Kingdom Thinkers

FIRST-PERSON: Developing Kingdom thinkers

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That is a tall order when working with pastors. I can say this because I was a pastor for nearly 30 years. We must do it for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

When I was getting my education in college and seminary, there was no emphasis on the Kingdom of God. In fact, I remember once asking a question about it in seminary and being told that it had to do with eschatology, or the end times, and I should leave it alone as it was too controversial. So, I had not really considered the Kingdom of God in depth for years.

Driggers challenged me to read the New Testament and see how much Jesus had to say about the Kingdom. One day I did a printout on it and it overwhelmed me. I decided that if Jesus had this much to say about the Kingdom, I had to be interested in it and had to consider it.

I have been moved and caused to realize anew that God is not at all interested in the kingdom of an individual, a local Baptist church or even a state convention. He is interested in His Kingdom. Our efforts at church growth, baptisms, Sunday School enrollment, etc. As our state staff members have traveled to the associations and churches of our convention, we have sought to promote the concept of Empowering Kingdom Growth.

We have challenged our people to make their relationship with Christ their first priority, to make an unwavering commitment to Jesus in their private and public lives. We have called them to seek not only what is good for their own church, but also what is good for the entire Kingdom of God.

We have found that the laity is eager to embrace such a concept. I have also found that the young people can get excited about this endeavor. They want to be involved in something much bigger than their own church or neighborhood. They are excited about the thought of being involved in the much larger picture of the Kingdom of God. After preaching and teaching about the Kingdom of God for the past three years, this year as we came to our state convention, we finally put some feet on this thing called the Kingdom.

I saw some people who, for the very first time, seemed to take hold of this initiative. They had to admit that it is scriptural; in fact it is taken right from the Bible. And they could see how Acts 1: When we decide we must be on mission with God in our Jerusalem and then Judea, and move on to Samaria and to the ends of the earth, we get our eyes off of ourselves. So, democratic thinking majority agreement can hinder Kingdom thinking. It is no surprise that we have mixed democracy into Church government.

Yet, God never intended His will to be superseded by the will and rule of people. If we are going to set up the government of God in the Earth, we must change our way of thinking. We must chart a new course and change our direction. God needs people on this Earth to represent His government.

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God always begins His work with a man. When He began the human race, He started with a man. He created a man from the dust of the earth. He never returned to the earth again to create.

When He created woman, He created her from man, His earthen vessel, not from the Earth itself. When God's purpose was in jeopardy because the human race was evil, God spoke to a man, Noah, to provide salvation. Through a man, Jesus Christ, God provided for the restoration of all things to Himself. We, as the Church, are in Christ. We are God's man in the Earth today. Jesus said His Kingdom was not of this world.

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Paul said that we are citizens of heaven. In 2 Corinthians 5 Paul calls us ambassadors of Christ. Ambassadors are those chosen and sent by their government to represent that government in another nation. As ambassadors of Christ, we represent the Kingdom and government of God here on Earth. As representatives of the Kingdom, we cannot think democratically any longer.

When we grasp Kingdom thinking, we understand that we serve a King. The will and the purpose of the king are the priority of any kingdom. The king determines the decisions and actions in his kingdom. Jesus is the King of kings. We must stop thinking like Christians and start thinking like the kings Christ called us to be. He did not even call us Christians. Believers were first called Christians by pagans in Antioch.

Therefore, Christian is a religious name given to us because we are followers of Christ, just as Buddhist is the name referring to followers of Buddha. Regretfully, Christianity is in serious danger of becoming a man-centered, man-oriented gospel created by man for man - a democracy. Unlike some of today's ministers, Jesus never preached on healing, prosperity, success, or any of the other things that center on man and his wellbeing.

Kingdom Thinkers Nurture Their Thoughts

Jesus preached about the Kingdom, the King, and the King's purpose. Jesus demonstrated healing and prosperity as an expression of the will and purpose of God. When Jesus needed money to pay His taxes, He understood that He had dominion over the Earth, so He sent His disciple to get the money from a fish's mouth. God wants us healed, not only so we can feel good, but to enable us to fulfill His purpose in the Earth. He wants us to prosper so we can fund His Kingdom. He wants us to be successful in order to reflect His glory and blessings to others. Anointed Purposes The Church has failed to fully embrace the supremacy of God's will and purpose.

Instead, we are self-centered.

We place our welfare above the plans and the purpose of God. Without a Kingdom mentality, we desire the things of God more than the will of God. We replace His higher purpose with our personal goal of attaining His blessings and benefits. Why did He bless them? God blessed them to fulfill His purpose and be fruitful and multiply. God does not bless and anoint people.

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