Establishing Kingdom Communities - Part 1 — Dean Taylor

Okay, brother Nathan gave me this intimidating title and It's somewhat academic. I think in its in its this Okay, I know I asked for it. So yeah Amen Amen brother, and I think you and I and I just I'm so blessed to be here.

And I I can anybody pull together people like the overhauls. I I'm just constantly amazed what the overhauls can pull off and this is a perfect example and Just the different varieties even the different types of questions that come out.

I I just I love the energy of that. I love the the being true Bereans and looking into the Word of God and I'm just really excited to be here. My name is Dean Taylor. Okay. I got some disclaimers about me.

I'm on this was parts not a disclaimer. I'm married My wife Tanya for some 26 or 7 years. She has gone through a lot with me. I'm the father of six Incredible woman. She's followed me leaving the army going living in radical churches down with David Burso in Texas for 10 years 12 years in Lancaster County and then now in a Hutterite community for two and a half years and so she's an incredible woman and if you're married to a Visionary ladies, then you can feel my wife's pain.

It's it's it's not always an easy journey and she's been a tremendous blessing. I do live in a community. I live at Altona community that in Elmendorf for our sister communities. We live about an hour and a half from each other.

My job I'm a nurse anesthetist. Which means I put people to sleep and that's why they call me the preacher that puts people to sleep. I'm not sure a reason why that is but I hope it's because of my job.

I don't know so Okay, I love Jesus. I'm a born-again believer in Christ and I'm trying by the grace of God to be a real follower of Jesus and Lead my family in that way and that's that's who I am. And if I could say this Something about this is the disclaimer part our communities.

We're on a journey ourselves. We're trying to figure out life and we're trying not to focus on community but focus on Jesus Christ and living his way out. We're on a journey ourself and there's it's not the fix of everything.

There's certain things that are certainly much more challenging in community than not in community. And there's some blessings that are there. We ourselves are have made several changes that that now are exciting, but they also come with a lot of Caution because as we've already heard some people mention about a lot of sudden change and what that brings out.

So I tremble over some of those changes, but I'm excited about those changes as well. Again disclaimer. Okay. Well, I talk about the concept of community. I need to say it's a scary word I've noticed when you bring it up, you know people get sort of worried and all that kind of thing.

Kingdom Community as a Collective Witness

So I wanted to say some things of my view of community. So I'm not misquoted I believe that built into the essence of anabaptism is or biblical Christianity of any kind is Community it's built into the very way that we all are about now not all community of goods.

It's some more community, but we all at least have a community of charity. I think that's a term that Bender Heraldess Bender Had a concept and I will say this coming from an evangelical background into the Mennonite Anabaptist Amish and the Hutterite world.

The the concept of community that you have is something Incredible and I want to give you a pat on the back there I mean just like you were talking about if something happened with the tractor and all this and we and so there's something Built into this thing of seeing yourself as a people that is my desire to encourage that today and to even strengthen that.

Not all live in the same property like we do but all joined together with the distinct calling and purpose to Here's the key word Collectively glorify God and spread his kingdom as a people and I think that that's something that's built in to anabaptism.

So now okay say it Dean. Does Dean think that you have to live in a with a common purse and community of goods to be a real Christian? The answer is no. So as we get to different answers or people think Dean.

Are you saying this? I'm not saying that it's it's. It's not at all what I'm saying. Nevertheless Kingdom Christianity, I will say this by definition must be lived out in a people and a community a collective group of people on the same Wavelength doing the things together.

Okay. Here's a beautiful quote other people groups have done this. I found this great quote by John Wesley. I love how he worded it John Wesley who didn't live in a community like many of us even have but he had this Burden to be a people and he said this he says I continue to dream and pray about a revival of holiness in our day that moves forth in mission and creates authentic community in which each person can be Unleashed through the empowerment of the Spirit to fulfill God's creational intention.

Great quote John Wesley as I bring this idea of community and want to strengthen your concept of community. I do have to say I want to say I do have something to say. I didn't come here to say something.

I do have something to say and it's my desire that I don't want this to be the next fad. Okay, we tried revivalism. We tried this. I am scared that I I don't want the concept of community to be the next new fad that we try for a little bit and our children disregard on.

The one hand I believe that many of our Anabaptist communities are losing something very precious that you're losing it. And you don't even hardly know it. You're losing it to a pseudo community that goes around all of us.

On the other hand I am excited as I talk to people and hear people that many today are Catching on to the kingdom vision like never before and that excites me and I'm glad to be a part of that. I'm glad to be part of that.

So let's hear the title again Establishing kingdom communities tomorrow night. I'm going to try to go through actual Anabaptist concepts and quotes and see how this Concept of community is within all the Anabaptist groups and I'm going to be talking about specifics today.

The Kingdom Present and Future

I would like to just go to the biblical theology of this concept the kingdom. Community is something that I want to try to just lay the biblical foundation of that because I want you to be be careful.

There is a paradigm shift here and the concept you've already heard it today on the idea of a save me gospel or Or a concept of salvation to glorify God as a people and I believe so what I'm talking about is Representing the coming kingdom in today's reality as a title given here's a title I wanted.

Nathan didn't like it. But here's what I like to try to come down with titles. I like little slogans so people can get a hold of it. And here's if I could give to you the at a slogan the concept of what I believe Jesus's plan for the kingdom on earth is it's this that you we are as a church to be.

What is to become. Can you imagine that one day? We know the kingdom will come and we will worship Jesus for eternity. I want you in your mind to imagine what that will look like. It is our job to be ambassadors of that today.

Be what is to become Jesus prayed. I want you to pray like this. He said have your existence here on earth as it is in heaven he told us to seek first the kingdom of God and in Hebrews the writer of Hebrews gave us this concept of Partaking of what's to come in this passage that we quote a lot of time and in an idea of losing your salvation.

But you we missed this little nugget here in Hebrews 6 He says for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gifts and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God.

Watch this and the powers of the world to come. This explains what a born-again true Christian should be experiencing and the Powers of that heaven that world to come we're supposed to experience that today Romans Paul gave us in in Romans chapter 2.

He told us do not be conformed to this world this age this eon. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind that we are to exist in a different place. We are citizens of heaven and we are to be ambassadors on of Christ.

We are to be on earth like it is in heaven. There's a sense of now and not yet there. We know there will be a final day when Jesus will come and every the rising of the Sun to its going down the name Of Jesus will be praised but now It's it's we're not quite there yet in the beginning.

The kingdom was a garden in the end. It will be that everywhere. But for now, it's these nuggets these seeds called the church and You are to be What it's supposed to be like you are to be what is to become.

Allow yourself to dream. What will it be like and then people will say ah, so that's what they were talking about. They're living that kingdom today in reality now people say Dean and John D gets this a lot.

You talk about kingdom and money too much. I found this little graph and it's interesting. What you see here is a graph and up here is from 20 40 60 80 times 100 times 120 times are the amount of thing of times that Jesus talked about different subjects a 120-year and more times is the kingdom then the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of God the kingdom of heaven and heaven and so these concepts and then if you even had another one with economics and the money issues would be right in there and The different things that we typically think of our way down here.

And so I wanted I want to be About what Jesus is about. I want my heart to beat with what made Jesus heartbeat. I want to be a part of his dream for the cure for humanity. And this is what he talked about.

This is what he talked about so this beautiful kingdom that Jesus came to establish on this earth was planted from the beginning in Matthew 25 534 when he talks about those who will come into his kingdom because of their Kingdom attitudes of helping the poor and these different things that he mentions in Matthew 25.

He says then shall the King say unto them on his right hand come ye blessed of my father. Inherit the kingdom watch this prepared for you from the foundation of the world. God has a beautiful plan in this.

Paul even continued this this different discussion of the kingdom in the very last Act summarizes and finally comes up and it says and John D brought up this morning and when they had appointed him a day there came to him and to his lodging to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God.

Persuading them concerning Jesus both of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning until evening. Hallelujah the kingdom. Now we talk about the Anabaptists and how they expressed this. There's this next excerpt from a letter from Conrad Grebel and my opinion is the essence of Anabaptism.

Financial Gain Versus God's Truth

He said this writing to his friend Vadian who was his brother-in-law and he was a mentor all the time he was in college and yet he didn't join the Anabaptist movement and got a Job up in st. Gall and Conrad Grebel now is a is a converted zealous young man.

And he's writing him this letter and listen to the way he says it here. He says writing to Vadian. He said achieving financial advantage brings us at best a temporary happiness in this world and It can often disguise the naked force which supports it.

It is impossible to reconcile the love of money with God's truth. And here's the the statement and it's incredibly radical. I Believe the word of God without a complicated interpretation and out of this belief I speak.

That's it. I love that. You know. We need to get a study Bible an Anabaptist study Bible and we need it like when Jesus says love your enemies and then down. Here we'll open it up and it says what it really means is love your enemies, you know, that's the kind of thing.

It's it's simple. The Bible is easy to understand. He goes on to say may God give you the mercy to submit to his word without reservation and Obey it. Otherwise things probably don't stand as well with us as you might hope.

The way is narrow and then he says this. He says this the letter ends the teaching of the Lord has been given for the purpose of being put into practice. That is what drove the the new wine and the new wineskin of the early Anabaptist movement.

They the Bible was just coming out and they were getting little copies of the New Testament and young men were getting around and they're saying listen to this and they said Let's do it and they did it and they changed the world.

Dream with me think about it today. What if Jesus really meant every word? If we let this kind of thing permeate our existence today every generation community after community and allow those Words to be put into the practice.

We cannot fail. It may differ from here to here from century to century and but the point is are we even there is the question? What if Jesus many I think he did mean every word he said. Okay, so now we're going to talk about community when we consider community acts 2 and acts 4.

Acts 2 and Acts 4: Testimony Rather Than Command

Come up and we look at you know the the biblical thing and and that comes up in it and it should but the why is a more important question and I tell this to the Hutterites a lot. The example in acts 2 and acts 4 is a testimony.

It's not a command. There's no command to live in community like they did in acts 2 and acts 4. But it's a beautiful testimony and we get lost in this debate on should we live in community or should we not live in community?

And the communitarians pat themselves on the back and say well they did in acts 2 and 4 and then the non communitarian say well Paul later on gave examples of This to the church and to taking care of your widows and so each pat themselves on the back and both are missing one very important thing behind all of that language is A kingdom teaching and a radical cure for humanity created by Jesus Christ that they were trying each of them to put into practice.

That's what drove it. So if we congratulate ourself because we live in community and say well we live in community and we just share things and get worldly. Or the other guy doesn't live in community calls it stewardship.

We We aren't accomplishing what Jesus is is telling us to do but let's look at those passages. Those are important as Pentecost came and say what you want. Only one church in the Bible was completely started by God.

And without it was an apostle that was sent to your Pentecost poured out and here's what it looked like again. It's not a command though. It is not a command. There's no command here. It's just a testimony of living a kingdom life and fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles and all that believed were together and all things in common and sold their possessions and goods and part of them to all men and every man had need and They continued daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house.

They'd eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Praising God and having favor with all the people and the Lord added to the church daily. Such as should be saved and then acts 4 and happened again.

It's incredible that it happened again. It was a one-time thing. Okay, but then they were praying for what whatever they praying for when it happened a second time boldness we need boldness and the church got together and prayed and bam it happened again and The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul neither said any of them that they ought that the things Which they possessed have something was his own but they had all things common and with great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and Great grace was upon them all.

Neither was there any among them that lacked for as many as were. Possessors of lands or houses sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold and laid them down at the Apostles feet and Distribution was made into every man according as he had need.

Wow. Again, there's no command. You don't have to come under any kind of condemnation if you're not if your church doesn't and so. But what we see here don't miss the incredible kingdom testimony Acts 2 and 4 testimonies not command behind the teachings are the radical world-changing teachings of Jesus behind this testimony.

The Family of God and Radical Economic Discipleship

Is radical kingdom Christianity what teaching? Let's look at it. What were they why they do that? What were what were they getting at? But why do they just worry about getting saved? They should have you know, we've talked about some of those doctrines here first of all Jesus taught us about a real family of God and I tell you that coming out of the world and leaving the army and all that type of thing I have experienced that hundredfold here on earth like I Genuinely have and it's beautiful and Jesus talked about this and it's an important factor that I don't want you to lose in your churches.

You know the story of Matthew 12 and while I talked to the people behold his mother and brother and stood without Desiring to speak with him and then one said unto him behold your mother and your brother are standing without desiring to speak to thee.

But he answered and said unto him and told him who is my mother and who are my brethren and he stretched forth his hands Towards his disciples and said behold Behold my mother and my brother and for whosoever shall do the will of my father which is in heaven.

The same is my brother and my sister and my mother notice. He didn't add father that the that beautiful concept of being a true family. And if there's anything that people come by and they try to explain.

When you're really trying to live this kind of life in the way we call each other brother and sister and all this type of Thing I said, you know the way I could explain it to people who totally come from my background from the outside.

It's like you genuinely were were suddenly brought into this really big family, especially what we have. You know, I mean, it's like you it's it's genuinely like being a big family. And I've experienced that in many different settings in the Anabaptist world I Radical sacrifice I'll never forget.

The first time I was at Shippensburg I was that you asked me to speak there brother John Dee and I heard John Dee speaking on. I don't know if I've ever told you this on Luke chapter 12 and Luke chapter 12 I talked about the rich young ruler and you know, and I all that type of thing, but somehow it never completely gripped me.

But then John Dee was talking about Luke 12 and the problem with Luke chapter 12 is it's not the rich young ruler. He's talking to he's talking to his disciples and he was requiring of his Disciples some kind of a radical view of economics that in some way has to be lived out.

It doesn't have to be lived out in Acts 2 for as we saw Paul Clearly gave different ways that it could be lived out in a radical different way. But it does have to be lived out radically. Those are the commands of Jesus he said this I'm I could take you to the spot John Dee when you were preaching and I said Oh, cuz see when I was in college and everything down in Texas.

I was real poor. But then when I got this really great job suddenly, you know, you're really tempted to change those theologies and. And I as I wanted to walk in these teachings I found people saying to me the same type of Reasoning that people were saying to me back when I was in the army and they were saying I was taking the words of Jesus too far.

But listen to this radical teaching. Which I think both Paul and the Pentecost Church is it is expressing Luke says in 1231. But rather you seek the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.

He says fear not little flock. It is my father's good pleasure to give to you the kingdom. He wants to give to us the kingdom. Sell what that you have and give alms give to the poor. Provide for yourselves bags which wax not owed and treasures in the heaven that faileth not where no thief approaches.

Neither moth corrupteth for where your treasure is there will your heart be also that was to his disciples. Not the rich young ruler. I never caught that before. I heard you preach it. It affected me.

The Trinity as a Model for Christian Community

There's something also in the concept of what we what you have in your Anabaptist churches. Which I think this is one of the biggest concepts you're losing and that I think that is is the expression of Oops the community of the Trinity.

The community of the Trinity of the Brotherhood of the Trinity, however, you want to word it? There's a W Tozer. I think it was once said that every problem that we have in church Can go back in stem to some kind of misunderstanding about an attribute or a character of God.

And I believe it is this character of God that Jesus gave to us in that in that upper room and John right before his crucifixion that talks about why we go through all this trouble to live with each other and to dwell with each other and to work out the Hard things of a life together and to go through all these brothers meetings and discussions.

It's because we want to do something that Jesus let us know about an attribute of God. Listen to the way he words it in John 17 10 Jesus having him there. He says and all mine are thine and Thine or mine speaking about the souls there and I am glorified in them and now I am no more in the world.

But these are in the world and I come to thee Holy Father keep through thine own name those whom thou hath given me that they may be one as We are one who have any people here believe in the Trinity. Okay.

All right. A lot of you. Okay. Now you believe that concept of that oneness is pretty tight, right? He's he's letting us know about a character of God and he wants the church to show to the world this character of God and Get a hold of that.

He goes on He says as thou hath sent me into world even so I have sent them into the world. This community is not stagnant. It is active and And for their sakes I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth that they all May be one is now father art in me and I in thee that they also may be one in us.

Why? So that the world may believe that thou hath sent me he's staking his entire testimony on this character of his nature with the father and is desiring for the church to Represent this attribute to the world.

It's worth the trouble of all that you go through to be a tight brotherhood and The glory which thou hath given I have given them that they may be one even as we are one. I hear in that verse like psalm 133 on Sonny's out blessed it is for the brethren to live together on such I command a blessing I And them and thou and me that they may be made perfect in one.

And if the world may know that thou hath sent me and hath loved as thou hath loved me. You see our salvation as you've heard by John D. Martin this morning. It's not about you. It really is it and this was another revelation for me in my journey is Realizing this concept that it's not about me in this one passage I want to take the time to give to you if you got your Bible turn to Ezekiel 36.

This is one of those Fundamental you get to see yourself in the character of God type of passages I'll go on for time but turn to it and you can mark it in Ezekiel 36 verse 20 God is rebuking the people about his people for the way they went out and they This made a mess of his name and he says and when they entered into the heathen Everywhere they went they profaned my holy name when they said to them.

These are the people of the Lord. They're gone forth out of this land. So in other words everywhere people go in the name of God, they're embarrassing me but I had pity Not on them. I had pity for my holy name Which the house of Israel hath profaned among the heathen.

Everywhere there went therefore say into the house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord of God now watch this now. I Do not this for your sakes Oh House of Israel, but for my holy name's sake which you have profaned among the heathen everywhere you went and I will sanctify my great name which was profaned among the heathen which you have profaned in the midst of them and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord saith the Lord God when I Shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

For I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. And that's where he says and I will take that stony heart out of you and put in a heart of flesh.

I will put my spirit within you and then I will Cause you to walk in my statutes and judgment to glorify God. It's incredible concept. See at the very core of it. Yes, Jesus died for us because he loves us and God does love us and Jesus loved us.

But if you get down far enough, it's about the glory of God. Everything we do it's about the glory of God even our very salvation. Okay, so look at this different radical teachings. All right, I gave that one.

Living the Sermon on the Mount

Okay in this concept the Sermon on the Mount Becomes alive and instead of looking at the Sermon on the Mount as some sort of a well in my background. We saw it as something I think brother David mentioned or John D someone about, you know.

That dispensationalism the concept of living it out in the future, but let me ask you a personal question. How hard is it to love your enemies in heaven? I? Don't get it. I and that kind of thing was in my background.

Finally, I had to come to terms that the Sermon on the Mount was meant for us to live today. It is the cure for humanity of how he wants the kingdom community church to be. He says seven times. Jesus said I know what has been said.

But now I say anger and murder was taken even the name-calling adultery taken the concerns of even lust marriage made permanent as it was in the beginning. Jesus said Revenge was put away and now even the love of money not coveting or expanding to Would not coveting was expanded to to Everything that we had judgmentalism was supposed to be put away.

And then he says that whoever therefore shall break one of the least of these commandments shall and shall teach. So he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. Hope there, but whosoever shall do and teach them The same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven and I want to please God.

I try Fell all the time, but I I want to please God this place that he's talking about a place of repentance a place of renewal a place of Saints redeemed by God and implanted by his Holy Spirit a place in the way that Jesus explained what this would look like a place where the rich came in would say ouch and The poor would say hallelujah.

That's the kingdom that he a place that would manifest God's cure and dream for humanity a place that would act as a mighty Army that would take this kingdom to the ends of the earth. That's what he gave.

Jesus is the cure. Jesus offered the cure for humanity and He created his church as a showcase for his way. He made it the instrument of blessing for the whole world. That's what we're to be you are to be what is to become it's more than just facts.

It's a blueprint. Do you see it? It's important that you do. You know, we talked a lot about being born again in these circles and certainly the criticisms of fundamentalism needs to be looked at. But let me ask you a deeper question.

Jesus in the whole born-again passage said to Nicodemus verily verily I say unto you except a man be born again He cannot see the kingdom. It means you don't understand it. You don't get it. Do you get it?

Do you get the concept of the kingdom on earth because if you don't You need to get with God and get with the words of Jesus Christ you may not be born again. He says if you ever not born again, you're not going to get it.

Verily verily I say unto you except a mourn a man be born of water and of spirit. He cannot enter Into the kingdom of God. It is the biggest thing that Jesus talked about. It's the littlest things that we ever talked about.

Scripture as a Living Symphony

Why it's a problem all right, I came upon this preaching story and I It's hard because you know I give these peaches teaching stories particularly with a historical group like you. Somebody's kind of ruin it and it's come up and say it didn't really happen.

So bear with me on this one, but I found out that this story once that in the 1800s I found this newspaper article from New York Times or something and it was talking about this Musicologist who was over in Germany and he was trying to dig up all the old Bach pieces while there still were in Scattered in and mansions and things like that.

So the newspaper went so and as I read that it said that he came and he was finding an old document he'd be so excited and all these different things and and as he got to one of the Mansions or one of the the castle places he went there and as he out there There was a gardener out in the middle of the yard and the gardener had was wrapping his trees.

You know the way you do with the with papers and things like that. And as he happened to catch his eye that the paper looked odd. He went over that went over there and he said what are you using to wrap those trees with?

He said all this funny paper that's up in these chests up in the attic and as he went to look at it sure enough. It was one of the manuscripts from Bach that he was using there was a bunch of scraps of paper.

And the beauty the thing that I bring this analogy out is it's kind of like the way we use the Bible. We use it for the entirely wrong reasons. The Bach piece was meant to be a beautiful symphony played and performed for the world and and to make beautiful music.

But it was used for something odd. We use the scriptures for something strange when Jesus wants it to be Performed he wants it to be lived out in a beautiful symphony. And that's why Jesus gave us these incredible teachings and Oftentimes, I'm afraid we get the right answers to the wrong questions over and over again.

When you read something the wrong way you end up with the wrong questions. The problem is that with a little work we actually get the right answers to the wrong question, you know. You get between okay.

I got this to deal with and that this is okay. What's okay? What's the right? Okay, he's right and you go on to this then he's right and then he's right and way back there. You started asking the problem is you've started you've you've been asking the wrong question.

You see our salvation our church our life is Not a theology a book a creed it is a person Jesus Christ. The right question is how do we manifest his very presence on this earth? That's the question and I know sometimes we have to answer things even living in a community.

You have to answer basic things of life. I realize that but we've always got to keep thinking and coming back. What did he say for that? This should look like we've got to come back to the right questions.

And we have to see that again, so what is the central message of the Bible. Gave you that one. Looking at it from the the beginning Kingdom Christianity. It began in a garden and as we know what happened in garden.

There was two trees and it's interesting that out of the ground that the Genesis 2 says the Lord God may grow every tree that is pleasant in the sight and good for food the tree of life also in the midst of The garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And we know the story that From there that man chose the wrong way. There was always two ways. It's interesting to dedicate the earliest Non-biblical Christian document mentions these two ways. What I find even more fascinating is the Schleitheim.

Which was no way that Schleitheim would have had access to the DDK. There's no way. Yeah, they also very clearly articulate. There's two ways. It seems like an honest represent looking at the Word of God.

We see there are two ways and there are two kingdoms. There are two ways to live this out and We either live by the infilling of the power of God or we live by a Different way and these two cannot mix.

It's interesting Genesis 3 there was so important that these two ways do not mix that the Lord God said behold the man has become as one of us to know good and Evil and now lest he put forth his hand and take also the tree of life and eat and live forever therefore the Lord God sent to him from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken in and this idea of then man had to be now be governed by a different tree a Tree of civil law.