There may have been a time when you have heard a preacher describe the gospel in a way which makes it sound like everyone needs to bow before an super powerful sky father.
Or passionately describe a formula where all who use the name Jesus as an identity statement are saved.
It is easy to see how an earthly ruler can latch on to this theology. By positioning themselves as the representative or ‘mere tool’ of God they ask people to make sacrifices for “The greater good”
The good news contains a more submersive thread. Built in and intrinsic to the code, the dna, of the cosmos is the flourishing of the children of God “The common good”
It is there, and you can join in. You are already part of it. It is the nature of reality. More than that though, everything which obstructs your flourishing will pass away.
Life will not always be easy, we learn the hard way sometimes. Other time it is simply inexplicably hard. But the way out is through. And a truth that is as solid as stone and quick as lightning is that God is present in those breakthrough moments, and in the deepest depths of dispair. Even sitting in the rubble of your business, bombed out by some zealot.
A story based on triumph and supremacy will fall apart when faced with failure. But the good news is that we live in another world. This is a promise which simultaneously leads people to live desert lives abandoning all possessions, and also live in comfortable houses raising families and giving time to those who need it. The promise is that God is present with us when we are present with others. And the creed and the colour and the name won’t matter if we are there.
So if someone wants you to bow down to them, or says “that is just the way things are”, check in with God. There is a deep magic built into being itself that can crack all chains, and you are invited to join in.
Like a thistle sown by the wind you can grow through the tarmak till you wear a purple crown and bathe in the sun.