Young Life, The Catholic Church and the Kingdom of God

Jesus’ message was the kingdom of God. He came to announce, to embody, and to inaugurate a new way of living, of relating, of loving. Jesus did not simply have a message about the kingdom, Jesus is the message of the kingdom. A seminary professor of mine once declared that the entire Gospel could be distilled down to one verse and he asked us to announce to the class what we thought that verse was. Quick to answer, many of us shouted, “John 3:16! Matthew 22:36-40! Romans 5:8!” Yet his answer surprised us:

“The time has come, the kingdom of God is near.

Repent and believe the good news!”

Mark 1:15

Jesus' primary message, the one that he took on flesh to personify, is the kingdom of God.  But what does this kingdom look like? What are its distinctive features? And how are we to contribute to this kingdom today? These are the questions that fill my mind, particularly as we enter into the entangled web of broken relationships, growing fears and bitter divisions that constitute today’s complex world. These are the questions that buoy my spirit when I get bogged down in all the challenges and uncertainties that surround the colossal project of bringing Catholics and Young Lifers together for the sake of Christ, kids and kingdom.

On days like today, hearing the words of Scripture, I am reminded that my central aim, just as it was for Jesus, is the kingdom of God. So what does that look like?

I’ll never forget how the above-mentioned professor, noted Princeton theologian and missiologist Darrell Guder, began each class.[1]  “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”[2] Those weren’t his own words. Dr. Guder was quoting David, the great Psalmist and hero of ancient Israel. What he was trying to get across, through this daily ritual of contrition, is that true kingdom work is not born of our esteemed efforts, as noble and sophisticated as they are. They are God’s. The mission is God’s. The kingdom is God’s.

This humility opens the door for real healing. In a world and in a church marked by fracture and division, our humility before the Lord and before each other allows the Spirit to tend to our wounds, alleviate our pain, and silence the voices that cause us to be afraid. Humility allows us to hear the words of God spoken to us in the daily liturgy, “Lord, I am not worthy to enter under your roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”[3] Humility allows us to own our mistakes but not be imprisoned by them. It allows us to say, “I’m sorry,” and set out on a new course of relationship and oneness.

This humility is the repentance about which Jesus spoke when he proclaimed, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the good news!” In humility we see that the relationship between Protestants and Catholics has been tragically marked by sin and separation. Through kingdom eyes we can see that the Lord calls us to repent and believe in a united future. In humility we know that the road to reconciliation will be hard and fraught with painful trial. Yet with kingdom hearts we acknowledge that Christ’s suffering paved the way for our healing, that we are one body of Christ called to serve one mission of God.

Lee Corder, Young Life’s Senior Vice President of the International North Division, notes, “Under missio Dei [the mission of God], the church becomes the community that is sent by the triune God into a world of alienation. As that church moves out toward the world, it must then come as reconciled community.”[4] A reconciling God sends a reconciled people into a world in dire need of reconciliation. In a word that speaks prophetically of the missional moment we are living in today, a moment of healing and shared mission between Young Life and the Catholic Church, Lee closed his doctoral project with this:

The blessings and challenges that such a synergy of ministry offers will not be without frustration and great difficulty. But, as individuals each uniquely touched by the Lord Jesus’ call, it is incumbent upon all to work to honor the call to unity and mission that this challenge presents. . . We must learn to respect, honor and serve one another under missio Dei. We, both church and mission, need one another.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.[5]

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[1] Dr. Guder currently serves as Princeton Theological Seminary’s Henry Winters Luce Professor of Missional and Ecumenical Theology. Guder is a brilliant mind and enthusiastic supporter of Young Life.

[2] Psalm 51:17.

[3] These words come from the mouth of the centurion, noted in the eighth chapter of Matthew’s gospel, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But only say the word and my servant will be healed.”

[4] Lee Corder’s Doctor of Ministry project, entitled “Church and Mission, Collegial Partners Under the Missio Dei,” provides an excellent vision for the relationship between mission organizations like Young Life and the institutional church as they participate, together as one body of Christ, in the one mission of God.

[5] From the Our Father or Lord’s Prayer.