Lee Camp on the Kingdom
March 19th, 2009 by Sean
I’ve been reading Dr. Lee Camp’s book Mere Discipleship (a name which plays off the famous work by C.S. Lewis–Mere Christianity). While I’ve been working through it, I have been impressed by how much the kingdom features as a foundational doctrine when it comes to discipleship. So, I’ve been looking around online to see what else is out there and found a three part audio series that he delivered concerning his book. The second of these three lectures focused entirely on the kingdom of God. From listening to it, it sure sounds like he also believes in the sleep of the dead. He really presses his audience to jettison the heaven-at-death mythology and instead place their hope in the resurrection at the coming of Jesus.
Though, every time I hear Dr. Camp say, “Jesus preached that the kingdom had arrived,” I cringe (near does not equal here), I’ve been refreshed by how relevant his kingdom theology is to Christian living. One of the gems from this talk is to look at the ministry of Jesus (in particular his death and resurrection) as D-day: the day the American troops entered WWII. On this day one could say, “the fate of the war is sealed.” In a sense, what was needed to win, was put in place so that the outcome was “guaranteed.” Even so, it was not until V-day that the victory was consummated. Perhaps this is a helpful analogy when looking at the kingdom. Jesus’ brought about the necessary victory, but it has not been actualized yet in the world, nor will it be, until he returns (though the church is to embody the kingdom prior to its arrival).
It sounds interesting; I’m always looking for stuff to listen to. Just a small point– the Americans troops entered WWII before D-day, but I think it is a pretty good illustration. I would say the day that the outcome was sealed was the resurrection of Jesus.
Thanks for that clarification. If you want to listen to the whole 3-part series or access other Lee Camp audios, click here.
Near does not equal here (I like that)… However, I think if we realize how much Paul talks about, and uses the resurrection, to talk about concrete changes in reality in the here and now (and resurrection is firmly connected to the Kingdom in all its splendor), we must admit some healthy amount of inaugurated/realized eschatology. Resurrection did get moved from “the last day” into the middle of history, didn’t it?
for only one person
Don’t forget the first part…. “However, I think if we realize how much Paul talks about, and uses the resurrection, to talk about concrete changes in reality in the here and now”. At least put some effort into refutation.
sure…I’m not certain you and I disagree on this…but I would put it this way: Three eschatological (kingdom) events have occurred
1. The Messiah has come
2. Resurrection has occurred
3. The Holy Spirit has been poured out
Perhaps, we could add the cross to this list as God’s cosmic victory over Satan? but then again Satan, seems to be out and about in the present causing havoc (at least the last time I turned on the news, that’s how it appeared).
These three (or 4) kingdom events have occurred, thus we would expect there to be some serious consequences. I suppose the consequences are the very things that distinguish Christianity from Judaism. …And Paul is keen to speak about the cosmic implications of the statement, “Jesus is Lord” (and not Caesar).