11/22/2021
So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?"
Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."
-John 18:37
It's Monday, who are you toiling for?
In the nascent days of Christianity, pagan authorities found Christianity to be absurd. Why would a god give up powers and worship to become human? Such an absurdity is sure to die out on its own. Over 2,000 years later, here we are. Truth does not fade. Truth may exist in the personal, but it is not a slave to it. It stretches beyond the personal, beyond the moment, the historical and cultural, beyond the cosmos and into the eternal.
Why would the God, Who creates and sustains eternity, have any desire to be a human king? What is gained by it? The answer is because we asked for it. It's simple and profound. Like any parent, whose child asks for a gift, we understand that the child does not understand the scope of the request. Outside of that we desire to give our children the best, beyond even what they request.
When the Israelites asked God for a king like other nations, they were told that they didn't need a king. They wanted one anyway. So God fashions into time and space a true King, not one with the pitfalls of a fallen nature, but One, Who is at once King of Israel, King of all nations, and King of the Universe. Before His resurrection, Jesus revealed to us the fullness of the human person by living it. We can love fearlessly; we can give without ceasing; we can be a priestly people offering directly to God.
When Jesus resurrected, He revealed to us the fullness of kingship by a reign of mercy. As heirs and citizens, we can correct injustices especially those in our own lives, maybe caused by our own doing. A 👑 of Humility, a Rod of Mercy, are the hallmark of such a citizen. Let us be at once a person in this moment, in this history and culture, in this universe, yet at the same time in eternity, in the Kingdom of God.
Whether we are workers, managers, or owners, if we root ourselves in Jesus, then we will toil for Him for His kingdom. Though it can be difficult to toil for the temporal, toiling for the eternal is in our fiber. Those who work under us or with us or those we work for are the areas of our labor; we will love and serve them, because He loved and served them and us first.
From https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sam-chey-connecting-local-businesses-to-families-246b8410_workculture-sunday2monday-leadershipmindset-activity-6868562627879079936-zA4U
