Beyond Escapism: Making the Kingdom Real

Beyond the spiritual escapism of the “kingdom within”: Moving from an internalized faith toward a Kingdom that transforms the world

The Kingdom Within

Part 3 (final) of a sermon by Dr. Michael Balcomb, President of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification in Europe and the Middle East, given online at an international Sunday worship service for the Nordic countries on Zoom 20^th September 2026.

Continued from part 1: The Kingdom Within

Continued from part 2: The Inner Kingdom and the Outer Kingdom

There is a trap and a temptation which I think it’s worth thinking about today. We can be tempted – and I think we are being tempted as a movement – to withdraw into this entirely spiritual path, treating “The Kingdom Within” as the main goal. I candidly see this as escapism or denial, pushing all the work back on God, and expecting all the results only in the far the future or after death.

We can look at two men who took this “Kingdom Within” thinking to extremes in relatively modern times, like Russian Leo Tolstoy, who underwent a radical conversion and wrote a book “The Kingdom Within” and proceeded to give away everything and renounce the world. But he did so without consulting his wife, leaving her to look after their 13 children and causing the whole family great grief.

Or then there was Mahatma Gandhi, whose extreme asceticism became expensive and complicated for others to maintain. Later in life he resorted to bizarre demonstrations of self-control that today would be considered abusive [See editor’s note below].

Yes, they were both saints, in their own way. But they missed the real point of life.

The True Parents teach us that all three blessings given by God in Genesis 1:28 must be fulfilled: to be fruitful, multiply, and take dominion. While we used to say that fulfilling them in the right order was the key and the wrong order led to the fall, in truth they have to be fulfilled in parallel and indeed cannot be fulfilled independently or alone.

This is why the True Parents‘ second motto – “Live for the sake of others” – is so important, to prevent the accomplishment of the blessings from being just selfish. We must not lose sight of the real goal: the Kingdom in substance. True Mother calls it “God’s original dream”.

Serenity in Difficult Times

Still, some might reasonably ask: Is it even still possible? Or have we blown it by our mistakes – and let’s be honest about our real thinking here – by the mistakes of others?

I would say “not at all.” Father Moon taught that the light and the dark follow each other naturally:

“Nothing stands still in the universe, and everything has its turn. The sunny side is bound to become the dark side eventually, and the dark side is bound to turn sunny sooner or later. Therefore, once you are ready for the dark side, trained and conditioned to endure cold weather and difficulties, when you experience the sunny side, it is totally heaven for you. But the person who can deal only with the sunny side of life, and does not know how to cope with the difficult times will feel he is in total hell when the dark side comes around, which it inevitably will.”

When things go wrong, it is not necessarily or always a sign of spiritual disfavour, punishment or judgment. It is part of the natural cycle.

During my visits to the True Mother in confinement, I have witnessed her absolute serenity firsthand. She is unchanged no matter what happens. Back in November last year at the detention center, and then just three weeks ago as she entered and left the court.

Going into the court, none of us knew what the judges would say. We were of course hoping for acquittal. I am sure she was too. But when she came out, I didn’t see someone looking worried or distressed, but actually looking amazingly peaceful – no panic, no anger, no bitterness. Later we learned she told her lawyers, “Let’s pray for the judges. They did their best. And this fight is not over.” Her mindset is focused on how God can use the situation.

A New Thing

For our community, this is a testing time. I reflect on the Word of God in Isaiah 43:18-19 given to the people of Israel when they had lost everything – the Kingdom, the nation, the temple – and were in exile in Babylon:

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

I believe God is doing a new thing today. We are not going to be satisfied with the Kingdom within, though we will work on ourselves more diligently. We are not going to stay satisfied with a Kingdom amongst us, if it does not include everyone. We have to do it all: within, among, and throughout.

We’re not going to win the world by theology or intellect or debate. The only way it will happen is if people can look at us and think,

“I want what they have. They seem to be at peace. They seem to have something wonderful.”

We have the teaching and the Blessing of True Parents. That light has to shine again. The troubles of today will one day be forgotten. But right now is an opportunity for all of us together to make a new start. We can’t do it by ourselves; we have to do it as one family. And I know, and I can trust, that we will do it here together.

Thank you very much, everybody.

Continued from part 1: The Kingdom Within

Contrinued from part 2: The Inner Kingdom and the Outer Kingdom

Featured image above: Beyond the spiritual escapism of the “kingdom within”. Illustration: ChatGPT, September 2026.

[Editor’s note: Late in life, Mahatma Gandhi practiced brahmacharya (celibacy) through controversial experiments to test his self-control and conquer sexual desire. He slept naked in the same bed as young women, including his teenage grandnieces Abha and Manu. While Gandhi insisted these tests were entirely spiritual and free of sexual contact, modern critics and historians widely view these actions as a serious abuse of power and emotional exploitation.]

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