Looking forward to the heavenly city

There is, if I am not mistaken, a gulf that typically separates two approaches to Christian action. One reads the following:

"For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (Hebrews 11:10)

and concludes that since we are awaiting a kingdom that cannot be shaken, we are to draw apart from the world. The other camp tends to read salvation history as being much more immanent, and looks for the establishment of the Kingdom on earth, not descending from heaven.

This division is tragic, since what is needed is a marriage of the two: looking for the heavenly city, while engaging in the earthly city; expecting manifestations of the Kingdom now without triumphalist illusions.

Not surprisingly, I have found the language of Lesslie Newbigin to be most helpful in understanding this paradigm. He consistently speaks of the church being a sign, instrument and foretaste of the Kingdom of God. As a sign it points away from itself (and pushes off the triumphalist illusions); as an instrument it brings the reign of God to bear now in this world in real ways; and as a foretaste it gives this broken world a small taste of what it is to live under the righteous rule of Christ.

May this generation live as sign, instrument and foretaste!