Will it All Burn?

Last week, I went on a mission trip with RUF to Lagniappe Presbyterian Church in Bay St. Louis, MS. Our focus was rebuilding the Mississippi coast still ravaged by the impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. During the week, we laid the foundation for a house as well as framed another one. But was there a point to rebuilding any of these houses or spending our group’s time and energy (we happened to have a lot of energy, by the way)? Won’t all the fruits of our labor be gone when the next hurricane goes through? Or if not then, won’t these houses be gone anyway in a hundred years or so? Even more, won’t they be destroyed at the coming of Christ when this world will burn? It seems we labored in van.

But of course, this is not the case. When we were down in Mississippi, or when we are doing anything for the name of Christ, we are about the business of building Christ’s kingdom. But we aren’t building a physical kingdom of houses for the unfortunate. We are in the business of building a spiritual kingdom of new believers in Christ, and one of the many ways of doing this is to provide these people with houses and basic necessities. Christ would have done the same. The miracles he preformed did meet many fundamental human needs like hunger and healing, but the miracles were never meant for just that. They were meant to point to the One who makes all things new again. In the same way, our works are to do the same.

So will it all burn? Yes it will all burn: the houses, the parks, the gospel tracts, the donated food, and the homeless shelters. But what will not burn is the imperishable inheritance of the Son of God that is awaiting us and all the converts in heaven (1 Peter 1:4). We would do well to remember that.

Kingdom Work

I never realized how much doing work for God’s kingdom was tied to my personal eschatology until this week. Last Saturday, my RUF campus ministry and I travelled down I-20 into Russell Moore country and Bay St. Louis, MS. Bay St. Louis is located on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi (a good 10 hours from SC) and was devastated by a direct hit from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. New Orleans, 50 miles west, was also hit, as we all know. Three years later, substantial damage still remains, although things are looking a lot better.
Reformed University Fellowship is my campus ministry group at USC, and for those of you not familiar with it, it is an arm of the PCA denomination (of which I am not a part). The PCA is a brilliant but small Reformed and conservative church that just happens to be the fastest growing denomination in America today. By far their most innovative home missions project is Lagniappe Presbyterian Church, a church that was formed directly in response to the needs of the people of Bay St. Louis after Katrina. They meet in a warehouse every Sunday, and their primary ministry goal is to “participate in the restoration.” Lagniappe is known throughout the country primarily for the fact that they help to rebuild houses on the Gulf Coast. It would be easy for them to fall into the trap of making house building their primary ministry focus and niche, but because the PCA has such a high ecclesiology, Lagniappe does not. Their missions goal is not “participating in the restoration of houses” but “participating in the restoration” of everything. Their goal is not just to build houses, but to restore everything to God, which is Kingdom work.
What then is Kingdom work? Quite simply, it is “the restoration of all things.” Kingdom work is the prime directive of the Christian. It is the answer to the question “Now what, since I am saved?” It includes but is certainly not limited to evangelism. Sometimes, especially in evangelical circles, we believe that the only goal of life is simply spiritual reproduction (evangelism). There’s much more to living for Christ than just evangelism, even though that is to be our main goal. Proof? Christ’s miracles and teachings. Not only did Christ preach spiritual salvation, but he healed people and raised them from the dead. He was in the process of making things new again, restoring them to their pre-Fall condition. This is a great work that Jesus began and one that He will finish, but in-between, it is a task at which we are called to work. But I digress.
What I was talking about was my eschatology informing my daily actions for the Kingdom. From the beginning of the trip to Bay St. Louis, I was attempting to maintain a Kingdom focus for my actions. A long time ago, Christ had started making all things new: “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now [the reign of Christ] (Romans 8:22)” Last week and today, I have the opportunity and privilege (and it is essential that we look up Kingdom work as a grace-filled privilege from the King) of participating in bringing Christ’s reign over Earth just one step closer. Every piece of drywall and every shovel of dirt is one little step in the restoration process. Regardless of my view of the millennium, a belief that the Kingdom of God is already begun but not yet complete encourages me to “do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31).” Every little step is a participation in the restoration. We would do well to remember that.