Concentric Circles & the Kingdom of God

	Christians love diagrams with concentric circles. Whether it's the counseling circles of Larry Crabb's early work, or Rick Warren's purpose-driven diagrams, Christians just love pix of circles. I'm not saying we should avoid circles, but that we perhaps rethink them.
	Because while circles make sense mentally, they often functionally feel more like this. And I'd like to suggest that the reason for that is wrapped up in which direction we attempt to order the circles -- from the outside in, or the inside out.

In Crabb's counseling model, the inner-most circle is the "personal" circle. It's the least accessible to most people, and only the trusted few enter it. For the purpose-driven crew, the inner circle is the "core", and in similar fashion to the counseling model presented by Crabb, people have to start with the outermost circle and gradually work their way in to the more rarefied "core" (beyond even being "committed").

I would like to suggest that Jesus turns this idea completely on its head. And why not? The majority of Jesus' most radical teachings, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), turn everything we thought upside-down already. Why stop now?

Jesus starts by challenging our view of what His Kingdom is and how it functions. And since His Kingdom is available to anyone who surrenders to Him, then the "core" is the starting place, not the outer circle.

The book that got me thinking about this was the old classic from John Wimber, Power Evangelism. While the latest cover art seems really bland, the content of this book is anything but. The choice of the title sounds really 80's, when everything was "power this" and "power that" (like the late 90's when everything was "postmodern" or "pomo"), but again, the content...

But it was this quote that reminded me that everything we deconstruct, reconstruct, or whatever has to have as its basis the Kingdom of God:

"This means that the church witnesses to the kingdom but does not have authority in herself to build the kingdom; only God has that authority. When "church" is confused with "kingdom", leaders assume that God's authority resides in their office, that they are the rule of God. Authoritarianism -- even cultishness -- can be an unfortunate result of this kind of thinking. When pastoral leaders understand that their authority is derived from the kingdom of God, and that rule is not equated with office, they are restrained from leading in their own authority." (pg. 21, emphasis added)

Unlike our personal circles or church growth diagrams (which aren't necessarily inaccurate), the Kingdom starts with the innermost parts. That's why people call it the "upside-down" Kingdom. It works on a completely different paradigm than we are normally wired for. And church structure, leadership styles, or whatever have to be based in an understanding on what the Kingdom is, its purposes, and the wishes of its Founder and Instigator.

Stay tuned...