Do you know some believers who identify as conservatives and others who identify as liberals? In my Father’s house there are many mansions, and room for many viewpoints. Yet I still said that my Kingdom is not of this world. Do these believers hold the same ideological positions as those of conservatives and liberals outside of the community of faith? But those are positions that are very much of the kingdoms of this world. Wouldn’t you expect something different about the positions of the subjects of the Kingdom of heaven that marks them as distinct?

I asked my disciples who men said that I am, and they gave various responses from what they had heard from others. Then I changed the question to make it more personal. Who do you say that I am? Simon Peter said that I was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This was the right answer, and I said that he was blessed because flesh and blood had not revealed this unto him, but my Father in heaven. Firsthand experience speaks with more authority than derived sources. You can learn from books but you need to make their truth your own reality. So who do you say that I am?

Do you surround yourself by people you choose? Everyone needs human contact and a sense of belonging, and prefers the company of those like-minded. But is this really a community? If you have control over all your connections, does it meet all your needs for growth? True growth to your full potential will require you to come into contact with people you did not choose, and a true community will provide such people. If you understand that this is true, then how do you go about choosing the right people that you would not choose? Don’t worry.

I sent my disciples out in pairs to do ministry in my name and gave them some other instructions. They were excited when they returned saying that even the demons were subject to them in my name. I told them to rejoice not in this, that the demons were subject to them, but that their names were written in heaven. You may not be impressed by worldly power, but are you impressed by spiritual power?