A Kingdom-Driven Church’s Values

You can tell you’re in a kingdom-driven congregation by watching the lives of her people. Jesus made it clear that the reign of God would be clearly seen by his dwelling within his people. When asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom would come, Jesus said: “The Kingdom of God does not come visibly, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). The way God’s power and authority is seen best in his people is when they embody the kingdom values and features of Christ’s lordship in their daily walk.

What values will be most noticeably seen? How will God’s power be manifested?

REPENTANCE: Getting things right with God—understanding the significant place of repentance and brokenness in a disciple’s life and seeking to model the first beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Repentance and humility create channels for God’s Kingdom power to work through his broken people to bring hope, healing and help to the hurting.
RECONCILIATION: Getting things right with others—following the biblical steps of conflict resolution and seeking to model the seventh beatitude: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Paul reminded the Corinthian congregation that they were reconciled to God so that they could reconcile others to him: “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
REVITALIZATION: Understanding and implementing the factors needed to see the renewal/revitalization process take place in the church—genuine heartfelt prayer, biblically sound, heart-touching worship, authentic preaching that expounds the fullness of Christ, Great Commission-based efforts in making disciples, fervency in evangelism, mobilizing the church to act like biblical salt and light to their local culture, and exercising biblical stewardship with time, talents and treasures out of loving obedience to the Lord. These are some of the biblical priorities that God blesses and uses to bring renewal and revitalization to his people.
REFORM: Aligning your infrastructure so that it pulsates your purpose and mission. A Kingdom-driven church organizes its ministry, government, leadership, and resources around the driving values of her mission. Significant in this effort is the central place of strategic planning—setting goals, directives and objectives that match the priorities, values and spiritual gifts of the people, and spending sufficient time for evaluation and adjustment as necessary.
RELATIONSHIPS: Doing everything possible to nurture and to foster meaningful connections, biblical koinonia and spiritual community life in the Body of Christ. In a Kingdom-driven ministry, the church is seen as a healing magnet, an organic community of believers living out the realities of the gospel in their daily lives by bringing hope and help to those living in spiritual and/or physical despair. Authentic gospel relationships mark a Kingdom-driven church.
RENEWAL: The pursuit of the presence, breath and life touch of God upon the people—praying for the Holy Spirit’s visitation and trusting the Lord to break through with life-transforming power. In a Kingdom-driven ministry, prayer is a cornerstone activity within the community. Using the Lord’s Prayer as a model, believers pray for the power of God’s kingdom to come and for his will to be done through their lives as they show repeated dependence upon the Lord for his daily provisions, spiritual protection, and advancement of his sovereign reign.
RESTORATION: The effective result of God the Spirit’s grace and power repairing and reestablishing the biblical norms, order, love, harmony and structure to the family, the church and the society. In a Kingdom-driven focus, the church seeks to bring redemptive value to all of life and culture, believing that “all things” are a part of the reconciliation of God’s salvation (Colossians 1:19-20). In this objective, the church acts as a servant to restore the brokenness of life caused by the Fall and its existing strongholds that paralyze and debilitate life. This restoration comes from the power of love, the most potent force upon the planet Earth.