Small Group Pastor… Are You Growing the Kingdom or Building an Organization?

There’s a difference between growing the Kingdom and building an organization.

 

The most simplistic explanation I’ve ever heard someone voice for the word “Kingdom” is, “Wherever Christ reigns His Kingdom exists.” And one of the most powerful facts we small group point people must keep in mind is that our primary responsibility is to grow His Kingdom. That is, create a ministry where, at every level Christ reigns. But all too many of us find ourselves making our primary objective and giving most of our energies to building an efficient organization.

 

Maybe taking the time to evaluate ourselves by considering a few markers of each will help us realize the need to transition to Kingdom growing if we have landed firmly in the spiritually ineffective land of Organization Building.

 

·      overlook evaluating our ministry through the lenses of Scripture.

·      host leadership team meetings that spend little or no time in prayer.

·      lead training experiences that espouse excellent information but lack biblical content.

·      spend little or no time praying for our coaches and small group leaders.

·      begin to believe that the number of or percentage of people involved in our ministry means we have an effective ministry.

·      realize that we are not allowing Christ to reign in our own hearts.

 

·      evaluate the ministry through the lenses of Scripture.

·      host leadership team meetings that have been bathed in prayer prior to the beginning of the meeting.

·      make certain that prayer is a significant experience in every leadership team meeting.

·      lead training experiences in which biblical content is the foundation for almost any point being made.

·      pray almost daily for our coaches and small group leaders.

·      realize that it is not the number or percentage of people who are involved in our ministry that determines whether or not we are a Kingdom ministry. Rather it is the number of people in our small groups who are giving themselves to sacrificial living due to their allowing Christ to reign in their hearts that marks whether or not we have created a Kingdom ministry.