Discussion Questions

The chapter opens by describing how Jews heard John’s announcement “the Kingdom of God was at hand” as Messiah, national independence, and Rome’s overthrow; what does that reveal about what they most wanted from God, and where do you see similar expectations shaping Christians’ hopes today? JumpstartAnother way to ask: When many Jews heard “the Kingdom of God is near,” they thought it meant a Messiah who would free them from Rome. What does that show they wanted most from God, and where do Christians today expect God to fix their nation or politics in similar ways?

David Bercot argues that although salvation, new birth, and Jesus’ ransom are essential, they were not the *theme* of Jesus’ preaching (nearly 100 Kingdom references, mostly Kingdom parables, “for this purpose I have been sent”); what picture of God’s priorities emerges from that claim, and what would have to change in what you call “the gospel”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Bercot says Jesus talked most about the Kingdom, not mainly about salvation or the new birth. If that’s true, what does it show about what God cares about most, and what would you need to change in what you call “the gospel”?

The chapter says Jesus commissioned the disciples to preach, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” and even told the would-be follower, “you go and preach the Kingdom of God” instead of burying his father; what does this suggest about the urgency and cost Jesus attached to Kingdom proclamation, and what kinds of “reasonable delays” would Jesus confront in your life? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Jesus told his disciples to preach, “The Kingdom is near,” and even said preaching was more urgent than burying a father. What does that say about how serious and costly Jesus thought this message was, and what “good reasons to wait” would he challenge in your life?

Bercot insists salvation and the new birth are “a means to an end: entering the Kingdom of God,” and claims that preaching salvation “apart from the Kingdom” is not preaching Jesus’ gospel; what does it practically look like to separate salvation from Kingdom, and what gets lost—obedience, allegiance, community, mission, something else? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Bercot says salvation and the new birth are meant to lead into the Kingdom, not be preached alone. What does it look like when people preach salvation but leave out the Kingdom, and what gets lost because of that?

The chapter states that before the end, “this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world,” and then asks whether what’s preached globally today is actually that gospel; based on what you commonly hear in evangelism and church preaching, what would Bercot say is missing or distorted, and where might you resist his critique? JumpstartAnother way to ask: The chapter says “the gospel of the Kingdom” must be preached to the whole world. When you listen to evangelism and sermons today, what would Bercot say is missing or twisted, and where do you think his criticism might go too far?

Using the “four components” of a kingdom (ruler, subjects, domain, laws), Bercot emphasizes Jesus as the eternal ruler whose “policies don’t change”; where do you feel pressure to treat Jesus’ teachings as negotiable or culturally outdated, and what would it mean to submit to an unchanging King in those areas? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Bercot says Jesus is the King and his teachings don’t change. Where do you feel pushed to treat Jesus’ commands as flexible or outdated, and what would it mean to obey him as an unchanging King there?

Jesus’ warning that the Kingdom would be taken from the Jews and given to “a nation bearing the fruits of it,” plus the “neither Jew nor Greek” and “holy nation” passages, reframes God’s people as a transnational nation of the born again; what “fruits” would prove a community is truly that nation, and how does that challenge identity markers Christians often rely on (denomination, politics, ethnicity, citizenship)? JumpstartAnother way to ask: The Bible says God’s people are now a “holy nation” made up of the born again, not tied to one ethnicity or country. What “fruit” would show a church is really part of that nation, and how does that challenge the labels Christians often lean on (denomination, politics, ethnicity, citizenship)?

Bercot highlights the conflict of living under “two different kingdoms” and stresses that God’s kingdom has no earthly capital or holy shrine; where do you see modern Christians recreating an earthly capital (a nation, a party, a movement, a celebrity leader, a building), and what tensions would arise if you treated yourself as interspersed “citizens” rather than culture-owners? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Bercot says God’s kingdom has no earthly capital or holy building, and Christians live in two kingdoms at once. Where do Christians today treat a nation, party, movement, celebrity leader, or church building like the center of God’s kingdom, and what would change if you saw yourself as a citizen living among others instead of owning the culture?

Jesus says the Kingdom doesn’t come “with observation” and is “within you,” and Bercot brings in Tertullian: “within your power…if you hear and do the commandments of God”; how does that early-Christian interpretation confront modern ideas of grace, assurance, and “faith without kingdom commitments,” and what commandments do you tend to reclassify as optional? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Jesus said the Kingdom is “within you,” and Tertullian said it shows up when you hear and obey God’s commands. How does that challenge modern ideas about grace and assurance that don’t require Kingdom commitment, and which commands do you tend to treat as optional?

The chapter ends by saying the Kingdom is a present reality—God “has…conveyed us into the kingdom”—yet many Christians don’t see it and therefore “never make the kingdom commitments”; what specific commitments (to King Jesus, to his laws, to a distinct way of life among the nations) do you think Bercot has in mind, and which of them would most disrupt your current habits and sense of security? JumpstartAnother way to ask: The chapter says the Kingdom is already real, but many Christians don’t see it and so don’t make Kingdom commitments. What commitments do you think Bercot means (to Jesus as King, his commands, and a different way of life), and which one would most disrupt your habits and sense of safety?