Acts 1:3 tells us how Jesus prepared His disciples to start the very first church. It says that he schooled them for 40 days on the Kingdom of God. That's right. Jesus knew that if His disciples could capture His heart and vision for the Kingdom, once empowered by the Holy Spirit, they would turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6).
It has been my growing conviction that Western churches, for the most part, have not been having the kind of transformational impact on society that they could (and should) have. I believe that this is due (in large part) to our lack of understanding about the Kingdom of God.
As believers and as churches we are agents of the Kingdom. To be "missional" is to understand and act on our Kingdom calling. It would be good for everyone of us to spend 40 days really "schooling" ourselves on the Kingdom of God. Sources I would recommend to help us gain fresh insight into the Scriptures are Ladd, Bright, Tolstoy, Glasser, and Willard.
Over the past few years our teams have interviewed many non-churched people in cities where we have been supporting church planting. What we have found is that the non-churched population (for the most part) do not see the church adding any value to society. They often view the church as a "taker" rather than a "giver" to the city. For the most part we are not viewed as "salt" and "light." Rather we are a non-factor or worse, a nuisance.
I want to encourage every new church to see themselves as agents of the Kingdom, bringing blessing and hope to the city! (Jeremiah 29)
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As I read your post a question comes up. Do we as pastors/planters know how to live in the Kingdom of God? I do mean knowledge AND I mean action/formation (head, heart, hands sort of stuff). Which makes me want to read St Herman of Alaska or St Francis of Assisi...maybe even some Augustine.
It makes me want to create an avenue for Kingdom living formation. Something emerging leaders can get together over a month or two and do together...to be an apostolic kingdom community together as part of their training. I don't know...just thinking out loud.
Peace
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