I dare say there is hardly a human being alive who in their right mind does not want to be happy and to flourish. Indeed, the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental theme of all philosophy and of every religion. In the teaching of Jesus called the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) we have an intriguing answer for the pursuit of happiness. For good reason a famous and popular preacher called the Beatitudes “The Be Happy Attitudes.” But there is more to them than a programme of making yourself happy.

The church and the kingdom are not the same thing though a lot of people and even some church traditions think so! But the relationship of the church to the kingdom of God is critically important. Australian theologian Charles Ringma says the church is a sign, sacrament and servant of the kingdom. It is important to unpack this trilogy of meanings. Why? One of the problems of the church today, by and large, is that it is concerned to “bring in the church” rather than to “bring in the kingdom.”

Is a kingdom business one in which most of the employees are believers, where there are noon hour Bible studies and prayer meetings? Maybe. But there is more to the kingdom of God than overt spiritual activities. The presence of a Christian in a business or running a business does not guarantee the business is a kingdom business. The Christians may be keeping their faith and daily work in separate compartments on the assumption that "religion and business do not mix."

Years ago I was involved on the university campuses of Eastern Canada. I was spending a lot of time with students, listening, pondering and engaging them on their life purpose. One student in particular seemed curious about the Christian way. He asked me one day, “Would you let me hang around you for a few days? Just be with you. I want to find out what it is like on the inside to be in the Christian family and to be in the kingdom of God.”

My wife Gail leaned over the lunch table and said, “Please get the fertilizer out. Our flowers are just surviving and they need to flourish.” I thought, that’s it. That is what the kingdom of God is about—not flowers, of course, but people and people’s work. Flourishing is exactly what the kingdom of God brings about—life in fullness in contrast to just surviving.

One finds saints in strange places, even in the marketplace. The Old Testament person Rahab was a double agent spy and a heroine of faith according to Hebrews 11:31. The book of Joshua usually speaks of her as a prostitute. But the word used in Hebrew for her, zonah, can also mean “a woman who provides hospitality—food and drink,” such as an inn keeper. What we do know for sure is that she lived in a house either on top of the wall or in the wall of the ancient city of Jericho, on the edge of Israel’s promised land (Joshua 2).

I write this in the middle of a pandemic, the most serious health hazard that has happened in the eight decades of my lifetime. Epidemiologists say it may take three or more years to eradicate the virus from the planet even with a vaccine. Meanwhile for seasons at least churches meet online or in small groups like “kingdom companions” (Rev. 1:9), hidden like yeast folded into the dough or like salt seasoning the meat of society. Alongside churches meeting online today there is work. And the effect on work, workers and the workplace is enormous. It may lead to a paradigm shift. Possibly it has already.

The really good news is that there is a new world coming. This new world brings renewal to people, meaning to everyday work, liberation for captives and a wonderful future in a completely renewed creation when the whole human story on earth wraps up. It is not just about getting a ticket to go to heaven. In fact, our wonderful future in Christ is not to be saved souls floating in the ether of eternity singing the same worship songs four million times, but to be fully resurrected persons in a completely renewed heaven and earth. And we will work there, play there and worship there—all one.

Getting off an airplane one day I noticed the very engaging advertisements in the jetway placed there by a global bank expressing where they saw things were heading in the world—all under the title, “There is a new world coming.” That’s it, I thought. That’s the central message of Jesus. It is the heart of the good news which, according to Jesus is this: the kingdom of God has come and is coming.

All my work meetings are virtual. This term I’ve taught my graduate course on Zoom, I’ve had my board meetings on Zoom, and I’ve met with my IMT team members on Zoom. The pandemic has shifted the majority of our work interactions from face-to-face to screen-to-screen, I wanted to share some of my reflections on this shift in relating to each other. Perhaps this is the beginnings of forming a theology of virtual meetings.