It is not the development of good men or of good settlements, not their evolution or unfolding that spreads the kingdom of God. In that case it would no longer be God’s kingdom, but the kingdom of men. Yet it is true that God is waiting for a faith that will accept him in such a way that he himself in his love can work through us and in the strength of his future can bring about justice and community among us.
- Eberhard Arnold
August 21,2025
- Eberhard ArnoldWhen we are no longer able to be there for all men, when we can no longer concern ourselves with the need and suffering of the whole world, our life has no longer any right to exist. As long as I live, I shall protest if people who are fighting for any ideal whatsoever no longer find an understanding among us. People who are fighting with a free and generous spirit for purity, for national unity, for pacifism, for a renewal of national characteristics, who are fighting for any political ideal, for any renewal of society cannot do it just in their own strength. If we were to have an understanding only for Anabaptist thinking, I shall not go along with it. I shall protest against it as long as I live.
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The church here in our community is not the future kingdom of God. But because God, the Creator, is in our midst, it is the framework of the future kingdom. This framework consists of the building up, the relationship to one another, the possibility of our living for each other. God is this possibility. Without God, the whole world is lost. It is not enough for people to try to have relationship with one another. A relationship is only possible where God gives it.
- Eberhard Arnold
Jesus repeatedly challenges us to work while it is still day. He compares his kingdom to labor in a vineyard, to the working investment of moneys entrusted to one, to the good use of all one’s talents. If God’s kingdom is to transform the “vale of tears” into a realm of joy, then it must be a kingdom of work. Work alone befits the destiny of man’s spirit.
- Eberhard Arnold