A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)
Kingdom values aren’t kingdom values without the King. Loving one another wasn’t new; loving as Jesus loved was new.
If we are going to proclaim the kingdom, we must proclaim the King. If we are going to “bring heaven to earth,” then we will necessarily bring the One whose very presence fills heaven.
So let me put it this way: if you’re feeding and building and digging and giving for the sake of the Kingdom, tell people about the King. Talk about Jesus, who he is, what he’s done for us, and the eternal life he wants to give to us.
Bonus: “Trying to have a Kingdom with no King is just -dom.” :-)
Legalist. ;)
Seriously, though – this is something that needs to be articulated far and wide. A lot of people act as if they believe that what Jesus cares about is whether or not people reap the benefits of living near the kingdom – not whether or not they become citizens of His kingdom.