Additional Scripture Reading

Romans 13:1-7

Sermon Quotes

“Christians have failed to embody the church as an alternative politic and have instead opted for influencing and improving Caesar or transforming culture or using the political process to accomplish their wishes … Many fall for the belief that the next candidate or vote can bring kingdom conditions. Some give themselves to politics and an increasing number have joined hands with the political process through social activism. To be blunt, many have abandoned the church and opted for the political process and are now calling it kingdom work. In one simple sentence, what Christians want for the nation should first be a witnessed reality in their local church. Until that local church embodies that desire for the nation, the church’s witness has no credibility … too many Christians have ignored the politic of the local church and bowed down to the politics of the world. Politics is a colossal distraction from kingdom mission. Politics entails diminution of our kingdom message … politics entails energies and time that could be used more directly for kingdom mission tasks. Politics means seeking to influence the state in the direction of the kingdom, but in doing so it is asking the public and the state to put into law and policy the kingdom story. Politics sees victory when a candidate wins or when a law passes or a policy is reformed. I speak directly now: we kingdom people don’t need the state, we don’t need the majority, and we must refrain from equating victory in the world with kingdom mission.” Scot McKnight, Kingdom Conspiracy

(The above quote is full of provocative thoughts and the entire time together as a group would be well spent if people shared their thoughts, questions, and disagreements with what McKnight says.)

2.  How can we as Christians embody the alternative realities of peace, gentleness, and unity? As McKnight puts it, how do we as a local church “first be a witnessed reality” to Jesus’ alternative way?

3.  President Trump is a controversial leader who sparks some kind of reaction every time he tweets or talks. How do we as Christians and as a local church navigate our differences about our current president in healthy and Kingdom oriented ways?

4.  When is civil disobedience required of Christians in order to be faithful to their primary calling as Christ-followers? How is this done redemptively and in a manner consistent with the ethics of the Kingdom?

Uncommon Decency, Richard Mouw

Faithful Presence, David Fitch

To Change the World, James Hunter

Additional Scripture Reading

“Your desire for more of God than you have right now, your longing for love, your need for deeper levels of spiritual transformation than you have experienced so far is the truest thing about you. You might think that your woundedness or your sinfulness is the truest thing about you or that your giftedness or your personality type or your job title or your identity as husband or wife, mother or father, somehow defines you. But, in reality, it is your desire for God and your capacity to reach for more of God than you have right now that is the deepest essence of who you are.”

2.  Where is Jesus inviting you to “grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2)? Be specific. The following attributes of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) might provide a starting point for the discussion on where the Spirit might want to bring specific growth.

Love                    Joy

Peace                   Patience

Kindness              Goodness

Faithfulness         Gentleness

Self-Control

3.  What kinds of “good deeds” (1 Peter 2:12) can we manifest in these challenging times to help people discover a different vision of Christianity and the Church?

4.  As you think back over the years you have been following Jesus, how has He changed you? What kinds of practices have you engaged in along the way to create a space for Him to do his transforming work?

5.  It might be encouraging to have your group read out loud Ephesians 4:17-5:20 simply to hear Paul’s vision of a life being transformed. Or, if you prefer, Colossians 3:1-17.

Uncommon Decency, Richard Mouw

Faithful Presence, David Fitch

To Change the World, James Hunter

Additional Scripture Reading

“… one of the real problems in modern life is that the people who are good at being civil often lack strong convictions and people who have strong convictions often lack civility … We need to find a way of combining a civil outlook with a “passionate intensity” about our convictions. The real challenge is to come up with a convicted civility.”

Richard Mouw, Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World

“Faithful presence names the reality that God is present in the world and that he uses a people faithful to his presence to make himself concrete and real amid the world’s struggles and pain. When the church is this faithful presence, God’s kingdom becomes visible, and the world is invited to join with God. Faithful presence is not only essential for our lives as Christians, it’s how God has chosen to change the world.”

David Fitch, Faithful Presence: Seven Disciplines That Shape the Church For Mission

2.  Why is Christian anger such a common response to the current culture? Why is anger ultimately destructive and harmful to the Christian witness?

3.  What would “faithful presence” look like in your life situation—at work, school, neighborhood, etc.? Describe what being a faithful follower of Jesus would look like in your situation.

4.  Discuss this statement by Dallas Willard and what it might mean for us today: “Historically, the Church (people of God) has always been at its best when it has the least.”

Uncommon Decency, Richard Mouw

Faithful Presence, David Fitch

To Change the World, James Hunter

Mike Lueken - Colossians 4:2-6

Mike Lueken - 1 Corinthians 11:17-34