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How do Christians advance Jesus’ kingdom here and now?

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November 4, 2020

The tone on social media, in the news, and in the public square in general is really harsh and often negative. It seems when we’re backed into a corner or in a situation we would not choose, we feel intimidated. When we feel overlooked, we want to be heard. When someone else asserts control over us, we feel insecure. Fear takes over. We bow up and start fighting our way out. It looks like bravery. Many people will call us strong, and maybe that’s true. But we learn from the prophet Jeremiah that when we engage in social, community, or even political issues, courage isn’t necessarily loud, and civility isn’t toothless at all. In fact, Christians have much good to do and the power to do it.

Under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon became the superpower of the day. After several years of war against Judah (the Southern Kingdom), Babylon sacked Jerusalem in 586 BC. There had already been one Jewish deportation 11 years earlier, but the significant one came when Jerusalem fell. The exiles, those Nebuchadnezzar deported from Jerusalem, were people of religious, financial, and political influence. They were upset about their situation, so they began listening to the false prophets who were promising a quick return home. Jeremiah, who was still in Jerusalem, wrote to them to remind them they weren’t coming home soon. It would be 70 years before the God who deported them would allow them to return. Seventy years is a lifetime. Many of the exiles would never see Jerusalem again. Babylon wasn’t their hometown, but it was their home now. 

We also know from reading the prophets Amos and Hosea, that Israel and Judah were conquered and then deported into exile because of their moral and spiritual disobedience. The prophets warned them, calling them to repent, but their hearts were hard, so God disciplined them by allowing their enemies to defeat them and deport them. Living under a foreign ruler on foreign soil became fertile ground for God’s sanctifying work in their lives. 

When God deported his people to Babylon, he did not isolate them in concentration camps or private communities. He put them in established cities. They lived in the city of Nippur, some in Susa, others in cities along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They were surrounded by people who spoke a different language, embraced different values, and worshipped false deities. 

It takes courage to love neighbors who may not love you in return. It takes civility to view other people with dignity and worth and to put their interests ahead of your own. God’s call on our lives is “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).

Jeremiah wrote this letter recorded in chapter 29 to a specific group of people at a specific time for a specific purpose. In our case, we are not in exile, but we are “foreigners and strangers” (1 Peter 2:11). We aren’t waiting to return to Jerusalem, but we are waiting for a new Jerusalem. We may not live in our hometown, but this is our home now. So when we consider how to apply these words Jeremiah wrote to the exiles, we take the long view, in light of the Lordship of Jesus and his view of the Kingdom.

Being Kingdom focused in this present age

In his book, The Kingdom Focused Church, Gene Mims notes that Jesus mentioned the “church” only twice in the Gospels, but he referred to the kingdom nearly 90 times. “After John [the Baptist] was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:14-15)! 

We may think of the Kingdom of God as a faraway idea or place or future event, but the Kingdom is near and now. The Kingdom is Jesus’ rule in the lives of his people, so the priority of the church and our motivation to engage in the public square are to join Jesus’ Kingdom activity in the world to redeem the world and prepare for his coming. 

Just as God’s people were put in cities throughout Babylon, God has placed you and me in a community with the same expectation of advancing his Kingdom. So in light of the social, ethnic, religious, and political challenges how do Christians advance Jesus’ kingdom here and now? 

Planting your life in a community means you settle down, grow roots, and become an active part of public life. You build relationships with your neighbors, you engage in commerce, join the HOA, volunteer at the Senior Center, run for office, and pay taxes. And you even advocate for social issues that affect the everyday life of your neighbors. 

Is your investment in your city conditioned on your neighbors following Jesus with you, attending your church, or even agreeing with you on social issues? Not at all. Will your neighbors ever worship your God? We hope so, but only God knows. Will their priorities be the same as yours? Will they agree with your politics? Not necessarily. Jesus loved and served many people who did not follow him. 

It takes courage to love neighbors who may not love you in return. It takes civility to view other people with dignity and worth and to put their interests ahead of your own. God’s call on our lives is “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8). He has placed us here so that through our acts of justice, mercy, and humility, our neighbors would see a picture of a coming Kingdom, a “city whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).

This is an adaptation from The Civility Church Toolkit: “Week 3 Sermon: Our Neighbors’ Good, Jesus’ Kingdom, and God’s Glory,” pgs. 59-63

Daryl Crouch

Following 28 years in pastoral ministry, Daryl Crouch now leads Everyone’s Wilson, a community transformation initiative that helps churches bring the whole community around every school so that every student, educator, and family can live whole. He’s married to Deborah, and they have four children. Read More by this Author

Article 12: The Future of AI

We affirm that AI will continue to be developed in ways that we cannot currently imagine or understand, including AI that will far surpass many human abilities. God alone has the power to create life, and no future advancements in AI will usurp Him as the Creator of life. The church has a unique role in proclaiming human dignity for all and calling for the humane use of AI in all aspects of society.

We deny that AI will make us more or less human, or that AI will ever obtain a coequal level of worth, dignity, or value to image-bearers. Future advancements in AI will not ultimately fulfill our longings for a perfect world. While we are not able to comprehend or know the future, we do not fear what is to come because we know that God is omniscient and that nothing we create will be able to thwart His redemptive plan for creation or to supplant humanity as His image-bearers.

Genesis 1; Isaiah 42:8; Romans 1:20-21; 5:2; Ephesians 1:4-6; 2 Timothy 1:7-9; Revelation 5:9-10

Article 11: Public Policy

We affirm that the fundamental purposes of government are to protect human beings from harm, punish those who do evil, uphold civil liberties, and to commend those who do good. The public has a role in shaping and crafting policies concerning the use of AI in society, and these decisions should not be left to those who develop these technologies or to governments to set norms.

We deny that AI should be used by governments, corporations, or any entity to infringe upon God-given human rights. AI, even in a highly advanced state, should never be delegated the governing authority that has been granted by an all-sovereign God to human beings alone. 

Romans 13:1-7; Acts 10:35; 1 Peter 2:13-14

Article 10: War

We affirm that the use of AI in warfare should be governed by love of neighbor and the principles of just war. The use of AI may mitigate the loss of human life, provide greater protection of non-combatants, and inform better policymaking. Any lethal action conducted or substantially enabled by AI must employ 5 human oversight or review. All defense-related AI applications, such as underlying data and decision-making processes, must be subject to continual review by legitimate authorities. When these systems are deployed, human agents bear full moral responsibility for any actions taken by the system.

We deny that human agency or moral culpability in war can be delegated to AI. No nation or group has the right to use AI to carry out genocide, terrorism, torture, or other war crimes.

Genesis 4:10; Isaiah 1:16-17; Psalm 37:28; Matthew 5:44; 22:37-39; Romans 13:4

Article 9: Security

We affirm that AI has legitimate applications in policing, intelligence, surveillance, investigation, and other uses supporting the government’s responsibility to respect human rights, to protect and preserve human life, and to pursue justice in a flourishing society.

We deny that AI should be employed for safety and security applications in ways that seek to dehumanize, depersonalize, or harm our fellow human beings. We condemn the use of AI to suppress free expression or other basic human rights granted by God to all human beings.

Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-14

Article 8: Data & Privacy

We affirm that privacy and personal property are intertwined individual rights and choices that should not be violated by governments, corporations, nation-states, and other groups, even in the pursuit of the common good. While God knows all things, it is neither wise nor obligatory to have every detail of one’s life open to society.

We deny the manipulative and coercive uses of data and AI in ways that are inconsistent with the love of God and love of neighbor. Data collection practices should conform to ethical guidelines that uphold the dignity of all people. We further deny that consent, even informed consent, although requisite, is the only necessary ethical standard for the collection, manipulation, or exploitation of personal data—individually or in the aggregate. AI should not be employed in ways that distort truth through the use of generative applications. Data should not be mishandled, misused, or abused for sinful purposes to reinforce bias, strengthen the powerful, or demean the weak.

Exodus 20:15, Psalm 147:5; Isaiah 40:13-14; Matthew 10:16 Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 John 1:7 

Article 7: Work

We affirm that work is part of God’s plan for human beings participating in the cultivation and stewardship of creation. The divine pattern is one of labor and rest in healthy proportion to each other. Our view of work should not be confined to commercial activity; it must also include the many ways that human beings serve each other through their efforts. AI can be used in ways that aid our work or allow us to make fuller use of our gifts. The church has a Spirit-empowered responsibility to help care for those who lose jobs and to encourage individuals, communities, employers, and governments to find ways to invest in the development of human beings and continue making vocational contributions to our lives together.

We deny that human worth and dignity is reducible to an individual’s economic contributions to society alone. Humanity should not use AI and other technological innovations as a reason to move toward lives of pure leisure even if greater social wealth creates such possibilities.

Genesis 1:27; 2:5; 2:15; Isaiah 65:21-24; Romans 12:6-8; Ephesians 4:11-16

Article 6: Sexuality

We affirm the goodness of God’s design for human sexuality which prescribes the sexual union to be an exclusive relationship between a man and a woman in the lifelong covenant of marriage.

We deny that the pursuit of sexual pleasure is a justification for the development or use of AI, and we condemn the objectification of humans that results from employing AI for sexual purposes. AI should not intrude upon or substitute for the biblical expression of sexuality between a husband and wife according to God’s design for human marriage.

Genesis 1:26-29; 2:18-25; Matthew 5:27-30; 1 Thess 4:3-4

Article 5: Bias

We affirm that, as a tool created by humans, AI will be inherently subject to bias and that these biases must be accounted for, minimized, or removed through continual human oversight and discretion. AI should be designed and used in such ways that treat all human beings as having equal worth and dignity. AI should be utilized as a tool to identify and eliminate bias inherent in human decision-making.

We deny that AI should be designed or used in ways that violate the fundamental principle of human dignity for all people. Neither should AI be used in ways that reinforce or further any ideology or agenda, seeking to subjugate human autonomy under the power of the state.

Micah 6:8; John 13:34; Galatians 3:28-29; 5:13-14; Philippians 2:3-4; Romans 12:10

Article 4: Medicine

We affirm that AI-related advances in medical technologies are expressions of God’s common grace through and for people created in His image and that these advances will increase our capacity to provide enhanced medical diagnostics and therapeutic interventions as we seek to care for all people. These advances should be guided by basic principles of medical ethics, including beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice, which are all consistent with the biblical principle of loving our neighbor.

We deny that death and disease—effects of the Fall—can ultimately be eradicated apart from Jesus Christ. Utilitarian applications regarding healthcare distribution should not override the dignity of human life. Fur- 3 thermore, we reject the materialist and consequentialist worldview that understands medical applications of AI as a means of improving, changing, or completing human beings.

Matthew 5:45; John 11:25-26; 1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Galatians 6:2; Philippians 2:4

Article 3: Relationship of AI & Humanity

We affirm the use of AI to inform and aid human reasoning and moral decision-making because it is a tool that excels at processing data and making determinations, which often mimics or exceeds human ability. While AI excels in data-based computation, technology is incapable of possessing the capacity for moral agency or responsibility.

We deny that humans can or should cede our moral accountability or responsibilities to any form of AI that will ever be created. Only humanity will be judged by God on the basis of our actions and that of the tools we create. While technology can be created with a moral use in view, it is not a moral agent. Humans alone bear the responsibility for moral decision making.

Romans 2:6-8; Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Peter 1:5-8; 1 John 2:1

Article 2: AI as Technology

We affirm that the development of AI is a demonstration of the unique creative abilities of human beings. When AI is employed in accordance with God’s moral will, it is an example of man’s obedience to the divine command to steward creation and to honor Him. We believe in innovation for the glory of God, the sake of human flourishing, and the love of neighbor. While we acknowledge the reality of the Fall and its consequences on human nature and human innovation, technology can be used in society to uphold human dignity. As a part of our God-given creative nature, human beings should develop and harness technology in ways that lead to greater flourishing and the alleviation of human suffering.

We deny that the use of AI is morally neutral. It is not worthy of man’s hope, worship, or love. Since the Lord Jesus alone can atone for sin and reconcile humanity to its Creator, technology such as AI cannot fulfill humanity’s ultimate needs. We further deny the goodness and benefit of any application of AI that devalues or degrades the dignity and worth of another human being. 

Genesis 2:25; Exodus 20:3; 31:1-11; Proverbs 16:4; Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 3:23

Article 1: Image of God

We affirm that God created each human being in His image with intrinsic and equal worth, dignity, and moral agency, distinct from all creation, and that humanity’s creativity is intended to reflect God’s creative pattern.

We deny that any part of creation, including any form of technology, should ever be used to usurp or subvert the dominion and stewardship which has been entrusted solely to humanity by God; nor should technology be assigned a level of human identity, worth, dignity, or moral agency.

Genesis 1:26-28; 5:1-2; Isaiah 43:6-7; Jeremiah 1:5; John 13:34; Colossians 1:16; 3:10; Ephesians 4:24