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Kingdom Vs. Church

What if we’re getting it wrong?

I spent a lot of time thinking about ecclesiology, probably because of Thrive. But I had a thought today.  Jesus didn’t spent much time AT ALL worrying about church.  He focused on revealing the kingdom.  And I checked.  The word church appears only 2 times in the Gospels. But the word kingdom appears 116 times. Seems like a huge discrepancy given that we have entire organizations and industries designed creating church, church planting, church chairs, church music, church (fill in the blank).

And I began to wondering why this was.  Why did Jesus focus so much on kingdom as opposed to church?  And I began to wonder if Jesus understood that church was not possible without kingdom. One required the other.  And in focusing on kingdom Jesus would automatically build his church in our midst.  Jesus even said, “But seekfirst his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)  Because what draws us together is the reflection of God in our midst.  What draws us together is the inescapable love that heals our souls.  It’s that pervading sense of grace that transcends our brokenness.  That’s kingdom, not church.

I had this conversation with a friend about Thrive and what we do.  And we don’t focus on creating church, even though it often feels like church.  We focus on creating kingdom.  We focus on creating a space where grace is true.  We focus on living out the way Jesus called us to: to love and forgive.  And at first its really cool to feel like you have a tribe.  But over time, what makes it valuable is having this space where grace is true, where we can go to experience something divine.  It’s not just in the social aspect, which quickly wears off after we discover our brokenness in each other.  It’s creating a space where we can transcend that brokenness, no matter what we’ve done.  That’s kingdom.

So I say bring on the Kingdom and let Jesus build the church.

About the Author

Jonathan BrinkI am an business development and communications consultant. I am also the senior editor and publisher for Civitas Press. I recently published, Discovering The God Imagination: Reconstructing A Whole, New Christianity. (Civitas, 2011)View all posts by Jonathan Brink →

  • http://kingdomgrace.wordpress.com/ grace

    Amen Jonathan. Sadly, there is little understanding or agreement within the church about what the kingdom is even. However, this is central to the church becoming beautiful.

  • http://kingdomgrace.wordpress.com/ grace

    Amen Jonathan. Sadly, there is little understanding or agreement within the church about what the kingdom is even. However, this is central to the church becoming beautiful.

  • johannap

    Wow I just found your blog the other day and started reading bits of it. Some made me laugh, others made me think, a few made me wonder when you peeked into my head and read my thoughts and questions….:) This one inspired me, thank you!!

    J
    fellow ENFP (i knew there was something about these posts that smelled like an ENFP……;)

    ps i will keep reading and looking forward to more

  • johannap

    Wow I just found your blog the other day and started reading bits of it. Some made me laugh, others made me think, a few made me wonder when you peeked into my head and read my thoughts and questions….:) This one inspired me, thank you!!

    J
    fellow ENFP (i knew there was something about these posts that smelled like an ENFP……;)

    ps i will keep reading and looking forward to more

  • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

    Welcome to the inside of my head. ;-P

  • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

    Welcome to the inside of my head. ;-P

  • http://Tinney.biz D Tinney-Marketing Made Easy

    You're spot on, Jonathan. I've written also on this subject: http://the-kingdom.blogspot.com/search/label/ki

    Every Blessing!
    David

  • http://Tinney.biz D Tinney-Marketing Made Easy

    You're spot on, Jonathan. I've written also on this subject: http://the-kingdom.blogspot.com/search/label/ki

    Every Blessing!
    David

  • http://Tinney.biz D Tinney-Marketing Made Easy

    You're spot on Jonathan. I've also written on this subject:
    http://the-kingdom.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_arch

  • http://Tinney.biz D Tinney-Marketing Made Easy

    You're spot on Jonathan. I've also written on this subject:
    http://the-kingdom.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_arch

  • faciaina

    Well from what i understands there are a few books that claim that Jesus said that “the church is inside you” meaning it is not a place of worship rather then faith in oneself and the power to be good , the Jesus church said there is no such book but still make much more sense to me this claim

  • faciaina

    Well from what i understands there are a few books that claim that Jesus said that “the church is inside you” meaning it is not a place of worship rather then faith in oneself and the power to be good , the Jesus church said there is no such book but still make much more sense to me this claim

  • Marian Struble

    I have one word! AMEN! Let His Kingdom come in us and through us and to us as it is in heaven!!!!! Never could just keep it to one word! :)

  • Marian Struble

    I have one word! AMEN! Let His Kingdom come in us and through us and to us as it is in heaven!!!!! Never could just keep it to one word! :)

  • CSi

    Thank you Jonathan for the insight! Jesus indeed came to restore the Kingdom that His Father intended to build for the purpose of mankind.

    • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

      Thanks CSi for your kinds words.

  • Roslynwilliams4

    You sound a bit flippant when speaking about the most important aspects of eternity.  God promised Abraham and the Israelites a Kingdom. Through the actions Christ bore on the cross for our salvation, and through Paul, He promised the gentile believers  (and the Jews whose heart is open for grace) Heaven (the Church).  You might try Acts for more clarifacation when Paul brought the news of the Church to the world, it had been a mystery until that time.

    • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

      Roslyn,

      I cannot tell you how it sounds.  That is your judgment.  But know that I don’t write posts with any intent to be flippant.

      I will also say that I’m not sure of what you’re actually critiquing or making an argument against.

  • Roslynwilliams4

    Your original post was viewed as the Church (Body of Christ) having not been manifested yet.

    • http://jonathanbrink.com Jonathan Brink

      Roslyn, absolutely not.  The church is built and manifested by Jesus.  My point was that Kingdom is the foundation of church and not the other way around.

  • Andy

    your problem is that church should not be in our bibles, it was put in there to support a building and clergy in our translation. the Greek word ekklesia means assembly in general and called out assembly in particular. The called out assembly of every city made up the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the King and we who believe make up His domain. It was the called out assembly in Corinth, in ephesus, etc… not church. The people are a called out assembly and when they come together they minister to one another in love in small groups. Homes were used and the money collected was given to  those in need and not to buildings. We are robbing God of His money to the poor, the needy and hurting…something with eternal value. The home assemblies made up the city assembly and they made up the Kingdom…. the place of God’s rule. there are translations that don’t use church, because church has no greek word to back it up. Tyndale who wrote the first English bible did not use church but assembly and congregation and was killed for it. If we have one King, then there should be one kingdom. But what we have done was to ignore the kingdom and create thousands of divided churches each with their own clergy and all competing with one another…that never was God’s intention.

Business development and communications for growing businesses.