Incognito Mode

In recent years we have re-discovered the power of stories to stir spiritual curiosity and fuel an 'awakening process' in people's lives. More specifically we have found that the simple 'the Kingdom is like ...' stories that Jesus told (for example the Lost Coin, Lost Sheep and so on) can be told quickly and engagingly as a way of prompting faith conversations and possible 'conversations of significance'.

Furthermore many of the stories can be told in under 60 seconds or not much longer: so can be recorded as YouTube shorts or TikTok videos, giving a contemporary media approach to share with acquaintances. Whether told verbally on the spot, or shared via media, it is then natural to ask an open question like: "What hits you from this story?"

All the above is certainly possible with people who know you are a Christian and open about talking about your faith in Jesus. Depending on the audience you might either begin or finish the story with a phrase like: "This is a story told by Jesus ...", and maybe add: "who was talking about a different kind of Kingdom ...".

Another approach we have found useful is to not mention Jesus as the source at all, and also either not mention it is about His Kingdom, or to keep the kingdom aspect in abstract terms - for example 'A king somewhere wanted to organise a great banquet ...'. In this mode you are telling the story as a kind of detached moral tale - but of course one which you know conveys realities of the Kingdom of God.

We have come to call this approach 'Incognito Mode', because to the hearer it is not overtly about Jesus in the first instance. It allows you to stir curiosity in a more secular setting (or multi-faith setting) where sensitivities are best respected. Remember that the stories are to provoke interest & questioning, not necessarily to convince in and of themselves. Using them, followed up by open questions, and gauging responses acts as a kind of filter to discover who is really open or potentially open to explore more later.

Even if the hearers are not (or not yet) interested in the person of Jesus, sharing incognito can still afford the opportunity to explore Kingdom principles like forgiveness, God's grace economy, and so on. There is much to benefit therefore even in these settings - meaning that sharing incognito is worth the risk!

Sabbath Kingdom Demonstration

In the gospels much of the argument that takes place between Jesus and the Pharisees appears to stem from Jesus healing on the Sabbath. For example in John 9 Jesus enables sight for a man born blind, but all the Pharisees could focus on was that this was done on the Sabbath.

Scanning the gospels reveals other healings that took place the Sabbath - John chapter 5 has the disabled person by the pool as another incidence. Although the gospel authors don't appear to directly attribute much significance to these occurring on the Sabbath (apart from it generating opposition), there is an aspect that makes perfect sense 'in the big picture': Healing on the Sabbath is another aspect to demonstrating the Kingdom.

For in the eternal Kingdom all creation will be released into its perfection, all measures of needed healing will be completed for all people who inherit its blessing (Revelation 'no more crying' imagery). This can be coupled with the fact that the eternal Kingdom also represents the ultimate Sabbath rest, to which the original 7-period creation story of Genesis leads.

Therefore healing (Kingdom demonstrating) on the Sabbath represents a kind of double-whammy demonstration: the demonstrating the Kingdom on the very day that represents (and week by week points us towards) the ultimate Sabbath rest Kingdom eternity!

The healing is the Kingdom breaking into the now, and doing it on the Sabbath reminds us that one day all creation will enjoy the perfection of the Kingdom/Sabbath rest.

So it's quite a demo! But for the Pharisees, they couldn't see it. They were focussed on minutiae rule-keeping, forgetting why we have the Sabbath in the first place, totally losing sight of the ultimate rest to which it points every week. Their blind ways keep people locked up in misery - the very opposite of Kingdom release.

To heal on the Sabbath wasn't just an arbitrary event, happening by one-in-seven chance on a particular day of the week. No - it was a double Kingdom demonstrating: the Kingdom and the Sabbath uniting, and each healing a wonderful foretaste of a destiny to be inherited.