Shortly after I arrived at our established church, I began saying frequently, “I want to be a Kingdom-minded pastor”. The phrase seemed to catch some by surprise. They had heard the term, but they really didn’t know what I meant when I said it. Thankfully, rather than remaining curious, someone eventually asked me, “What do you mean by that?”
Great question.
Then recently, I was sharing stories of some people who had exhibited life change through the power of Christ in their life. Someone said to me, “Those are great stories, but are those people even members of our church?”
Wow! I realized we were talking two entirely different paradigms.
So, what do I mean by hoping to have a Kingdom building mindset?
Here are 7 ways I hope to be Kingdom building:
Care more about a person’s relationship to Jesus than their denominational loyalties.
Care more about a person growing to be like Christ than their membership in our church.
Care more about disciples being made than who gets credit for doing it or who gets to “count” them.
Care more about the Gospel being shared than the methodology of sharing it – or whether a person walks the aisle of the church or sits in a coffee shop to have it explained to them.
Care more about people’s growth than the church policies and procedures.
Care more about my obedience to Christ than my approval from others.
Care more about God’s glory than man’s recognition.
Care more about whether a person can worship than the style of music they choose to do so.
Okay, there are 8, but I care less about the number than you getting the point of this post.
By the way, in my opinion, we tend to work hardest for what we care about the most.
I am not at all saying I don’t want people to connect with the local church – even our local church. I hope we are a good option. But, their relationship with their Creator is where I’m most motivated. Let us begin there.
