Your Kingdom Concept

In the book Church Unique my friend Will Mancini teaches us how to discover God's unique vision for our church. He says the first step is to discover your "Kingdom Concept." I love what Will does with this. He says "The Kingdom Concept is the simple, clear, big idea that defines how your church will glorify God and make disciples." He goes on to say that "your Kingdom Concept is what differentiates you from every other church in how you develop followers of Christ."

What is your greatest opportunity to have an impact on the Kingdom? What can your church do better than ten thousand other churches? When you answer these questions you will discover what Will calls "your organizational sweet spot" or your Kingdom Concept. The big question is how do we discover our unique Kingdom Concept?

Will borrows from Jim Collins' model in Good to Great to help us answer that question. In Good to Great Collins introduces the idea of the "Hedgehog Concept." He describes an organization's "Hedgehog Concept" as the intersection of three circles. For Collins, circle one is "What you can be the best in the world at." Circle two is "What drives your economic engine." Circle three is "What you are deeply passionate about." Once a company or organization answers these three questions they are set to discover their "Hedgehog Concept," which is the key to their longterm success. Where these three circles overlap DEFINES their unique "Hedgehog Concept."

Will masterfully applies this concept to the local church using three circles. Circle one is to know your local predicament: "What are the unique needs and opportunities where God has placed us?" Circle two is to identify your collective potential: "What are the unique resources and capabilities that God brings together in us as a church?" Circle three is to declare your apostolic esprit: "What particular focus most energizes and animates our leadership?" Where these three circles intersect is your "Kingdom Concept."

Every church young and old needs to be crystal clear on their Kingdom Concept. Are you clear? Is your church clear?