Reading Who wrote in the Bible, I got the distinct impression that the early Jesus Movement was kind of like a familial fraternity. I joined a Christian themed fraternity in college and such an experience gave me a real world tangible example of what the early Jesus Movement might have been like. In my college fraternity there was an emphasis on philanthropy, and the Jesus Movement was focused on charitable giving. One of my fraternity "Brothers" once brought up how having fraternity Brothers means knowing that if your car breaks down you have someone there who has your back. This was the same spirit of the Jesus Movement.
I started to make a YouTube list of videos on the kingdom and how it's really about a fraternal citizenship of men and women united in solidarity and communal interdependence. It is the acting "as if" you have joined God's Family and the Divine Council (as Michael Heiser explains). It makes me think of an advanced species of extraterrestrials that could ideally outgrow their primitive and selfish drives, that have larger frontal lobes and better impulse control and advanced emotional intelligence, have "big hearts," and are experts at spreading positive emotional contagion. This is what it would mean to act as if you are dwelling in the realm of the divine beings of God's Divine Council whose radiance is the Heavenly Realm/Kingdom of God. In other words, the Kingdom/Realm is a way of life and Jesus talks about his apprentices acting out on earth the Way of the Heavenly Realm. This is why Jesus prays for the Kingdom-realm to come (or arise) on earth as it is in the heavens.
What does it practically mean to "seek ye first the kingdom of God (Heaven's Realm)"? Here is what I think it means in bullet points:
> Act Uprightly / Be Fair-minded: "... unless you are far more fair-minded than the Bible scholars and the Pharisees, there is no way you will enter Heaven’s Realm!" (The Source NT, Matt. 5: 20).
> Create & Cultivate / Plant & Grow the Kin-Dome Energy Field: Think of the "Kingdom" as a Kin(g)Dome, as in a Dome of pneumatic/spiritual kinship, i.e. a spiritual citizenship in a human-created social world of justice and peace. The metaphorical "Dome" contains this outpouring of positive emotional contagion, that is generated by those committed to building this spiritual kinship/family. Jesus compares the Kin(g)Dom to yeast that causes bread to rise and small seeds planted that grows into a huge tree. These are metaphors for the Kin(g)Dom as the chemical effect of the Logos changing Chaos into Order (as Jordan Peterson puts it): changing cruelty and resentment into kindness and forgiveness, elitism into compassion, exploitation into fairness, etc. This chemical reaction of evil (darkness) inside Forms and it morphing into the Good (the Light); which is accomplished through the Christian parables, stories, and Jesus and Paul's' philosophizing and rituals that embody the Logos; and acting out the Kin(g)dom Ideal so that it changes us within and rises (like dough or a seed into a tree) in our midst.
> Build up a Communal Fortress On Solid Ground: Get rooted in virtuous habits and good Christian friends as a kind of buddy system that keeps you accountable and supports you when times are hard. Because without a support system and good habits you will build a life on unsteady ground and things will dismantle in your life.
> Be a Non-Anxious Presence: Take no thought for the morrow nor for your attire and let go of constant status-seeking; perfect love casts out all fear. Be more other-focused.
> Be the Party (Smiling, laughing and feeling good while celebrating God's expanding abundance all around us; manifest joy and humor (See The Humor of Christ by Trueblood; and The Chosen One TV Series, Season 2, episode 1).
> Be Accepting, Welcoming, & Practice Open Table Fellowship: The opposite of this is to be "judgey," elitist and cliquish.
> Greet people with Welcoming Affection & Get to Know their Story: Paul speaks of greeting men and women with a holy kiss. That was the custom back then of showing affection. Today we show affection by saying their name, offering a hug if appropriate, and if getting to know someone listening to their story; and empathizing via your common human story; for example, see The Chosen One Series, Season 2, episode 1, where Jesus is depicted as saying, to paraphrase, "We Jews tell stories" and then he asks a Samaritan stranger, "What is your story?"
> Love Ultimate Reality & Love Others as much as Yourself: Love God as the Source or Ground of Existence with an attitude of gratitude. Love your neighbor as yourself is basically what I call co-ego expansion: wherein another's self-esteem is as important to you as your own.
> Think Limb-Limb (The Vine-life mindset): I took Stephen Covey's concept of win-win in his book and combined it with Paul's idea that Christians are basically metaphorical "limbs" on the body of Jesus; as in Jesus is the mystical mind that unifies each Christian as a team: that togeter act as the eyes and ears and hands and feet of Jesus. We would not step on our own foot because even though each foot is separate they work in tandem. To think Limb-Limb is to consider another Christian as an extension of yourself in unity with Christ: who is the Ideal you are both committed to. In the Gospel of John this metaphor is extended into a Vine with Christians as the grapes and Christ as the sap and Vine itself. Living the Vine-life is practically not being a braggart or a show off with a Me-me-me-mindset; but instead say Big-upping and Validating with a We-mindset.
> Leave your gift at the altar. In other words, leave your form of worship which is just the appearance of being spiritual or religious, and go reconcile with your spiritual bother or sister in order to relieve tension and generate peace and synergy.
> Have a Golden Rule Mentality
> Judge Not as we're all Judgable: Don't focus on the twig in their eye when you have a huge tree branch hanging off the side of your head! In other words realize that we are all fallible humans and if we watched a whole movie of all of our mistakes and character flaws we would be humbled and seeing that we are no better than anyone else.
> Practice the attitude of the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son
> Be a Good Samaritan
> Pick up your cross daily and open your mouth boldly: Confront bullies, and drive out Negative Emotional Contagion (the Nephilim-like cultural energy of the world).
> Shine your inner Light: Let your inner good character manifest itself through good deeds and positive emotional contagion.
> Be the Salt of the Earth: See The Chosen One, season 2 episode 8 where the character of Jesus gives a good explanation of what he means by the salt of the earth. Salt was a preservative and a taste enhancer and a healing agent.
> Store up kind and benevolent acts and wise financial investments in your Spiritual Bank Account (in the Divine Realm): by circulating your wealth from compounded interest type investments, and giving your surplus to charities and investing in others in need to enhance their confidence and well-being.
> Realize that Loving Others is how one Loves God: See Mathew 5:31- 46, John 14:15. 21 and 23, James 2:8- 18, 1st John 4: 20-21 and 5:3, and 2 John 6.
> Make Sure loving the Other takes precedence over religious Dogma, Rituals and Ethnic Barriers: See Matthew 5:23-24, John 10:16 and Galatians 3:28.
> Don't be a "Religious Fake / Play-actor." In other words, don't practice religion as a kind of check the boxes, look how good I "appear" and acting "holier than thou," while in private behind closed doors you act like a jerk.
> Strive to Be a Genuinely Transformed Apprentice of Rabbi Jesus. Realize it's not merely about believing the right ideas in your head and reciting the right intellectual propositions; it is about imitating Paul who imitated the character of Jesus. It is about walking in the dust of Rabbi Jesus.
> Watch out for the "Leaven of the Pharisees"; and drive/cast out negative emotional contagion by instead spreading the Fruit of the Spirit.
> Utilize righteous anger at the right time, in the right way, with the right amount: Speak boldly as Jesus did ("Woe to the religious fakers") and drive out the modern versions of the "money changers." Not with physical violence or emotional abuse, but with the boldness of a strong character; speaking with authority while on the side of the Good.
> Heal the emotionally Wounded-in-Soul and Uplift and Edify (Romans 14:19; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; Ephesians 4:29; Colossians 4:6) with Praising Goodness and Good Reports & "Holy Hugs."
