From The Ground Level

The skyscraper is a fascinating concept.

A bit like the whole thing with the church buildings and their steeples.

There was something about them reaching the skies that literally got people looking up. As they looked at these architectural constructs of magnitude, however grand in nature, one thing they all had in common was a need to be grounded.

Often the pursuit to soar high in the sky and accomplish lofty goals overlooked the reality that any successful endeavour becomes that because it is grounded.

The amazing story of God and His creation is that as much as our thoughts are on heavenly things, it is with the desire to make them grounded. The Kingdom of heaven is to come and be done right from the ground level. Ah the glorious union of the above and below is when below looks above and sees the desire to be real below.

The marvellous story of Jesus and His Kingdom sees the one from above start at the ground level. Grounded in submissive relationships. Grounded in rhythms or work and rest, serving and withdrawing, eating and sleeping. To all intents and purposes the great Messiah so longed for by His people took on human flesh and lived among us at the ground level. His teachings were not depicting lofty ideals in language too high for his hearers, they were grounded in the everyday imagery of bread, fish, weddings and taxes. Just because they didn’t always understand it, doesn’t mean it wasn’t given in an accessible, even the closest to the ground – the children – were in a position to receive and embrace it.

As followers of Jesus, we can get wrapped up in complex constructs and wondrous schemes on great aspirations. We see those images of massive gatherings in mega structures with the glitz and the glamour. We get ideas that perhaps that’s what we should be going for. We see bold and noble statements about taking entire communities, cities and countries for Christ, wielding influence at all levels of society for the sake of the gospel. Desiring and perspiring whilst aspiring for the heights of greatness for a good cause. Meanwhile a lot of the basic rhythms of life at the ground level are askew.

Ground level stuff like submissive relationships, rhythms of work and rest, serving and withdrawing, loving and caring in simple ways, eating and sleeping, feasting and fasting, studying and playing and always communicating.

There is nothing wrong with having great goals and aspiring for the great things in life. There is nothing wrong with that at all, as long as it’s based on getting the ground level stuff right first.

However high we look, the end in sight is to see the glorious Kingdom of above settled and grounded.

(Photo by Jan Tancar from Pexels)

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

C. L. J. Dryden