Lloyd-Jones on the Kingdom

Here's a quote from DM Lloyd-Jones regarding the Kingdom. Of course he's coming from a British context and yet his words are fully applicable in both Britain and America today.

Ironically in England Biblically minded (non-Conformist) Christianity was on the Left. They were opposing the Establishment and believed they needed to bring in what we would call 'Leftist' policies to apply the Kingdom to society. In Britain the Bible churches tended to be Liberal in politics and the Anglicans were Conservatives (Tories).

In the United States, conservative Christianity has long been part of the Establishment. So here the political activism is on the opposite side of the spectrum. The whole understanding of the Kingdom is wrong, but I guess I'd rather see the Left build hospitals and help the poor in Christ's name than the Right build bombs and support empire in Christ's name.

Ultimately though both Leftist and Rightist versions have fallen into the same error regarding the Kingdom. In this country the Social Gospel has been associated with theologically liberal Christianity and yet theological conservatives who embrace some form of Dominionism, Transformationalism, Reconstructionism...or whatever form it takes...are engaged in the same Social Gospel agenda. They resent that identification but it's quite appropriate. They're trying to do the exact same thing. Their political platform is different but the understanding of the Kingdom is the same.

This excerpt is from 'The Kingdom of God' published by Crossway in 1992. Lloyd-Jones died in 1981.

"There, then, was the common fallacy with regard to the kingdom of God and unfortunately it is a fallacy that has persisted. I want to be very plain and simple. We are living in a terrible age; it is an age of bombs; indeed it may be the last age of the world. There are many signs and indications of that, and our eternal destiny depends upon our belief or disbelief in this Gospel, so it is important that we should speak plainly. Now the Roman Catholic church has helped this wrong idea of the kingdom to persist when she states that she is the kingdom; for she is political as well as spiritual; the pope is a political personage and nations exchange ambassadors with him. So there it is; this union of church and state, which is found in Rome; and all the persecutions which she carried out arose from this.

But let us be quite honest, even Protestantism has fallen at times into the same error and there have been periods in the history of the world when armies have gathered together to try to compel people to become Christians at the very point of the sword and face to face with death! It is all this misunderstanding about the kingdom.

And, unfortunately, the misunderstanding has persisted even down to our own days. One of the commonest ideas about the kingdom of God in this present century has been that the kingdom comes by reforming the world and by changing it. Now I am old enough to remember the first thirteen years of this present century, and I remember the great age of the so-called "social gospel". That was what people believed. They said, "It used to be thought that you brought in the kingdom of God by preaching; but that was wrong, the Liberal Party will bring it in by passing acts of Parliament." And it was believed that the Liberal Government of 1906 onwards was really legislating the bringing in of the kingdom of God. This is it, they thought; you relieve the poor, you build hospitals, you build better houses, you bring in your welfare state, your bring in your affluent society; and the world is so much better, that have brought in the kingdom of God! And there are still many who believe that.

Others put it like this. They think that the business of bringing in the kingdom of God is to make protests. Organise your movements and campaigns, and protest against injustices, against bombs and war; and in so doing, and by agitating on social political matters, you are bringing in the kingdom of God! That is their idea of it; Jesus the political social Teacher!

Now this has been the tragedy of the centuries. People complain of the empty chapels and churches today, but why are they empty? I think one of the main reasons is that before the first world war it used to be said that the Tory party was nothing but the Church of England at prayer, and that Non-conformity was nothing but the Liberal Party at prayer; and there was a great deal of truth in it. And so the kingdom of God was regarded as between these two rival parties! The whole thing had been materialised and so men and women began to say, "We do not need our churches or our Bibles anymore; the kingdom of God has come in a visible manner, we have brought it in by legislation; so what more is there?" And that is why, I believe, the masses are uninterested at the present time.

That, then, is the fallacy with which our Lord deals. That is wrong, He says- "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation."

 

He goes on and explains the nature of the Kingdom. Despite getting sidetracked here and there he definitely grasped this aspect and it comes up fairly often. Even many who appreciate him and celebrate his teaching seem to miss this doctrinal point and the wisdom he shares regarding it.

It's interesting that he believed the politicization of Christianity led to public apathy and confusion regarding the nature of the Church. It was all politics in the end. That resonates strongly with our contemporary situation in the United States.