Jesus came announcing the Kingdom of God: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel." Mk 1:15. Some he invited to follow while others flocked around him. After his crucifiction the disciples came together. After the 'conversion' of Saul into Paul, he went around preaching Jesus and presented him with his Jewish background. The small communities to which he preached were called as churches with their own elders as leaders. In course of time, these and other commnities seemed to have recognized their similarities with regard to Jesus and thus they formed the 'Church.' In this 'great' passage the Kingdom was slowly ingnored to this day.
As long as the Church holds on to itself, the Kingdom won't be a reality here on this earth which was Jesus' dream. "...unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat." Jn 12:24. The church seems to explain it as an eschatological phenomenon and avoids its responsibility to die out to give birth to the kingdom. The church can't easily give up its powers and other parapharnalias. It conveniently forgets its founders words: "... the Son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mt 20:28.
The church is not radical, because it wants to carry on its own schemes and present itself rather than the kingdom. By this it somehow becomes an idol and even makes God and his words also an idol! Its liturgy, theology and the like helps its schemings and not the cause of the kingdom.
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