The Kingdom looks like… Friendship at the Margins

Yesterday’s post Jesus is Risen – What Happened to the Kingdom generated some interesting discussion both here and on Sojo.net where it has been cross posted, which not surprisingly has had me thinking a lot about the kingdom of God and what it looks like.

Then this morning as part of my daily reflections I started reading Friendship at the Margins by Christopher Heuertz and Christine Pohl.  Talk about a timely book.  I have only had time to read the introduction but am avidly looking forward to getting into the rest of the book.  Christine Pohl’s first book on hospitality Making Room challenged me ten years ago to reconsider who and how we entertain, this book I can see will challenge much more of how I relate to those at the margins and how I view the kingdom of God.

I also have tremendous respect for Chris and Phileena Heuertz’s work with Word Made Flesh.  This book already has much to say that is pertinent to a discussion of the kingdom of God as friendship and community rather than as a set of rules or theological concepts.

Here are a couple of quotes from the introduction

the ways God works in and through us are much more connected to tender hearts and open hands than to personal assets and skills.  Our completeness is found in Christ and community. where distinctions in status or resources mean much less. (p21)

Friendships are revelatory of truth.  Within friendship we learn truths about the other person we couldn’t know any other way except through a context of trust and fidelity.  Within friendship we learn about ourselves as we see our love and actions through the eyes of another who loves and trusts us.  And relationships forged among friends can open into deeper understandings of God’s love and concerns. (p10)