Two Kingdoms

I have been aware that there are two Kingdoms vying for the minds of people for a long time. One Kingdom guided by Jesus’ statement, “Love God with your whole heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” The other Kingdom is driven by the mantra, “Life is all about you. Get what you can for yourself.” I had an experience recently that made me keenly aware of them. I went to a stock car racetrack with my grandson and was surrounded by the Kingdom of darkness.

For the last eight years I have been working parttime with Mark-Maker Company, a manufacturing company in Grand Rapids. All the leaders at the top levels of the company are Christian. Most meetings are opened with prayer. We pray for our meal if we have a business lunch. I never hear anyone in the company, at any level, use coarse language. The remainder of my life is centered on God’s Kingdom, at home or with family and friends. Our books and DVDs are faith based. We read Scripture daily. I spend most of my normal day in God’s Kingdom.

My son, before he passed, was a stock car driver at local tracks. His son, my grandson, and I frequently went to watch him race. We were mostly focused on his races and each other, although I was aware of people around us, we generally ignored them.

It has been a few years since I have been at the track. My grandson recently wanted to go back to the track where his dad raced most of the time, so we went. Maybe it was because of my experience with COVID isolation and staying home except for essentials or my current work experience, but as soon as we got there it was obvious to me, I was not in “world” I am accustomed too. I have spent my whole career working in manufacturing environments and have like most of the people I worked with, but that was a more controlled atmosphere and did not seem too “worldly”.

Stepping through the entrance gate, I can only describe what I heard and saw as the opposite of the famous line from The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy step into Oz and exclaimed, “Toto we are not in Kansas anymore.” Dorothy obviously meant Oz was amazingly better. In fact, in the movie, that scene is where the movie changes from black and white to color for effect. I had the opposite reaction. I felt I was no longer in the Lord’s Kingdom. The “darkness” was everywhere.

The first posted sign I saw a few steps inside the gate said, “Fighting will not be tolerated”. Can you imagine any public place that would feel they needed to post a sign like that? It was soon obvious why they did. Fights broke out multiple times. There must have been 20 or more Security employees patrolling the grounds. It was weird.

The language people used, even around kids, and wording on clothing was filthy. I am not sure anyone there knew the meaning of “polite”. It was truly an “it’s all about me” setting. The races are scheduled to last until 11:00PM. More families than I can count had multiple kids there under the age of 5 with nothing to do, that quickly turned into mischief. As the sun went down and it got chilly, around 45 degrees, and the kids only had light jackets and nothing covering their ears. I even saw a baby in a carrier with only a light blanket and no hat. The kids were running loose and generally not watched over carefully. It was a shocking sight to me.

The most concerning thing to me was this seemed “normal” to the fans. It is the world they live in; the language, the selfishness, the lack of care for little ones, the fights, all of it normal. How do the little ones growing up in an environment like that ever have a chance?

God’s Kingdom is full of peace and wisdom if we seek it. Staying in His Word and praying for His guidance creates a completely different life; language that honors our Lord, being other-focused, raising our kids in safety and “teaching them along the way”, handling conflict in a God honoring way.

Look around you. What Kingdom are you surrounded by? Joshua 24:15 says, “Choose for yourself who you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. Lord, please help each one of us be aware of which Kingdom we are serving.