Theology Blog

Mike Breen is an author that I have been enjoying immensely, especially this past month. His book, Covenant and Kingdom is my favorite of all his work. He speaks of these two concepts in a powerful way. Below is a summary of what he has to say:

“Covenant is the way in which the Bible describes and defines relationship: first our relationship with God and then our relationship with everyone else.”

“Kingdom is the way in which the Bible describes and defines our responsibility: first, our responsibility to represent God to the people we know and then to everyone else.”

I find these two realities as described by Breen to be helpful, life-giving and challenging. I have long wrestled with the tension of being versus doing. I have spent time in both church and educational settings that focused primarily (or even solely) on personal piety or social justice. These settings have been a gift as they have helped me grown in each of these areas, but have also been frustrating as I have always seen both of great and perhaps equal value. In some ways the two camps have felt much like our political system; democrats vs. republicans, conservatives vs. liberals. Jesus was never a person who spoke of or lived in balance. Its not an easy of balancing these two camps; personal piety/devotion/character/covenant/relationship and social justice/service/competency/kingdom/works. All are of great value and there is no balancing the two. To be a disciple means to be fully immersed in personal piety and devotion along with covenant and relationship as well as being fully immersed in social justice and service along with the kingdom and works. We have an identity and relationship with Jesus Christ and also have a responsibility to this world. Works and faith cannot be separated. Both covenant and kingdom matter.