Could we just claim the kingdom to enter? Children had to be claimed in order to have value and be relevant to society. Following that line of thinking, does the kingdom also have to be claimed to be relevant? If the kingdom isn't claimed can it have any actual value?
Its hard to make this connection. Thinking that one only has to be child-like almost seems easier than sorting out the mess that apparently comes with sifting through the technical meanings or what the original text in scripture actually says.
In thinking of the kingdom as one would a child of the time:
Those children who were not claimed were considered non-persons, " a biologically functioning piece of flesh," but nothing more. They were valueless without someone to validate their existence. If we choose not to validate the existence of God's kingdom, is it also valueless? When a child was born, Roman society had the right to determine what the child was worth. Do we as a society also have the right to determine what the kingdom is worth?
It seems like a stretch. It seems a little offensive (maybe? I don't really know). Many people think "Kingdom of God" and it is instantly put on a religious pedestal. There are some things you just don't say in regards to it. BUT, are we, as God's beloved, what makes that kingdom valuable? Almost in a patron-client type relationship, does our stand as "kingdom" or "non-kingdom" people add or detract to the kingdom's value?
Definitely less of a headache to think that Christ wanted us to have child-like faith...
Maybe we should think of it as not our thoughts that give it value, but rather our thoughts that allow us to realize the value it has, regardless. We don't give God existence by believing in Him...rather, He reveals Himself to us, and our belief in Him is our response to such a realization. Maybe we should think of the Kingdom of God in the same kind of way. Christ reveals its value to us, and it is not our reception of it that gives it the value.
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