“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.” Matthew 11:12
“The violent take it by force.” The kingdom of heaven isn’t a plaything, its not something to mess around with. A footnote in my Bible says another translation could be: “… the kingdom of heaven has been coming violently …” To be able to TAKE something that is violent, you have to BE violent. No complacency. No half-hearted attempts at pursuit. We need to be violent a for the kingdom! Now I’m not speaking in the physical, but in the spiritual. We cannot expect to seize the kingdom if we are content with sitting on our butts and waiting for the Spirit to come. We need to activate ourselves! This creates movement, forward motion, a discontentment with complacency and a hunger and thirst for more.
Things that are violent tend to be dangerous to our current status. When a soldier goes to war, they go with the full understanding that they are going at risk of bodily harm, of experiences that will change our lives and our worldviews forever. Are we willing to let the kingdom of heaven violently seize control of our mindset? Are we willing for a severe paradigm shift? That is the kingdom of heaven moving violently. Now are WE willing to be violent? To take the kingdom by force? Or will we be content with sitting and waiting for God to make the change?
WE ARE THE CHANGE.
Ghandi said: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” How many of us are too scared to wish? To dream? That is the simplest first step, but so many of us are too scared to do even that. You have to be violent, be bold, in order to dream, and that is the first part of taking the kingdom by force. Be VIOLENT and DREAM. God created us to dream, to create, to seek the truth, to find answers, to question social norms, to hear the whisper. And he created us to DO something about what we find.
But to break out of complacency, we have to violently fight everything that has been placed upon us all of our lives. Every lie spoken over us, every chain placed on our family… Do we expect them to just evaporate so we can go about doing good deeds for God? NO. The enemy is doing everything in his power to hold us captive and make us useless for the kingdom. We have to fight violently for freedom, for change, for the kingdom of heaven.
THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE.
THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE.
We have to fight to dream.
We have to fight for action.
We have to fight for the kingdom.
Only then, when we are as violent as the kingdom itself, can we expect to take the kingdom by force. And trust me, the kingdom is VIOLENT.
“But how is the kingdom of heaven violent?” you may ask. What does a violent kingdom look like?
True, unadulterated, real, vulnerable, open and unprotected LOVE. No walls, no armor, no shelter. Just the pure force of violent love. Why were Jim Elliot and his friends willing to die at the hands of the Waorani tribe in the Amazon jungle? Because they loved with the violence of the kingdom of heaven. Why is my host family in Africa more concerned about me having a good meal than about themselves? Because they love with the violence of the kingdom of heaven. Why is it when you give a child a crayon and a single piece of paper, they will color it and hand it right back to you as a gift? Because they love with the violent innocence of the kingdom of heaven. That is why I’m here on earth. To live with violence. To LOVE with violence. To take the kingdom of heaven by force.
Taking the kingdom by force… What does that look like to you?
