All Christians are called to seek first the Kingdom of God. How do we know if we, or even our church is Kingdom-focused? Ed Stetzer and Pastor Jeff Christopherson discuss the importance of having a Kingdom mindset that is present in the church and everyday life.
According to Jeff, the Church by and large has missed the boat on having a Kingdom mindset.
“If you asked the average person what the most important thing is, they’d say the Kingdom, but when you look at their priority list, it’s all church.”
The kingdom is not the same thing as the local church down the street. The church must be a tool that is used to advance the eternal reality called the kingdom.
“My church might only have a shelf life of 100 years, but if it does things that are intrinsic to the Kingdom of God, it has eternal impact, and if it doesn’t, then it’s just burnt.”
How do we say yes to the Kingdom?
“Just because I’m doing something for the church doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m advancing the Kingdom.”
Often we do things that we say is for the church, but in reality, those things are self-centered and do not advance the Kingdom of God.
“The call of the Kingdom, and especially starting a church that is Kingdom first is not about a call to save ourselves. It’s a call to lose ourselves.
This is contrary to the Biblical teaching in Matthew 16:25 which states,
“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
As Christians, when we receive the free gift of salvation and personal relationship with God, we are automatically transferred into the Kingdom. However, we are called to live out our new-found identity as kingdom-dwellers, on a daily basis.
“Very simply, the Kingdom of God is what my life, the church, and the world looks like when God gets his way.”
