Proclaim as a herald 

11th February
Is it possible that being theologically conservative can make a Church denomination or movement less than Christian?The core preaching of the early church is known as Kerygma, the English word derives from a Greek verb κηρύσσω meaning 'to cry or proclaim as a herald’. The Kerygma has been summarised as "Jesus loves us, died for us, is alive and near us all.” All of which is an essential message that the church must proclaim. But here’s the thing, in contrast to the preaching of the early Church, the message of Jesus was bigger than this. As Matthew 4:17 reminds us, ‘From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near". The message of Jesus was not limited to a faith that can be confined within a Pietist framework. (Everything is about Jesus and me, and social justice doesn’t matter.) Entering into a personal relationship with Jesus is essential, but Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God requires us to aspire to something bigger than simply getting people into church to indulge in emotional encounters that leave the rest of the world unchanged. We are not meant to exist in a bubble of high-octane spirituality that is an escape from the world. Jesus taught us to pray: ‘Your kingdom come, and then, in a classic Hebrew parallelism, added a second clause that explained what that looks like: “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10). In other words, our personal relationship with Jesus is meant to lead us into the aspiration, ambition and actions that change the world for the better by bringing a little bit of heaven to earth. If we want to change the world, as well as the essential Kerygma, (“Jesus loves us, died for us, is alive and near us all.”) we need the full witness of scripture as part of our proclamation. For example, we need the witness of Genesis 1:27 that reminds us that all humanity is made in the image of God, and everyone is worthy of dignity, respect and reverence and compassion. “So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them". When we apply this by challenging racism, the persecution and demonisation of minority ethnic groups by speaking out against the far-right for example, we are engaging in aspirations, ambition and actions that change the world for the better and are enacting Matthew 6:10. If a Christian movement restricts itself to the Kerigma and remains silent in the face of overtly racist political rhetoric and movements like the hanging of St George's flags to intimidate and bully minority ethnic groups, is it still a fully Christian Church? It can’t be because it is not seeking the kingdom of God, which was the essence and content of Jesus' message. When the leadership of “Christian’ movements allow themselves to be intimidated into silence about the kingdom of God by the more conservative factions within it, the movement ceases to be Christian. We must proclaim the Kerigma, but unless we also bear witness to all of scripture and the kingdom of God, we are no longer following Jesus who taught about it, and asked us to pray for the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. We need to pray for our leaders, that they may find the courage to articulate a fully Christian message in the public arena and recover a theological grasp of Jesus’ message about the kingdom of God.