom she would be the one on the throne. This kingdom would be about her will and her way. What Satan said he was offering Eve was something bigger and better, but what he really offered her was much less and infinitely smaller.
Ever since that fateful day, human life and history has been shaped by kingdoms in conflict. The little kingdom wars with the big kingdom, the kingdom of this world wars with the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom of man wars with the kingdom of God. This war goes on behind every human intention, decision, thought, word, desire, and deed. Everything everyone ever does is done in pursuit of the success of one of these kingdoms. This war is unceasing and inescapable because it is fought on the turf of each of our hearts. Created for “big kingdom” living, sin twists our allegiance and causes us to be all too dedicated to the little kingdoms of our own making. We get blinded to the transcendent glories of the big kingdom and actually believe that the little shadow glories of our own little kingdom are as good as it gets.
The problem is that most of us don’t think in kingdom terms. You know, you just rather thoughtlessly get up in the morning and go to work, or get the kids ready for school, or take the dog for a walk, or read the morning paper. You and I don’t live with a ready sense of our intentions or allegiances. And this is precisely how we get ourselves into trouble. Without knowing it, we can reduce the promises of Scripture down to a hope that God’s grace will ensure the success of our little kingdoms. Instead, the promises of the Bible are an invitation to active participation in a bigger and better kingdom, the kingdom of God. And where do you pursue the interests of the big kingdom? In exactly the same place where you are tempted to pursue the little kingdom, right where you live and work each day.
Treasures and Lilies
What does little kingdom living look like? Jesus brilliantly answers this question in Matthew 6:
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:19—34)
Little kingdom living is shaped by two points of focus. First, it is shaped by the pursuit of earth-bound treasures (vv. 19—24). The concept of treasure is very helpful here. A treasure is a valuable possession of any kind. As human beings we are all treasure hunters. The reason Christ’s teaching here has such a ring of truth to it is because each of us in some way is a person in pursuit of some kind of treasure. Perhaps the thing of highest value to you is the affection of another. Maybe the thing of highest value to you is power and control. Or it may be a certain possession or lifestyle or experience is the treasure that you seek. Maybe it is parenting successful children or marital bliss. Perhaps it is long-term success in ministry. We all work for treasure; the only way we differ is in the kind of treasure that we seek.
Assuming that everyone seeks treasure, Christ warns against living for the physical treasures of the here and now. He warns against investing all of the gifts, talents, time, resources, and energy of your life on the impermanent and unsatisfying treasures of physical earth. But it is scary how magnetic and powerful these “treasures” are. I never wake up in the morning and say, “I want my job to be the single, life-organizing treasure of my life,” but somehow it becomes that. I never say, “Today I will get my identity, meaning, and purpose from another human being,” yet somehow the affection of a certain person becomes my treasure. I never say, “I have decided to find all of my personal happiness in the possession of material things,” yet more and more I am living to acquire. Even though I have never made a conscious decision to make these things my treasure, the physical values of earth hook and enslave me. I never say, “I will make power and control the thing of highest value in my life,” but somehow it is. I never say, “I will make the success of my children the central treasure of my life,” yet somehow it happens.
In this very important teaching, Christ invites us to meditate on how sad it is for a person to invest his life in pursuit of all the wrong treasures. Then he welcomes us to humbly examine what kind of treasures we are in hot pursuit of. We weren’t created to find our satisfaction in the little, earthbound kingdom treasures of the here and now. We were created to seek a better treasure, and in so doing to be eternally grateful and satisfied.
Ask yourself: What makes your good day a good day? What are the things that tend to make you happy and satisfied? What gives your life a sense of meaning and purpose? What are the things you faithfully pursue, and what are you hoping to experience once you get them? If I watched the video of your last year, what treasure would I conclude you’re after?
The second focus of little kingdom living is anxiety-bound need (vv. 25—34). Christ says something quite radical here. He says that you cannot reduce your life down to simply making sure all of your needs are met. Then he says, “Your life is more important than that!” You see, I was not created to shrink the size of my life to the size of my felt needs. There is something incredibly dehumanizing about living this way. If true humanity is bound up in community with God and godly community with others, I will never experience it when all my eyes ever see is my own need.
This way of living is always riddled with anxiety and fear. You see, I will never be able to control all the things that need to be controlled in order for me to guarantee that all of my needs will be met. If I am a farmer, I cannot control the weather. If I am a parent, I cannot control the hearts of my children. If I am a husband or wife, I cannot control the affection of my spouse. If I am a worker, I cannot control the economy. If I am a friend, I cannot control the acceptance of others. If I am a neighbor, I cannot control the choices of the people next door. If I am a citizen, I cannot control the powers of government. When I carry the meeting of my own needs as the most dominant focus of my living, I will always struggle with the anxiety that comes from the realization of how small the circle of my control actually is.
But there is another thing that happens here. It is the need-expansion dynamic. The more I focus on my needs, the more things in life get loaded into that category. The more I live with the meeting of my needs as my central focus of concern, the more things in my life get defined as needs. If you listen to the way we tend to toss around the word “need,” you will soon realize how many things we have defined as needs are, in fact, not essential for life. You probably don’t really “need” a good meal. You probably don’t “need” a raise. You probably don’t “need” that new house. You probably don’t “need” the affection of that person. You probably don’t “need” that position you have aspired to. You probably don’t “need” to defend your reputation. You probably don’t “need” the recognition of your peers. Yet, the more you focus on your own neediness, the more your desires will be christened as needs.
Locating the Little Kingdom
When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come, Luke records him saying, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20—21). Just like the big kingdom of God, the little kingdom isn’t a location, but a commitment of the heart.
And because it is a commitment of the heart, I take the little kingdom with me wherever I go. So, if my heart is ruled by the earth-bound treasures and anxiety-bound needs of the little kingdom, my search for personal treasure and my quest to meet my needs will shape the way I respond to everything in my life.
In my relationships, then, I will be working to find my treasures and make sure my needs are met. At work, I will be an employee in search of treasure and need fulfillment. In ministry, I will be seeking treasure and meeting personal need. The treasure-and-need focus of the little kingdom will shape the way I interact with everything in my life. It will also shape how I feel about my life. If my relationship with a friend delivers that treasure of acceptance that I crave, then I will find that relationship enjoyable and satisfying. But if it doesn’t, I will be discouraged, fearful, anxious, angry, or dissatisfied. If my work delivers the level of income that I am convinced I need, then I will enjoy my job and be motivated to invest my energies there. But if it does not, then I will feel negative about my job and find it hard to give myself to it with enthusiasm.
The little kingdom is a way of living that will shape the way I respond to everything God has placed in my life. Little kingdom living turns life into an endless search for earthly treasure and an unending focus on personal need. I sadly constrict the transcendent life that I was put on earth to enjoy to the size of my desires and needs. It is a kingdom so confined that there is no room for God or others in it. And because I was created to be part of something huge, a kingdom way bigger than the size of my life, this constricted little kingdom will crush my humanity.
Sure, I will still have relationships and I will still work. I will attend church and participate in ministry. I will involve myself in acts of giving and service. But no matter how relational and active I may seem, it is all by me and for me. It is the little kingdom, and for all the appearance of community in the way I live, there is only room for one person in it. Wherever I am and whatever I am doing, if the things that I am seeking are not to be found, it will be very hard for me to continue to participate. The little kingdom is always a kingdom of one.
So Why Is the Little Kingdom So Attractive?
The little kingdom is attractive for one primary reason: because self is always at the center. There is a way in which this magnetizes every sinner. Sin causes each of us to be scarily self-focused. The DNA of sin is selfishness. Sin is about wanting my way, in my own way, and in my time. So, the inertia of sin is always away from others and toward self. It is there at the tree in the garden, in the deceit of Jacob, in the larceny of Achan, in the disobedience of Saul, in the treason of Absalom, in the pride of Nebuchadnezzar, in the denial of Peter, and in the treachery of Judas. It is also there in the heart of a wordless infant who stiffens his little body in anger, and in the kindergartener who taunts his classmate with the fact that his lunch is better. It is there in the catty relationships of teenagers, when I am angry because you are in my way at the grocery store, or when you eat the bowl of cereal that I had designated for my breakfast. Sin makes us want our way—our own selfish way.
The sales-pitch of the Serpent in the garden is, “You can have your own way! All you have to do is....” There is no more tempting offer to a sinner. Somewhere deep within our sinful hearts, this is what we all secretly want—our own way. And this is the thing that the Redeemer has come to rescue us from. He came to pry us from the constricted confines of our diminutive little kingdoms and, by his grace, to welcome us to the expansive glories of a better kingdom. Yet, even in the face of his grace, I will try to employ his wisdom principles and gracious promises to make my little kingdom work. You can’t squeeze the large-vision lifestyle of the kingdom of God into the small-vision confines of the kingdom of self. It will simply never fit.
Remembering the Father and Living Large
It was one of the hardest moments in my ministry, one that I never imagined I would ever go through. I had been one of the founders of a Christian school. I had taught there, while still being a pastor and without any additional pay. I had functioned as its principal and president of its board for eight years. Meanwhile, I had paid for each one of my children to attend. But in one shocking night, I was voted out of my position and removed from any influence over the school that was so precious to me and my ministry.
I drove home that night, unable to grasp what had actually happened. I could barely talk as I shared the horrible events of the evening with my wife. The next morning I was haunted in my thinking by the faces of the people who had led the coup. I was determined that I had to do something. I was gearing up for a fight... until I called my brother Tedd. He said, “Paul, I’m sad that this has happened to you, but what are you going to do? Are you going to go to each one of those leaders and keep going until they are convinced that they have made a mistake? Are you then going to go to every person who voted against you and do the same with them? How long do you think all of this would take? And what would happen in the process to the other things in ministry that God has called you to?”
He continued, “I know that what you are going through is very hard to face, but the school is not yours. It belongs to the Lord, and it is his to do with whatever he wants. You haven’t been building your kingdom; he has been using you to build his. I suggest you get up in the morning and continue to do what God has called you to do. Serve the school and serve the people in any way you can, and entrust the health of God’s kingdom into his hands.”
They were tender words, but they stung. Somewhere along the way it had become my school. Somewhere along the way it had become about my presence and my vision. Somewhere along the way I had tried to squeeze the big kingdom vision of Christian education into the little kingdom confines of Paul Tripp’s ministry. And I humbly had to admit that most of my grief was not about what was best for the school, but about the fact that they had removed me! Yes, I had been wronged, but my response to those wrongs revealed something that had happened inside of me. The two kingdoms were not only in conflict; I had confused one kingdom with another. I thought I was doing big kingdom work, but that work had begun to serve the purposes of my little kingdom visions. In a moment of painful grace, God cut a hole in my little cubicle kingdom and reached in with his loving hand and began to pull me out.
The dramatic turn in Matthew 6 doesn’t come until the very end of the passage, in the second-to-last verse: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well.” The word but is a welcome to a new way of living. What is the old way fueled by? The old way is driven by earth-bound treasures and anxiety-bound needs. The old way is driven by forgetting the Father and his unshakable commitment to provide all that his children need to do his kingdom work. Not much good ever comes out of functionally focusing on self, while consistently forgetting the Father.
The new way is driven by a focus on the transcendent glories of God’s big kingdom purposes. Those purposes span all of history and spread to all of creation. They can never be squeezed into the constricted quarters of my little kingdom. The new way is also driven by a daily and heartfelt admission of my weakness, along with a joyful rest in the faithful provision of my Father.
Here is what we have been welcomed to: You and I can get up in the morning with a calm joy in the loving provision of our heavenly Father, while being enthralled by the fact that we have been included in the transcendent joys of his kingdom. There are glories to be enjoyed that you will never experience in the confines of your kingdom of one. You were created and called to live large. Why would you retreat into the narrow confines of your own little kingdom?
The final question: what earth-bound treasures and anxiety-bound needs tend to control you and your responses to life?