Humans love to categorize other humans. We do it all the time. As you walk down the street or through the grocery store, you are making conclusions about the type of human each stranger you pass might be. It’s the reason the internet is filled with personality quizzes, astrology horoscopes, and even Buzzfeed quizzes. We laugh at caricatures, and we love little skits that poke fun at quirky stereotypes. It’s the reason some people are called “a Karen,” and others are called “almond moms.” Categorizing people helps us make sense of our world, and categorizing ourselves by the same standards helps us find where we fit in. What did Jesus teach about the kingdom of God?
We Can’t Help But Categorize Our World
Categorizing people isn’t innately negative. While certain categories are discriminatory and offensive, we cannot help but create categories because we are made in the image of a God who designed order. He created categories from the very beginning. He distinguished day from night and male from female.
Though we often seek order, just like God designed us to, our world is filled with disorder. I once thought Satan’s primary method to cause destruction was deeply calculated evil schemes. And though I won’t deny he makes plans for our harm, I am becoming more and more convinced that his primary objective is to cause chaos. With our sinful nature and unhealthy coping mechanisms, we don’t usually respond to chaos well. If he just instigates a little chaos, sometimes we destroy ourselves without any extra help.
The Enemy Hijacks Our Categories
The solution to living God’s way isn’t by throwing order away or removing our categorization. But when the enemy can’t cause widespread chaos in our lives, he often attempts to distort our categories and turn our order into disorder. Even the slightest distortion can change our decisions and desires so they are no longer aligned with God’s Kingdom. The question we all need to ask, then, is, “How does God categorize the world?”
The Kingdom of God
Jesus answered this through many of His parables in Matthew 13 and beyond. His description of the Kingdom is meant to redefine some of our categories and flip others on their heads. When I was younger, I used to say, “every day is opposite day with Jesus,” because so many parables He taught challenged people to rethink their categories, sometimes rewriting them entirely. So, how does Jesus tell us to categorize our world in Matthew 13? Let’s take a look:
Recategorizing By Kingdom Principles
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
RECATEGORIZE What You Think You Know
One of Jesus’ first lessons about the Kingdom tells us to question everything we thought we knew. If the Kingdom is like a man sowing seeds in a field, where weeds were also planted and growing right alongside the good seed, then it will be fairly impossible to separate the plants sufficiently until the harvest (symbolizing the day of judgment, where God will separate those who love Him and those who don’t.)
So, the way we sometimes try to play God by figuring out every category with such finality is futile. People will surprise you. There will be people who fit into all your good Christian categories that have evil hearts. Similarly, there will be people you would immediately write off as beyond redemption that you will joyously greet at heaven’s doorstep. Stop judging and live among the weeds and the wheat with humility and obedience. The tension of not knowing can be difficult to grapple with, but in practicality, Jesus’ call is simple: love your neighbors and your enemies.
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
RECATEGORIZE How You Measure Success
One of the most common categories we like to define our world by is success. But what is success? Is it:
- How much money you make
- How big your house is
- How close your family is
- How often you serve at church
- How lasting your legacy will be
Even Christian measures of success based on spiritual ideals can be flawed. Jesus tells us that we cannot judge success through appearances. If the tiny, tiny mustard seed can develop into such a large tree, what other small measures of faith or obedience can produce great fruit? Sometimes, the assets we take the most pride in are not the things God deems successful at all. Do you think you’re successful because you lead a small group or because you give to missionaries? Your success is not based on you. Anything you rely on in a self-sufficient way (even if it’s spiritually driven) can be an area of stronghold rather than an area of surrender. Instead, it is faith like a child – as small as a mustard seed – that makes Jesus smile.
The Parable of the Leaven
33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”
RECATEGORIZE What You Think Is Possible
Have you ever baked bread with yeast or leaven? Most loaves of bread only need a pinch of yeast to make the whole bowl of dough double or triple in size. In fact, bread dough requires very few ingredients. It’s typically just flour, water, and maybe a pinch of salt or sugar. Though the other ingredients fill the bowl, it’s the tiny pinch of yeast doing all the heavy lifting.
There are many spiritual parallels. We only need a little faith to do incredible, even impossible things. This also reminds me of the Holy Spirit within us. The infusion of the Spirit in our lives is often invisible, but through His power in us, miracles can happen. Things that did not even seem realistic can happen in front of our eyes and make our jaws drop. In addition to this “a little goes a long way” principle, Jesus is also teaching a lesson about God’s Kingdom: Don’t rely on the world to tell you what’s possible. Jesus heals the sick, raises the dead, makes the blind see, and the lame walk. He provides funds to pay your bills that weren’t there before, and he opens doors that seemed fastly closed. Never say never. Use your little mustard seed of faith and drop it in your bucket of impossible things, and see what God does!
The Parables of the Treasure and the Pearl
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
RECATEGORIZE The Appraisal of Your Life
When you think about living according to God’s Kingdom and seeing heaven come to earth a little each day, what is that worth to you? Many of us view the “heaven to earth” part as a side quest amidst other responsibilities. We live in a world and an economy that tells us we must trade our time, our talent, and our resources for money. More and more, this isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity. Making money is a survival skill. As the economy ebbs and flows, our primary goal becomes paying the bills. I won’t minimize the weight that this puts on our shoulders, and I won’t say to throw caution to the wind and stop caring about money. What I will say is that in God’s economy, money isn’t at the top of the totem pole. In God’s economy, money is just one of many assets that God uses to fulfill even greater desires and purposes.
Think about it – is money really what you want? Or:
- Do you want your family to be well-fed and happy?
- Do you want to feel like your future is secure and peaceful?
- Do you want to feel like the work you do is fulfilling and enjoyable?
- Do you want to have the time and resources to rest well and play well?
Our economy tells us money is the only way to do these things. Jesus tells us HE is the way, the truth, and the life. All the things we’ve ever wanted can be achieved through Him, whether it’s through money, generosity, or just God’s sovereign provision. So, no wonder this parable compares the Kingdom of God to a treasure. Everything we were made for can be experienced and fulfilled through God’s Kingdom. It’s worth more than money can buy. It’s even worth making short-term sacrifices as you look toward the long-term riches that await you. It’s worth it.
The Parable of the Fish
47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.
RECATEGORIZE How You Spend Your Mental Energy
As Christians, we are taught the difference between right and wrong. Naturally, we want to categorize our world accordingly. We want to identify who are the good guys and the bad guys. We want our world to fit into tidy boxes because that makes a chaotic world feel like it makes sense. This compulsion is normal, but the results are often harmful. This categorization leads to legalism, judgment, hypocrisy, self-righteousness, and pride. Instead of wasting our mental energy trying to figure people out and identify which eternal camp they fall into – Jesus is telling us to let it go. It’s not our job to decide, and sometimes, it’s just none of our business to know. Our job is to proclaim the good news to anyone who will listen and invite everyone to come to the wedding feast. Jesus will handle the RSVPs from there – so don’t let it stress you out or hold you back. Be free.
The Parable of the Storeroom
52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
RECATEGORIZE How You Decide If You’ve “Made It”
As the disciples listened to Jesus’ Kingdom parables, they would have noticed Him referencing Scriptures they were familiar with. But the way that he referenced them turned their understanding of what the Scriptures meant upside down. He was rejecting any Jewish tradition that contradicted the truth while also embracing the legacies of God’s people who understood God’s plan, even in the Old Testament. Here, Jesus acknowledges that He’s not asking the Jewish teachers to throw everything they know away and start over. Instead, He’s showing them how the Old Testament (specifically the Torah) fits within a larger picture and pointing out misconceptions so they can be corrected. They had a crucial puzzle piece in the Torah, but they didn’t have the whole puzzle without Jesus.
You and I can learn from this, too. For Christians who grew up in the church or have been in Christian environments for decades, it’s easy to think we’ve got it down by now. It’s so easy to hear a Bible story and subconsciously tune it out because we’ve heard it so many times. This lesson reminds us that the Kingdom isn’t boring like that. It’s like an infomercial where the salesperson, after telling you about many wonderful features, proclaims, “But wait! There’s MORE!”
But for Jesus – this isn’t a sales tactic. Instead, it’s an exciting reality. As C.S. Lewis showed in The Last Battle, there’s always more room to go “further up and further in.” So rather than settling into complacency, we can pray for a deeper hunger and ask God: “Show me more!”
Now, Go Forth and RECATEGORIZE!
Every day in the Kingdom of God is an adventure. Like one of those exciting fantasy books we read as kids, there’s a plot twist at every corner. We were born into a world that tells us success happens by certain means, money works in certain ways, and the hierarchy of moving up in the world is a one-way street. But, we were reborn into a kingdom that tells us to scratch all of those things off so we can understand how HE created the world to work. It’s a grand adventure to serve a King who provides success, fulfillment, joy, resources, and, yes, even money in ways much more grand than we could never have imagined. But the first step to living that grand adventure is rewriting the categories in our brains so that stepping out towards the wide horizon of possibilities God offers doesn’t paralyze us with fear. Do you believe He will provide for you? Do you embrace HIS definition of success? Do you consider HIS Kingdom values as you make decisions? That’s where the adventure shifts from an abstract idea to an abundant life. Are you ready for it?
