Theirs is the Kingdom of God
Posted on Tuesday, August 25, 2020 by
By Preston Adams, Regional Director - Central Area (City Life / JJM)
“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” Luke 6:20
Some of my mentors and heroes in the faith frequently preach that those who are poor, despised, on the margins and fringes of society are closer to the Kingdom than those who are on the “inside.”
It has been an extremely tough week for myself, for my family, for our ministry, and our community.
Another young man’s life, a young man I had walked alongside (or maybe it was he, walking alongside me) for the past eight years, was taken too soon and it has rocked us to our core.
The support I/we have received has been overwhelming, but the community who has come out to support us the most has been from my young people. Most of these young people are gang members, living far out on the fringes of society. These young people who are demonized by the media, despised by many in our culture, are the ones who have shown me and my family the most love and support. They all can empathize with what it is like to lose someone due to violence. Some of these young people are even rival gang members of the young man who was murdered, and yet, they still showed us indescribable compassion......this is the Kingdom.
As I have said before, none of my young men want this life, and yet, for some odd reason, this life chose them. But it is because of their experiences, that their capacity for compassion is significant. All of these experiences enable them to have a better understanding of what the Kingdom of God should look like, whether they understand it or not.
So, as I frequently say, while I hope to minister to these young men, more often than not, they end up ministering to me, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.
Thank you for being a part of the ongoing conversation with youth in our city and helping us share God’s story. It's our honor to be the storytellers on your behalf who meet kids right where they are and give life to their story.
Providing young people in our community with the opportunity to make an informed decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ and become part of a local church.