I believe the Reign of God as it refers to the church means that we must have a Kingdom focus to our ministry. Is the church that God established strayed from the very mission that it was given in the beginning? I think that many churches do not understand that the church can not function properly unless it is functioning under the Reign of God. The late author and Christian historian Robert Webber may have found part of the answer in this startling quote he picked up from an unknown source:
· The Church started as a missionary movement in Jerusalem.
· It moved to Rome and became an institution.
· It traveled to Europe and became a culture.
· It crossed the Atlantic to America and became a big business.
While this is simplistic, it does ring true. It appears that religious people have, on the whole, lost their “transforming salt” and are no longer an “attractive light” that most people want to follow. Webber and many others believe that traditional evangelism reached its high point in North America in the 1980s and by 2000 was in the throes of its last gasps. The church began to see itself as an entity and not a connected part of the Reign of God.
It may seem strange to think that traditional evangelism is in its last gasps when some North American churches seem to be increasing in number. Indeed, if the measure of success is church attendance, donations, people’s participation, numbers of programs, or square footage of church space, then many of today’s churches would be considered overwhelming successful. But are these factors valid measurements for the success of a church? If not, what is? The apostle Paul established some indicators. He stated that the leadership of the church was responsible “to equip God’s people to do his work…” so they would be “…mature and full grown in the Lord,measuring up to the full stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13, NLT). “Since we believe that Christ died for everyone, we also believe that we have all died to the old life we used to live…so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15, NLT). The disciple James went on to add: “Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions?” (James 2:14, NLT).
We can not forget that the church was established by God through what Christ did on the cross to ultimately fulfill His mission in the world. When we get outside of the Reign of God (kingdom focus), we dishonor they very message that we are called to spread to the ends of the earth.
Comments