God is the ultimate public figure. He has put His Name on public display from the beginning of time, He continues to do so, and will do so for all of eternity future. By "His Name" (c.f. Ps 5:11, 8:1, 18:49; Acts 1:15-KJV; etc.) I mean the fullness of His identity and character (His existence, power, divine glory, knowledge of His will, etc.). By "public display" I refer to the ways God presents Himself which are visible or audible to large groups of people (e.g. crowds, cities and nations) at the same time. When I say that He does this for the "sake of His Name" (see e.g. Ps 106:8; Is 48:9), it means that He is defending and promoting His reputation, honor, etc..
   Although personal decisions of faith, and everyone's personal relationship with God are of critical importance, we also see in the Scriptures that God often deals with families, entire communities, nations, and creation as a whole. Likewise, we see Him holding societies responsible for their obedience to Him, just as He does with individuals. The purpose of this paper is to serve as a reminder that the testimony of Scripture is that God has not allowed Himself to be relegated only to the personal dimension of individual human lives. We begin with a survey through Biblical history of how God has put Himself on public display. We end by looking at some implications of what a public God who engages the creation over which He reigns might mean for us, His church.

1. God on public display in His creation. God made the entire universe and He said that it was good (Gen 1). Just as art gives us insight into the artist, creation is a display of the splendor of God Himself (Ps 8:1). Creation preaches the message of the glory of God across all language barriers and across all time periods (Ps 19:1-3). He has also used creation to preach His Name "God the Provider" to all nations of the earth (Acts 14:16-17). In doing so He has brought all humankind under some degree of accountability regarding how they respond to Him (Rom 1:18-23f).
2. God on public display through the nation of Israel.
   1. In the Exodus. "And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites of out it."(Ex 7:5) The Exodus story is full of testimony that God planned it as an event to display Himself to the nations (Ex 7:17; 8:18, 22; 9:29; 10:7; 14:4, 18, 25). As a matter of fact He says to Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." (Ex 9:16) Not only Egypt, but further away Canaanite nations heard about the Exodus and feared God (Josh 2:9-11). Speaking on the Exodus, Ps 106:8 says, "Yet he saved them for His name's sake, to make his mighty power known." Through the Exodus God made a Name for Himself which endured throughout Israel's history even until today (1 Chr 17:21; Neh 9:10; Isa 63:12; Jer 32:20; Dan 9:15).
   2. Through His law. When God set Israel in a position of honor above the nations (Deut 26:18-19) and gave them His law, His desire was that the nations would see the uniqueness of Israel's God through their obedience to His righteous commands (Deut 4:6).
   3. Through His presence in the Temple. Although God is present in all the earth He chose a special place to put His name for His dwelling (Deut 12:5). This was yet another advertisement for all nations to know the true God when they would pray toward this temple and God would hear them (1 Kings 8:41-43; 9:3; 10:1; Isa 56:6-7).
   4. Bringing Israel into Canaan. As with the Exodus, God did not merely bring Israel into the land He had promised to them, but did it in such a way so that "all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful". (Josh 4:23-5:1, esp 4:24)
   5. In His miracles. David was motivated to fight Goliath because he was disgusted that this man was openly defying the armies of the living God (1 Sam 17:26, 36, 45). Just before running to the battle He declared that, "All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves..." (1 Sam 17:47) Then God proceeded to use him as a testimony to the timid armies of Israel as much as to the Philistines. During Elijah's "contest" against the Baal worshippers he prayed, "Answer me, O Lord, answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God..." (1 Kings 18:36-37) God sent fire to consume the sacrifice and the fear of the Lord fell on those present. Faced with the Assyrian invasion Hezekiah likewise prayed that God would deliver them, "so that all kingdoms on the earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God." Once again God responded for the sake of His Name (Isa 37:20, 35). In these and other stories we see that the hearts of God's people and His own actions burst with the same passion that His name is not to be mocked.
   6. The exile. God also used His sending of Israel into exile as a public testimony to the surrounding nations of His judgment on disobedience and idolatry (Deut 29:24-27; 1 Kings 9:7-9; Jer 22:8-9).
   7. The restoration. In passages such as Ez 36:19-32 God makes it abundantly clear that He is bringing Israel back to their land from exile, not because of their righteousness, but to "`vindicate the holiness of my great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,' declares the Lord God, `when I prove myself holy among you in their midst.'" (Ez 36:23)
      The findings of this section are well summarized in Ez 20:5-44. There God traces the history of Israel from the day He chose them through to the exile and return to the land. He reminds them that at steps all along the way He was working for the sake of His name, to keep it from being profaned (see vs. 9, 14, 22, 44).
3. God on public display through His judgment on the nations. Throughout the books of the prophets we see that God was sending His message through these men to be preached in city streets, city gates, temple courts, and before religious and political leaders (e.g. Isa 1:2, 10; 58:1; Jer 2:2; 7:2; 11:6; 17:19; 26:2; Ez 2:3-7; Hos 4:1; 5:1; Joel 1:2, 14; Amos 3:1; Jonah 1:2; 3:2-3; Mic 1:2; 3:1, 9; Zep 2:1). Not only the messages were public presentations of God's word, but the judgments themselves were public acts of God upon entire cities and nations. The result God declared would be that, "then they will know that I am the Lord". (Ez 6:10-14; 7:27; 11:10; 25:17; 38:22-23)
4. God on public display in the man Jesus.
   1. His birth. King Herod, the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, and all Jerusalem heard the announcement of the birth of the Messiah. (Mt 2:1-3)
   2. His baptism. God sent a special prophet just before Christ to cry out in the wilderness and prepare the way for Him.. Multitudes listened to John point them to Jesus (Mt 3:1-12; Jn 1:29-37). Then after John baptized Jesus, God's voice from heaven declared, "This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased." (Mt 3:17)
   3. His miracles. Jesus quickly became a public figure through His working of healings and other miracles (Mt 4:23-25; 8:33-34; 14:13-21; 15:29-31; 15:32-39). One reason for His display of miracles was to point people to belief in Him (Mt 11:20-21; Jn 5:36; 10:38; 14:11).
   4. His preaching. Jesus also made Himself well known through His public preaching in towns and in the temple court (Mk 12:35-37; Lk 8:1; 19:45-48; 21:37; Jn 7:26, 28; 8:2, 20). He even said one time, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also because that is why I was sent." (Lk 4:43) He certainly fulfilled this purpose because at the end of His life He could say, "I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues or at the temple, where the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret." (Jn 18:20) For the sake of balance let us also note that Jesus did have time away from the crowds, both time alone and time with smaller groups.
   5. His triumphal entry. Jesus' final entry into Jerusalem as her Messiah King was attended and celebrated by "multitudes" (Mt 21:1-11). A little later, speaking to the crowds Jesus prayed, "`Father, glorify your name!' Then a voice came from heaven, `I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.' The crowd that was there and heard it said that it had thundered; others said an angel has spoken to him. Jesus said, `This voice was for your benefit, not mine.'" (Jn 12:28-30)
   6. His death. Although crucifixion was a public event to begin with, the special circumstances surrounding the arrest and trial of Jesus made his execution an especially public spectacle (Mt 27:24; Lk 23:48). Immediately following Jesus' death God cause the temple veil and the earth itself to testify that this man was the Son of God (Mt 27:50-54). Paul says that God put Jesus on public display as a propitiatory sacrifice to demonstrate His righteousness (Rom 3:25, NASB). As believers we understand that what appeared physically as Jesus' moment of defeat was actually a moment of great victory. Thus Colossians 2:15 describes the situation like this, "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." In other words, God vindicates His name at the cross by displaying not only His righteousness, but also the defeat of His enemies. In stark contrast to all of this, the men who arrested Jesus were afraid to act against Him in public. They had to come against Him in a secluded place in the night because their deeds were of the darkness (Lk 19:47; 20:19; 22:2, 53).
   7. His return. When Jesus comes back, He will come on the clouds of heaven with a great trumpet blast, visible from the East to the West. And alleged "Christ" that we need to go here or there in order to see is not the true Christ (Mt 24:23-31).
5. God on public display through His church. Jesus sent His disciples out to preach and to perform signs and wonders (Lk 9:1-6; Mt 10:7-8, 27). After His resurrection He told them they would continue to "proclaim" His gospel amongst all the nations (Lk 24:47). The Holy Spirit began the fulfillment of Jesus' words by using the disciples to proclaim the glories of God in the hearing of (and through the native language of) "men from every nation under heaven" living in Jerusalem (Acts 2:5-14). This gave rise to an opportunity for Peter to preach to the multitudes and "about three thousand were added to their number that day." (Acts 2:41) The apostles began to perform miracles (Acts 3:9-12) and preach (Acts 4:1-23) in the public arena as Jesus had done. They continued to present God in public formats despite repeated threats (Acts 5:14-21, 40-42; 6:8-7:2; 7:56; 8:5-8; 8:25). Around that time God called Saul to be an apostle to the Gentiles and used him to proclaim the gospel publicly from the beginning of his conversion in Damascus (Acts 9:17-22), to his house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:17, 31), and all along in between (Acts 9:27-28; 13:42-52; 14:1-4, 9-11, 19-22; 17:2-6, 17-18, 22; 18:28; 19:8-10; 20:20; 26:26).
     In a February 1998 sermon entitled The Place of Preaching in Worship, John Piper said, "When Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2, `Preach the word,' the word for `preach' is a word for `herald' or `announce' or `proclaim' (kh,ruxon). It is not a simple word for teach or explain. It is what a town crier did: `Hear ye, Hear ye, Hear ye! The King has a proclamation of good news for all those who swear allegiance to his throne. Be it known to you that he will give eternal life to all who trust and love his Son.'"
6. God on ultimate display in His coming kingdom. God will make Himself, and the knowledge of Him the central focus of all things living in His kingdom (Ps 22:27-28; 67:2; 72:17-19; Isa 11:9; 66:18-24; Jer 31:34; Mal 1:11; Rev 5:13-14; 21:3-4, 22-24). "The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light." (Rev 22:3-5)

1. For the sake of His Name. We, the church, have been baptized into the Name of the Holy Trinity (Mt 28:19). Seeing that God desires to make Himself the ultimate public figure, and rightly so, we who are carriers of His Name (Acts 3:16; 4:10-18; 5:41; 8:12; 9:15; 9:27-28; Eph 3:15; 1 Thes 1:12; 1 Pet 4:16) share in the privilege of joining with Him in displaying that name on the public stage (Lk 21:12-13).
      Furthermore, when we speak of revealing the glory of God to the world, there is even more at stake than the physical realm. As we saw earlier, at the cross Jesus made a public spectacle of His defeat of His enemies (Col 2:15). However, Ephesians 3:10 says that it is now through the church that the wisdom of God is being made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Paul said his own role in this task was preaching (Eph 3:8). Additionally we may suffer as a public spectacle. In doing so we, like Job, show to the spiritual world that Satan's strength has been defeated (Job 1:21; Heb 2:14-15).
2. The kingdom of God is a public issue. Jesus taught us to bring the kingdom to earth. See section below on the theology of the Kingdom of God/Kingdom of Heaven.
3. Broad warning before judgment. As we saw in the section above on judgment, God sent the prophets to warn cities and nations of His coming judgment. God told Ezekiel that if the prophet warned the people then they would be accountable for what they heard. If the prophet failed, however, then their blood would be on his hands (Ez 3:17-21; 33:1-11). God reminded Ezekiel several times to prophesy whether the people listened or not (Ez 2:5, 7; 3:11, 27). God said that then, "they will know that a prophet has been among them." (Ez 2:5) Similarly Jesus sent the disciples out to preach in cities, both in places where they would be accepted and in places they would not (Lk 10:8-12). Even though many of the Jews rejected Paul's message, he said as well, "It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first" (Acts 13:46) and he continued to preach in other synagogues (e.g. Acts 14:1). Later on, having presented the word of God in various public areans the Bible describes what he did with the following sense of completion, "...the work that they had accomplished" (Acts 14:26), "...all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord" (Acts 19:10), "from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ." (Rom 15:19)
      There are at least two good reasons for the gospel to go out widely to ALL man. First, we do not know who the elect are. What we do know is that salvation for all who will receive it is found in Christ (Rom 10:8-13), and that in order to receive Christ they must hear His gospel (Rom 10:14-17). Second, the Day of Judgement itself is coming as a public event which will which will affect every single human being, both the saved and the condemned (Joel 2:30-3:2; Rev 20:11-15). For this reason, "God is declaring to men that all everywhere should repent." (Acts 17:30-31)
      In summary, based on the Biblical record I believe all who will be saved need to hear the way to be saved (Rom 10:14-17), and all who will be condemned need to hear the gospel so that their rejection of it will be complete and their condemnation just (Jn 15:22-25). If this claim is true, it has consequences significantly different from the philosophy of only "sharing the gospel with those who seem open." Namely, "saturation" of communities with the gospel is difficult to accomplish apart from public encounters and public forms of address.
4. Words and actions. The church putting God on public display powerfully communicates certain important points where communication in private relationships cannot fully have the same effect (and vice versa!). For example:
   1. God's kingdom is coming to reign over all the earth (Phil 2:9-11). The act of public proclamation declares that, whether people feel interested in it or not, the message of God's kingdom is relevant to that community as a whole, as well as to every individual in it. The crying out of the prophets was only a foreshadow of the level of relevance that the gospel of the kingdom has over humanity.
   2. Public proclamation often frightens leaders and authorities of the community who do not know God. It shows the world that God is a higher authority than man and that He is always in control (Acts 4:19-21). Gamaliel warned his fellow Sanhedrin members that if the apostles the opposed were really from God then, "you will only find yourselves fighting against God." (Acts 5:39) He may not have been correct in other things he said, but on this point his words were in perfect agreement with Jesus' own, "The gates of Hades will not overcome [my church]." (Mt 16:18) For this reason, after being threatened by the Sanhedrin the apostles prayed to God quoting from the opening lines of Psalm 2, which goes on to say, "He who sits in heaven laughs, the Lord scoffs at them [who take their stand against Him]." (Ps 2:1-4)
   3. Because God is sovereign His servants have nothing to fear (Acts 4:13). When the fear of man ceases to direct our choices we are showing that the power of the Enemy has been crushed (Phil 1:28).
   4. A message that is presented or proclaimed publicly communicates the urgency of the response that is demanded (e.g. compare Mt 3:2 with 3:5; Acts 2:37-40 with 2:41; Acts 19:11-17 with 19:18-20; or public address announcements on TV and radio today).
5. The Biblical model. As we saw above, the church regularly preached, performed miracles, and suffered in the public eye. Proper hermeneutics would say that we should not interpret narrative as a normative model unless supported by teaching passages. Among the principles we have considered are the fact that God is clearly pleased to put Himself on public display, the kingdom of God which Jesus brought is a public issue, in this age He has appointed to the church the responsibility of making His gospel known amongst all creation (even to the spiritual realm), and public proclamation has a unique ability to demonstrate certain qualities of the kingdom of God. For this, I am convinced that, regarding the issue of public ministry, the book of Acts IS an appropriate model. We can use it as an example for ourselves, relying fully on the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as He also guided the church at that time.

  The Kingdom of God

   The kingdom of God (or kingdom of heaven) is a topic of incredible significance in the New Testament. The first preaching message of both Jesus and John the Baptist was, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.' The kingdom of heaven is an important, if not central theme, to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. In many of His parables Jesus explicitly names the kingdom of heaven/kingdom of God as the focus of the parable, and in many others it clearly is the focus as well. Many times in the gospels and Acts the preaching or teaching ministry of certain people is summarized very succinctly in a phrase referring to the kingdom such as 'preaching the good news of the kingdom' or 'preaching the kingdom of God'. This is true of Jesus (Mt 9:35; Lk 4:43, 9:11; Acts 1:3), the apostles (Mt 10:7; Lk 9:2), those who will follow Jesus (Mt 24:14; Lk 16:16), Phillip (Acts 8:12), and Paul (Acts 19:8, 20:25, 28:31).
   In contrast we rarely hear about the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven in modern evangelicalism. The current evangelical focus is on 'a personal relationship with God.' In the New Testament the phrase 'relationship with God' appears only once in the NIV (Rom 2:17 ' Jews who brag about their 'relationship to God', presumably just because of their race) and not at all in the NASB. Certainly we are not bound to only use the Biblical terminology, but it is also true that the words we use reflect the focus of our mindset. The focus on a 'personal relationship with God' may be an overflow of our culture's individualism and pluralism. The connection to 'individualism' is clear in the emphasis on 'your own personal' relationship with God. I add pluralism as well because pluralism respects personal decisions of belief but despises any ultimate spiritual reality like a 'kingdom' which is over all. Possibly then this trend of pop-theology is a compromise with our cultural surrounding. It is interesting considering how much I hear the phrase "personal relationship with God" in evangelicalism that I never hear the phrase "corporate relationship with God" although both have critical New Testament significance.
   As an evangelical I am certainly stepping on toes to question the coveted phrase, 'personal relationship with God'. In a good way I think it arises out of the need to draw a clear line of distinction with traditional cultural Christianity which allows people to feel they are Christians if their family goes or has gone to church at some point. That is a good line to draw. People do need to know that God wants our entire lives and hearts, and our parents' church attendance or even our own will be a useless thing to bring up on judgment day. However, in losing the use of the phrase 'kingdom of heaven' we may be letting the Biblical concept slip away as well. Since we don't talk about the kingdom, we don't think about the kingdom. We just think of personal relationships with God. That greatly affects the topic of this paper.
   A study of the kingdom in the New Testament quickly shows that it is multidimensional. It is true that 'the kingdom of heaven is within you.' (Lk 17:21) But it is also true that it is beyond us. 'I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." (Lk 22:18) 'Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.' (1 Cor 15:24) 'The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.' (2 Tim 4:18) 'The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." (Rev 11:15) 'Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.' (Rev 12:10)
   If you carelessly try to pin the kingdom down to a single concept you will often find verses that both support and contradict the concept. If we say, 'The kingdom of heaven is synonymous with heaven itself ' the place believers go for eternity after we die', we are partly right (2 Tim 4:18) but then how is the kingdom of heaven within me now (Lk 17:21)? At the core, I believe a kingdom is basically 'that which is ruled/governed by a king'. The kingdom of God is different on differing levels because His reign is that way as well. God ultimately reigns over all the earth. Yet the kingdoms of this world are also attributed to Satan (Lk 4:6; Jn 14:30). Yet Jesus is also retaking that which originally is His own (Rev 11:15). If I, living in this world, am surrendered to the authority of God, then the kingdom of God exists as a kernel within me which is surrounded by the kingdom of darkness which ultimately is surrounded by the kingdom of God. We cannot pin the kingdom down to time or place. That is why theologians say the kingdom is 'already and not yet', it is really here yet not fully manifest here, it has come and it is still coming.
   The gospel of 'a personal relationship with God' does not demand a public dimension. The ultimate goal is that every individual is experiencing his or her own personal relationship with God. It could even theoretically be that every person was a believer, and did not know that anyone else was ' as we went about our lives as usual while growing closer to Him. It is fundamentally something within us. True, the relationship within us does overflow in our actions, but the 'personal relationship with God' gospel is not ultimately leading to anything other than more and deeper personal relationships with God. Again, this is good stuff, but it is incomplete.
   The kingdom of God is something within, and our personal surrender to Him and relationship with Him is critical. However, kingdom theology ALSO reminds us that 'They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the lord as the waters cover the sea.' (Isa 11:9) [Emphasis added] The gospel of the kingdom looks forward to ultimate fulfillment in a kingdom of peace, justice, joy, health, and righteousness (Isa 61:1-13; Rev 21:1-4). The vision of the kingdom of God is not only the sum of many individual relationships with God, but it extends to the space beyond and between those relationships as well.
   Where does that leave us now, while we await the ultimate consummation/inauguration/triumph of the kingdom? In response to the 'social gospel' phenomenon, evangelicalism (except for the political 'religious right') has dealt with this largely by focusing on the 'gospel of a personal relationship with God' for now, and kingdom fulfillment for later ('kingdom' here merely meaning 'heaven'). After studying the 'gospel of the kingdom' I feel that the evangelical stance is not Biblical.
   Jesus taught us, 'This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' (Mt 6:9-10) We are to yearn and pray for His kingdom to come ON EARTH as it is in heaven. But this is more than a prayer that we 'wish were true' while we know in fact it is impossible. For Jesus' own ministry and that of His disciples was full of not only looking toward the future kingdom but also bringing the kingdom TO EARTH (healings, deliverance from demons, loving/forgiving the rejected, proclamation of truth, standing up against unjust and ungodly authorities, caring for fellow man including the poor/orphans/widows, challenging cultural customs/traditions/social norms). This was often a demonstration of the fact that the kingdom of heaven was 'at hand'. (Mt 10:7-8)
   Again I am stepping on evangelical toes because the idea of bringing the kingdom to earth through these types of deeds strikes a dissonant chord with liberalism on two points. First is the problem of the 'social gospel' which seeks to bring about reconciliation, peace, justice, and healing in the world while giving little or no importance to Jesus, repentance, the cross, or the literal resurrection. But in fact, Biblical 'gospel of the kingdom' thinking and 'social gospel' thinking are in some ways exact opposites. The 'social gospel' says that physical needs and realities are ultimate and that the Bible's spiritual teachings are just analogies and images meant to teach us how to do good on earth. The gospel of the kingdom says that heaven and the kingdom of God within us are the ultimate realities, and that addressing the physical world is just a shadow, analogy, image, or sign, leading up to the consummation of the ultimate kingdom. This consummation we yearn for and which cannot really be fulfilled on this earth until Jesus comes back and destroys Satan. The consummation which the social gospel yearns for is a man-made utopia on earth. Both 'social gospel' and 'gospel of the kingdom' thinking result in social action, but with wildly different motives and methods.
   Second, liberalism, with its man-centered rather than God-centered perspective, looks to a gradual improvement in the world as people somehow slowly improve. Evangelicalism, focusing on man's total depravity, reminds us that we are not getting any better, and looks to a time of great tribulation with ultimate peace only after this time of ultimate evil. However I see some harmony between the two. We know that wars, famines, earthquakes, and deception will prelude the end, as will the coldening of love (Mt 24:5-13). However, in the same passage we know that the preaching of the gospel to all nations is also a sign of the coming of the end (Mt 24:14). The more the kingdom of God expands and takes hold on earth, the more fierce the backlash against it. Why would Satan get the evils of this world so riled up in the times of tribulation if not that the kingdom of God is taking hold like never before?
   Liberalism often errs in seeing general enlightenment overtaking all of humanity. That is certainly not true. But evangelical must remember that as the church grows there will be a remnant within it of goodness and love increasing in the world all the way to the end. Rather than simply expecting evil to be on the increase towards the end, I think we need to expect the kingdoms of darkness and light to be simultaneously accelerating. This conclusion is also in line with Jesus' famous words that, 'I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it' (Mt 16:18). This statement is usually terribly misconceived as the church barely hanging on by a thread while God protects it from destruction. Just the opposite. 'Gates' are a defense mechanism, and Jesus ascribes them to the 'city' of Hades. Hades is on the defense against the attacking church, and Jesus is giving the church victory that Hades cannot withstand. The climax of the last great battle is not that the church is waning and finally wiped out, so God strikes revenge at Satan and then restores His way. The climax is that church, through thousands of years of history, has slowly broken the chains of darkness around the world, the kingdom has advanced around the world destroying former evil structures and bringing truth, and Satan is taking his last defensive stand before being thrown into buring sulphur. Granted, the church at that time will suffer apostasy and loss of numbers, but her standing firm through this is only further proof that she is built on a solid rock and poised to crush Satan's head.
   With this more Biblical (I hope) perspective on the kingdom of God the Lord's prayer becomes much more powerful to me, 'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.' We have an idea of how God's will is done and how His kingdom looks in heaven. This is what Jesus wants us to pray and act toward ON EARTH. That means more personal relationships with God, amen! But it also means the church is an agent of transformation of THE EARTH, we are to be engaging the culture, traditions, social norms, the government and other authority structures, caring for the needs of the oppressed, and fearlessly proclaiming truth and worshiping in the public square. God must be 'on public display' because His kingdom is the ultimate public issue, affecting every individual of the public and the space between and beyond every individual as well.

   We began this paper looking at how God has been pleased to reveal His character and His will on the public stage from the beginning of time straight through to the end. From this foundation we found that in this age the church has a role to play in presenting God as the one of greatest public relevance to all nations, communities, families, and individuals. Before closing, let us consider some questions and implications that arise from these results.

1. Public ministry should be complimentary, not contradictory to, "private" ministry. Sometimes public-type ministry is argued against along the lines of, "Such and such is best done, or can only be done, in personal relationships and small groups..." This "one-or-the-other" fallacy disappears when we realize that, just as Jesus preached to thousands and yet discipled the 12, the two forms should work together.
2. What about countries that are closed or restricted regarding Christian activity? Based on the principles above I can only conclude that street preaching and other forms of public engagement are equally, if not more, important in "closed" countries. Regarding the fearful threats that the rulers of this world hold over us, is God not glorified when we display that our fear of God surpasses the fear of man (Isa 8:13; Acts 4:13)? Regarding the threats of visa revokement and rendering our ministries dead, is God not glorified when we display that the sovereignty of God is greater that the plans of man (Dan 3:17; Acts 4:19)?
      Additionally, the fear of man is a smokescreen that Satan puts up to trick the church into stopping herself when He himself has no true power to stop her (Mt 16:18). Our boldness can help others to break through the deception of fear (Phil 1:12-14, 28). Again, as we saw in both Old and New Testaments, God has set a precedent for sending His people to directly stand against regimes that unrighteously set themselves up against Him (Ex 3:10f; 1 Sam 17:45; 1 Kings 13:1-4; Jer 15:20; Ez 2:6; Dan 3:16-18; 4:27; Jonah 3:3-4; John 2:14-17; Acts 4:18-20; 5:40-42).
3. What about "a church for every people group"? Missiologists in recent decades have given a lot of attention to the phrase "panta ta ethne" (e.g. Mt 28:19), translated as "all nations" or "all peoples". The consensus seems to be (see John Piper's argument in "Let the Nation's Be Glad") that the fulfillment of the Great Commission comes when the church (sometimes "an indigenous reproducing church movement" or such...) is established amongst all of the linguistically and culturally distinct "people groups" of the world. In some sense, then, it can be argued that the urgency of the missionary task is towards seeing the church established in new people groups, rather than just trying to win more converts amongst people groups that already have a church. Now, above I argued for the importance of the gospel going to all creation, those "receptive" to it AND those not. However, I still accept the significance of "people group" thinking and believe the public ministry supported in this paper is not contradictory to it.
      If we look at some of the same important verses that have to do with "all the nations" or "all the world", we see that the accompanying action is "Kerusso" - to preach, herald, proclaim (Mt 24:14; Mk 13:10, 14:9, 16:15; Lk 24:47). According to my "Hebrew-Greek Key Study Bible" (Spiros Zodhiates, compiler) this verb comes from the noun "Kerux", "In Classical Greek... one who summoned the town gathering... the public crier and reader of state messages such as the conveyor of a declaration of war." As with the private/public ministry question addressed above, we do well not to set up a false dichotomy, but see that "people group" frontiers and public ministry are both significant realms for the church to be at work. As a matter of fact, returning to the model of Acts, we see that it was precisely public proclamation that God often used for the establishment of the initial church in new people group territory (Acts 2:1-14; 8:4-8; 14:8-23; 17:16-34).
4. Is activity inside the church building public or private ministry? I would call it "semi-public" in that it is generally open to the public but will only really be witnessed by a small percentage of the population. In communities where the center of worship (church, mosque, synagogue, temple) is visited by the majority of the population this would definitely be a place of engaging the public (e.g. Jesus or Paul preaching in local synagogues). However, in general a church that desires to affect/reach the public will need to go beyond its own walls.
5. I have consistently spoken in this paper of the public ministry of "the church". It is a correct observation that we are not all like the apostles, and that God gave men like Paul a special calling for their ministry (Acts 9:15). Paul himself stated that, "All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they?..." (1 Cor 12:29) Rather, the public ministry I am presenting here, as with a great many others, is a task that God has given the church and appointed within her various gifts which can work together for the fulfillment. Now, we all should be aware that opportunities may arise at any time for any one of us to go public with our faith (Mt 10:18; Jn 4:28). In general, though, this and other ministries should be the work of the church in which we all find our appropriate role.
6. In whatever various ways we are led to put God on public display we must always remember that He and His glory are the focus; being warned by Jesus' condemnation of personal piety on public display (Mt 6).
7. Regarding the political side. If I have made the case for the church engaging the world publicly then what are the means for that? Politics? Probably that is part of it. But the normative model I see is: Proclamation and living out of the gospel (good deeds, healing, deliverance, teaching, sharing). In the New Testament times this was done in a context where the church was an oppressed minority. So political strength is not the essential matter. Sure, pass godly laws when we can, promote godly and just governments when we can; but the government of God's kingdom does not correlate to man's government. The kingdom of heaven is NOT a democracy. God forbid! Rule by the people (demos) is the one thing entirely against the kingdom (rule) of God. On the contrary the kingdom of heaven is a theocracy. So they are organically distinct. True, as the kingdom expands it should be affecting the government as it promotes peace, justice, righteousness, etc. But political strength must not become an idol, for God's kingdom continues despite the human authorities (Ps 2).
8. We have seen that, in addition to public preaching, one of the primary ways God uses His servants to broadcast His name is through miracles (signs, wonders, healings, exorcisms, etc.). As noted earlier, a major purpose of the miracles of Jesus (Mt 11:20-21) and the apostles (Acts 4:8-10) was to point people to faith in Christ. This observation, I believe, challenges us to think Biblically regarding miracles. Namely, in relation to this paper, we may be inclined to seek after private miracles much more than public manifestations of God's power. Three impure motivations might lead us to have such an inclination.
      First, we may simply be looking for miracles for their entertainment value. We may merely desire the excitement a "spiritual Disneyland" experience. A second motivation could be lack of faith. It is more difficult to stand in front of a crowd or even with a single unbeliever and pray for God's intervention, than just to quietly pray by ourselves. However, if we openly pray for something in advance then when God answers He will certainly receive the glory (Jn 11:39-45; Acts 3:6-11; etc.). A third motivation might be the fear of arousing too much attention. This is particularly true in hostile situations. We might long for an individual to see Christ in a dream, but avoid praying for a public miracle (esp. where we might be involved) for fear of the publicity it might draw. Once again, I am challenged by reading the Biblical models such as Acts 4:29-30, "`Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.' After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.'"