Rick Mckinley - This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God

This Beautiful Mess will revolutionize the way you look at Jesus and His mission to bring the kingdom of God into our cosmos. If you are content with mere religion, dont read this book. It will force you to engage in the true mission of Christ.

C HRIS S EAY , pastor of Ecclesia and president of Ecclesia Bible Society

Rick McKinley reveals a raw faith in This Beautiful Mess that will catch you off guard. He strips away the religiosity that so often shrouds the true gospel.

M ARK B ATTERSON , New York Times best-selling author of The Circle Maker

Ministering to Problem People in Your Church:
What to Do With Well-Intentioned Dragons (coauthor)

Advent Conspiracy:
Can Christmas Still Change the World? (coauthor)

A Kingdom Called Desire:
Confronted by the Love of a Risen King

Jesus in the Margins:
Finding God in the Places We Ignore

T HIS B EAUTIFUL M ESS
P UBLISHED BY M ULTNOMAH B OOKS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. Scripture quotations marked ( NASB ) are taken from New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org).

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the authors added emphasis.

Details in some anecdotes and stories have been changed to protect the identities of the persons involved.

eISBN: 978-1-60142-570-6

Copyright 2006, 2013 by Rick McKinley

Cover design by Kristopher K. Orr; cover illustration by Martin French

All contributions in the Voices sections of this book are written by people in the Imago Dei Community and are used by permission.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

M ULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McKinley, Rick.
This beautiful mess : practicing the presence of the kingdom of God / by Rick McKinley with David Kopp.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Kingdom of God. 2. Jesus ChristKingdom. 3. Christian life. I. Kopp, David, 1949II. Title.
BT94.M264 2006
231.72dc22

2006023210

v3.1

To my wife, Jeanne: Your unconditional love has shown me that grace is living and breathing and embracing. You are the constant beauty in the midst of my mess.

Years ago, I dropped off my friend John at the airport. It was early, and wed driven for a half hour. Id dropped John off many times before, and the drive always gave us a chance to catch up. Our conversation that morning turned to politics. The president was to visit Portland the following week, and several of my friends were joining a march they hoped would bring attention to trouble they attributed to the World Bank. As we rounded an overpass and dropped onto Airport Way, my friend said something I havent forgotten. He said that when Jesus comes, when Jesus reigns, we will be amazed at how differently and perfectly He governs. What do you mean? I asked. John, who is something of a Bible scholar, provided a little more context for his comment. Jesus looked nothing like what the people of His day expected, he said. Jesus announced the arrival of the kingdom, yet He didnt work to build a government or take a stretch of land. He didnt pen a constitution. He wrote nothing, save truth and love on the hearts of His friends. Thats different from any other king, living or historical. In light of this, John said, it will be interesting to see how Jesus governs.

Our conversation that morning marked the first time I had given serious consideration to the kingdom of God. Before this Id thought of God as a shepherd, a father, a bridegroom, and so on, but not so much as a king, at least not king of an actual kingdom. I considered Him king in the way I considered Him Lord, which Im ashamed to admit meant little more than a sentiment of praise or adoration.

What if, I began to wonder, we are actually citizens of a greater kingdom? What does that kingdom look like? How does or will Jesus govern such a kingdom? What does patriotism look like in this kingdom? And how do I really know if I am a citizen?

Growing up in the evangelical church, I heard little about the kingdom of God. If the church was doing something in the community, it was simply the local church. The church did the work, and the church took credit for the work, being careful to give ultimate glory to God. And while I considered and still consider the work of these churches to be meaningful, these actions seemed to generate from the paradigm of the church as an aid organization or community center more than as an embassy of Gods kingdom. By this way of thinking, if the church had a kingdom, supported a kingdom, loved a kingdom, and defended a kingdom, that kingdom would have to be America, not some mysterious kingdom that Jesus governed.

The church I attend today, whose pastor wrote this book, embraces a different paradigm. This is not to say that we dont love America. We do. But more than America, we love the kingdom of God. Ultimately, the rules and workings of Gods kingdom are a departure from the rules and workings of the utopia-envisioned declarations of our Founding Fathers. Unfortunately, their construct must balance its agenda atop the social upheaval generated by the Fall, a severe disadvantage.

Pastor Rick told me about his book before it was published. Now in its second edition, this book wonderfully clarifies some of my earlier questions regarding the mysteries of the kingdom. He also helps me understand my role in this kingdom and why Imago Dei, our church, involves itself in the world so differently than any other congregation Ive been a part of.

As I read this book, I feel a sense of relief thatas tragic and temporary as the kingdoms of the world may betrue justice, true peace, true unity in diversity will happen within the kingdom of God and that this kingdomone without borders or flagsis actually alive and active throughout the world today. Considering humankinds limited ability to demonstrate kingship (a few thousand wars come to mind), I personally find great hope in the presence of the kingdom of God and a deeper desire to participate in it.