ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

I once heard a Christian professor begin his lecture by saying; “Every problem in the world is a relationship problem.” My first thought was that he was overstating a point, but as I reflected on what he was saying, I realized it was true. He was not saying that relationships were the problem. He went on to explain that the pain and division that we see in the world are a result of relationship breakdown at a very basic level between two or more human beings. That might look like a brother offended, a marriage headed for divorce, or nations at war. 

Stop for a moment and think about what divides relationships and what brings us together. Is it only our differences that tend to divide us? Male and female, Jew and Gentile, my race, my politics, my tradition, or my upbringing? 

Are these issues of nature or nurture? I didn’t have a choice in where I was born or who my parents were my ethnicity or even my genetics. But is there more at play here? Do behaviors, habits, and patterns cause our relationships to be strained or broken? 

Looking out at a hurting and contentious world, we as the body of Jesus on the earth must be asking the question; "What part could we be playing in bringing his kingdom to come and he will be done on earth as it is in heaven?" That answer is found in a relational God who appeared in the flesh to show us the way.