Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church. According to Scot McKnight, "kingdom" is the biblical term most misused by Christians today. It has taken on meanings that are completely at odds with what the Bible says and has become a buzzword for both social justice and redemption. In Kingdom Conspiracy, McKnight offers a sizzling biblical corrective and a fiercely radical vision for the role of the local church in the kingdom of God.

The Kingdom of God Is More Than Social Justice or Personal Salvation

McKnight explains that kingdom mission is local church mission and that the present-day fetish with influencing society, culture, and politics distracts us from the mission of God: to build the local church. He also shows how kingdom theology helps to reshape the contemporary missional conversation. Kingdom Conspiracy will be valued by pastors, church leaders, students, and professors.

"There is so much talk these days about 'the kingdom of God,' and yet there is so much confusion about what this phrase even means! For many, it simply represents whatever theological, political, and/or cultural ideals they deem best. The result is that a beautiful, powerful concept that should be uniting the church is now contributing to its fragmentation. This is why Kingdom Conspiracy is one of the most important and timeliest works to be written in recent years. Using airtight arguments solidly anchored in Scripture, McKnight brings much-needed clarity to what 'kingdom of God' means--and doesn't mean--and how it relates to the church and its mission. He writes in a clear and informal style that is accessible to all. And that is a good thing, because this is a book that needs to be read by everyone--scholars and laypeople alike--who wants to understand and consistently live out what it means to be a follower of King Jesus." --Gregory A. Boyd, senior pastor, Woodland Hills Church, St. Paul, Minnesota; author of Repenting of Religion and Benefit of the Doubt

"As both a pastor and an activist, I can say that the punches Kingdom Conspiracy throws are as important as they are infuriating! At times it had me yelling 'Amen!' and at other times it just had me yelling. But if you keep wrestling, this book will inspire you to a greater vision of the church--greater than self-focused seclusion, greater than the coercion of a new clandestine Christendom, greater than personal social action. Scot is a kingdom pacifist picking fights with pastors and activists alike until we bleed with passion for what the local church is graced to be: where God's will is done, where the kingdom has come, where the incarnation is continued, where God's future is happening, now!" --Jarrod McKenna, Australian Peace Award-winning activist, pastor

Contents

1. Skinny Jeans Kingdom

2. Pleated Pants Kingdom

3. Tell Me the Kingdom Story

4. Kingdom Mission Is All about Context

5. Kingdom Is People

6. No Kingdom outside the Church

7. Kingdom Mission as Church Mission

8. The King of the Kingdom

9. Kingdom Redemption Unleashed

10. Kingdom Is a Moral Fellowship

11. Kingdom Is Hope

12. Kingdom Theses

Appendix 1: The Constantinian Temptation

Appendix 2: Kingdom Today