Kingdom Conspiracy a 2014 book by Scot McKnight (Scot) is a spiritual book based on contemporary Christian faith in general and particularly the issue of the relationship between the church and general society. The USA has one of the largest Christian populations globally and encompasses both mainstream churches and the more current non-mainstream congregations. In the book, Scot defines the traditional mainstream churches as the pleated pant kingdom (McKnight, 2014, pp.2). The more modern liberal churches are defined as the skinny jeans kingdom (pp.1). Whereas these two ideologies are exponentially different as defined by Scot, he does not agree with either of them. Instead, Scot develops his own concept of what the church ought to be like from a perspective of the kingdom of God. According to the book, the church is an independent entity that ought to focus only on matters relating to the kingdom of God and have not say or attempt to have any tangible impact in the secular world through governance or civil works.
Scots’ Idea of the Cotemporary Church
The contemporary church according to Scot is divided into a more traditional approach and a modern approach referred to as pleated pants and skinny jeans respectively. Scot begins with the Skinny Jeans church which he contends has moved away from issues related to the traditional church as is trying to build their own version of the kingdom of God here on earth (pp.3). This is achieved through the undertaking of social justice projects both locally and internationally. Therefore, the skinny jeans church has been transformed into a civil rights movement and a humanitarian organization that is more concerned about societal wellbeing as opposed to spiritual wellbeing (pp.8). A good example was a pastor seeking to accomplish “kingdom work” and social activism, for compassion for the poor, for AIDS, and for building water wells in Africa (pp. 3). There is however no reference of the spirituality of the targets of the mission.
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The pleated pants church on the other part is more traditional and has maintained some form of focus on human spirituality and it’s relevant to the church (pp.9). These churches are still involved in preaching the good news and spiritual edification as indicated in scripture. Their main projects include preaching the gospel locally and internationally and bringing as many people as possible to the church and to the Kingdom of God (pp.11). However, this pleated pants church abandoned social justice projects locally and internationally. Pleated pants church is also involved in some humanitarian projects and also liaises with government towards achievement of social good. Finally, the pleated pants church will also criticize and/or correct the government when necessary.
Children’s Ministry
My opinion of the church, based on my faith in Christ and membership of an evangelical congregation entails a combination of both skinny jeans and pleated pants church. I believe that Christ came to the world to preach the gospel and transform all of us into Christians. However, his process of doing this involved a lot of social justice issues. He healed the sick and fed the poor. He also advocated for issues such as helping those who are needy and even those previewed to be wicked such as prisoners. Finally, among the most celebrated portions of scripture is Jesus saying that children should be allowed to come to him. It is my belief that children do not have any religious affiliation and do not yet belong to any church. This is the basis of children’s ministry. It goes beyond helping needy children which is among its basic to also include partnering with parents to ensure a better holistic future for the children. In the very least, children’s ministry should allow for the church to work alongside nonbelievers.
Scot’s Opinion on the Ideal Church
As aforesaid, Scot condemns both the skinny jeans church and the pleated pants church as going against the true Kingdom of God (pp.65). The book contends that the church is an extension of the kingdom of God which cannot be established by men as it is purely spiritual (pp.82). Therefore, the church should limit itself absolutely to issues relating to spirituality and within the church. The only thing that should be done outside the church is preaching the gospel so that people should come to the church (pp.102). Scot does not condemn social justice and indeed supports it. He however contends that the concern of the church on social issues should be limited within the borders of the church (pp.87). If the church wants to feed the hungry and help the needy, let it feed the hungry and help the needy who are already inside the church. If any of the needy and hungry need help from the church, let them join the church first, then get help.
This contention is based on several core arguments. The first one is that the kingdom is all about context and the context of the kingdom is God (pp.43). This eliminates all other interpretations of the kingdom of God which inform the contemporary church. The work of the church is therefore limited to those in the kingdom spiritually and actually. The second argument is that there is not kingdom outside the church (pp.99). This limits God’s people to church congregations thus eliminating any reason or probability of the church carrying out any other duties outside the church except telling people to come to church. Any other issues such as social justice can only be handled once the people are safely inside the church. This makes the mission of the kingdom to be limited to the mission of the church.
Implication on Children Ministry
As indicated above, children do not have actual spiritual affiliations and are only limited to the parental spiritual affiliation. It is, therefore, impossible for a child, who ought to be allowed to come to Christ according to scripture to make a personal decision to leave parental spiritual affiliation and become a church member. Further, it is impossible to reach out to children without reaching out to parents. Non-Christian parents will appreciate issues such as assistance and social justice and through them allow church members to access their children. This, therefore, cannot be done without liaison between the church and the secular world. Whereas the argument about the reality of the church and the kingdom of God can be argued from a theological perspective with no end in sight, the issue of children and children outreach should not be affected. However, the concept of the kingdom being limited to the insides of the church is detrimental to the concept of children’s ministry.
Conclusion
The book Kingdom Conspiracy goes beyond defining spiritual matter to judging how churches should me managed. It argues that the works and focus of the church should be absolutely limited to those who are members of the church. The only work done outside the church should be preaching the gospel so that people can join the church and the Kingdom of God. Spiritual opinion falls within the fundamental right of freedom of conscience and it is therefore within the right of the author Scot McKnight to believe as he does and also express himself. Further, the individuals, Christian or otherwise who read the book and analyze its message have a right to determine and decide whether to follow it or not in managing their lives and their churches. However, this privilege does not extend to little children whose right to children’s ministry will be affected by the writings in this book yet they are not in a position to defend themselves.
Reference
McKnight, S. (2014). Kingdom conspiracy: Returning to the radical mission of the local church . United States: Brazos Press, Division of Baker Publishing Group.
