“Back in the 19th century and up into our century, people liked to talk about doing kingdom work – full-time kingdom work. Those of us who were preachers or teachers at the seminary were full-time workers in the kingdom and the rest of you folks were just part-timers.
“But of course that was a mistaken view to begin with because the only full-time worker in the kingdom of God is God. The kingdom comes by God’s power alone and God’s grace alone.
“I sometimes like to say there ought to be a big sign on the kingdom of God which says: ‘Keep Out. Mind your own business. For the time being God alone is at work and this is his affair.’
“It has the effect of turning us back into the world, which is where we belong, to take care of it. We’re not about the business of building the kingdom of God but about the business of taking care of the earth, waiting and hoping for that ultimate kingdom.
“Sometimes when students ask me: ‘Well, shouldn’t we be about the business of spiritual transformation?’ I say: ‘Well, you know, what’s really involved in this is that, if you’re a student, you ought to be paying attention to your books.’
“It’s not very romantic. Most of them think they should be out protesting on the lawn of Honeywell or something, like that would be the real Christian occupation. But the point is that for the time being, if you’re a student, you ought to be trying to be as good a student as possible so that one enters into the daily tasks of the world, one enters into the battle.”