Whose kingdom are you building?
A question everyone in ministry needs to ask on a regular basis. My experience suggests that their may be three possible answers:
- Your own kingdom.
- Someone else’s kingdom.
- God’s kingdom.
The reality is that the answer may be a mix of all three.
If you are a leader, chances are there’s some element of vision, ambition, and a deep desire to build something. To some degree or another, these things are typical of individuals who land in leadership roles. And there’s nothing wrong with any of these (in fact they are all necessary to leading effectively!). But if these are built on our own thoughts and ideas, there is something amiss.
The vast majority of us serve under the leadership of someone else, and we contribute to the vision that has been explicitly or implicitly laid out before us. I try and assume that my leader’s heart is pure and right, and that his (or her) motives for leading in ministry are the same. But that is not always true. While it is our responsibility to support and further the God-given vision of our leader, we are responsible in our ministry to God first.
Of course, I believe most of us want desperately to build the Kingdom of God. We want to see souls saved, lives changed, community built, believers equipped, and so on. Doing this without a human agenda is sometimes the challenge.
Sometimes, with the pace and demands of ministry, we can do our work without asking whose kingdom we are building. We can pursue projects and initiate program and build structures and shuffle people in and out of our services . . . without really stopping to ask what our real motives are.
Whose kingdom are you building? Why do you do what you do? Why does your senior leadership do what they do? Is what you are engaged in – both personally and corporately – building the Kingdom of God?
I’m not suggesting that it’s not.
But I will admit, there have been times when I’ve made decisions based on what I thought was best for me, what I felt would promote my own agenda and help me get ahead. I would never look at it that way, but that’s really what was happening.
I’ve served under a leader who I have no doubt is 90% about building his own kingdom. It was hard to see at the time – perhaps because I didn’t ask this very question – but so much about the church, what is measured and how things are accomplished indicates he is about building his own little empire (big by human standards!).
Our human nature pushes us to be about building our own kingdoms – even in ministry. But it is crucial, on whatever level of leadership we find ourselves, to ask ourselves whose kingdom am I building?
How do we know what the answer is? Books have been written answering this questions, but I believe that, when we are truthful with ourselves, we will have an indication of the answer based on what Jesus says are the greatest commands:
“‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22:37-38
When we are serving God with a pure heart and seeking only to build His kingdom, our love for God and our love for people will be evident.
- Love for God. How are you responding to God’s Word? Are you even IN God’s Word? How’s your prayer life? Are you truly worshiping in the manner in which you connect best with God? Are you obeying God’s Word and is that evident in your “works”? In your quietest moments, do you know in your heart of hearts that your relationship with God is right? Only you can answer these questions, and I recognize different seasons in our walk with God, but if you can’t answer them well, chances are you’re not about building God’s Kingdom.
- Love for Others. I believe that our treatment and interactions with others is a great indicator of whose kingdom we are building. Again, it may only be in your heart that you know the answers (we can be very good a faking genuine love and concern for others, can’t we?). But ask yourself: do you really love the people you are serving? How is that evidenced on a personal level (building a great program can be done by someone who doesn’t love the people who are in it, so don’t use that as a gauge)? Are the needs of the kids in your church, your volunteers, your families, your community really a concern to you? When these needs interrupt or interfere with your plans, how do you respond in your heart? How about your own family…are they getting your ministry leftovers as you give yourself to building something great?
I firmly believe that God uses our efforts in the church to build His Kingdom. Growing ministries, excellent program, high impact, large numbers – these are all good things. But are we doing it out of a deep desire to see the Kingdom of God grow, or are we building it in an attempt to build our own kingdoms?
I have a plaque hanging in my office, given to me by John Maxwell when I started as his Children’s Pastor. It says this:
I don’t have to survive
Acts 20:24
Paul says in this verse that his life is worth nothing unless he uses it “for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus”. When we are about the Kingdom of God, we give ourselves to loving God and loving others without thought of promoting or protecting our own interests. The work we do might look strikingly similar when we are building our own kingdoms and when we are building God’s. The difference is in the heart – it’s not about me. My ambitions, in the end, are not important. I don’t have to survive, and neither does my kingdom.
