TEACHING:
ESTABLISHING A KINGDOM VISION
VineLife Network, Inc.
In my 34 + years of public ministry it has been my experience that one of the main issues that separates and divides the Body of Christ is the local church vision as opposed to a Kingdom of God vision. The result of this narrow approach to church mission has been the building of independent and/or denominational empires rather than the extending of God’s rule and reign throughout the whole earth. Church has become anthropocentric rather than Theo centric. The gospel of the New Testament is the gospel of the Kingdom of God, not the gospel of the Church. The scriptures teach that the Kingdom of God has invaded this Present Evil Age, and will be in all of its fulness in the Age to Come. Some see the Kingdom of God as the church! Period! The church is in the Kingdom, but it is not the Kingdom. Others see the Kingdom of God as a future realm only. Heaven! The future realm of heaven is in the Kingdom, but it is not the Kingdom.
Just what is the Kingdom of God?
The Kingdom of God is His Kingship, His rule, His authority. As we go through the New Testament we see passage after passage where this is evident, where the Kingdom is not merely people, not merely a realm, but God’s reign!
Jesus said that we must, “receive the Kingdom of God” as little children (Mark 10:15). What is received? Is it the church? No! Heaven? No! What is received is the rule of God! In order to enter the future realm of the Kingdom, one must submit himself in perfect trust to God’s rule in the present realm.
We are instructed to “seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). What is the object of our seeking? Is it the church? Is it heaven? No, we are to seek God’s rule, God’s reign, and His righteousness in our lives. As we do that, all our other needs are met!
The fact is that the term, Kingdom of God (or Kingdom of Heaven), can be very confusing, even as you read the scriptures. Why? Because the Kingdom of God is a threefold fact:
1. Some passages of scripture refer to the Kingdom of God as God’s reign.
2. Some passages of scripture refer to the Kingdom of God as the realm into which we may now enter to experience the blessings of God’s reign.
3. Still others refer to a future realm, which will come only with the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, into which we shall then enter and experience the fullness of His reign.
As you can see the Kingdom of God can mean three different things in three different verses. One must study all the references in light of their context, and then fit them together in an overall interpretation. All scripture is CONTEXT DEPENDENT!
As we have already stated, the Kingdom of God is God’s sovereign reign; but God’s reign expresses itself in different stages throughout redemptive history. Therefore, men may enter into the realm of God’s reign in several stages of manifestation, and experience the blessings of His reign in differing degrees.
The fulness of God’s Kingdom is the Age To Come, popularly called “heaven”; then we shall realize the blessings of His Kingdom in the perfection of their fulness! But also, the Kingdom of God has already invaded this Present Evil Age.., and there is a realm of spiritual blessing into which we may enter today, and enjoy in part.., but in reality, the blessings of God’s Kingdom (reign).
Those who have been born from above, born of the Spirit, are Kingdom citizens with a Kingdom anointing to extend God’s rule and reign here on this earth! We have been given a mandate from God in Mark 16:15-18:
Mark 16:15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
We are committed to raising up faith communities or fellowships. In view of the background on the Kingdom of God, what should we expect the local fellowship to look like, to become? It should be a Kingdom community of Faith committed to extending the Kingdom of God.
The central theological tenant of the New Testament, and the Gospel according to Jesus, is the Gospel of the Kingdom. People in real Kingdom fellowship have joyfully accepted Jesus' offer to "die" to their old inferior life of "the kingdom of the self” and to receive and enter into the vastly superior life of the “Kingdom of God.” In such a fellowship, one is very God-consciously and intentionally seeking to become the kind of person who is able naturally, easily and routinely to announce, embody and demonstrate the reality of the Kingdom. If our VineLife Communities are going to be representing the Kingdom of God, this is the story they need to hear/re-hear, be evangelized and discipled into.
A fellowship is not a church you "join" in the common sense of the word. It does not seek to compete with other churches in a religious contest that turns seekers in to consumers and turns the church into a "vendor of religious goods and services." Rather, a fellowship is a family with a missionary mandate to which someone dedicates himself or herself. To join is to become a participating partner. It means that being an apprentice of Jesus and an ambassador of the Kingdom is a member's vocation. By definition, in a VineLife Community it is inconsistent to live any longer in the old dualisms of sacred-secular, or job-church. A member of a VineLife Community has only one life vocation…, to be a student and imitator of Jesus. This means that a member's time, talents and money are available to be used by God. In a VineLife Community, regular meetings (i.e. Sunday mornings, etc.) still happen, but they are no longer central. Weekend services do not dominate the talk, emotional life and budget of a VineLife Community. Rather, each member orders her or his life around a missionary encounter with the world and helps every other member do the same. This requires every part of the body to function in their gift, role and calling in a united effort to extend God’s kingdom wherever we have been placed. Some will be point people, delivering the message of the Kingdom to lost souls. Some will be support people, working together as a vital and integral part of any missionary effort. A VineLife Community, and each person in it, is focused on being a "Sent People" into the world that is loved by our Father.
Deeper levels of relationship are natural and necessary for a VineLife Community. When working with people with a postmodern worldview, it is no longer necessary to feel bound by the "homogeneous unit principle”(the principle that each unit must be uniform in structure or composition throughout, i.e., culturally~ neighborhood). VineLife Communities may be made up of all kinds of people: younger and older, female and male, various ethnic and demographic categories. Each person manifests different gifts of the Holy Spirit. This mosaic of people is brought together by the power of the Holy Spirit through each one's identity as followers of Jesus. VineLife Communities live connected to each other as friends who love each other deeply from the heart. No one can seriously go on the inner journey of heart-change, or the outer journey of loving those we don't even like without a supportive, loving spiritual family.
A VineLife Community is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and manifests both His character and His power. People in VineLife Communities pursue authentic forms of holiness that flow from a relationship with the Father rather than a legal list of do’s and don’ts. They also desire the gifts of the Spirit to flow through them for the sake of the world around them. This does not need to lead to any kind of excess that immediately scares most people. It simply acknowledges that Kingdom work is "of God;" that it requires something more than mere human creativity and powerful resources. Though human effort is a good and required part of Kingdom work, those who seek to live "constant lives of creative goodness as the cooperative friends of Jesus" will soon discover their utter dependence on Jesus as teacher and the Spirit as Sovereign Leader and Enabler/Equipper.
Kingdom people are intent on learning the new languages and customs of the postmodern, contemporary society. They are willing to listen first with authentic, vulnerable openness. They are willing to give up any sense of the privileged position the church became addicted to during Christendom. Having done this, they can then tell their story and the Story of God (and how the two intersected) in a way that is customized for contemporary ears. This, of course, must be done without compromise. All this would be intuitive if one were going to a foreign land. The church tends to think about missions in geographic terms; it now needs to think in terms of times, cultures and people groups. A "foreign" culture has now come to our nation. This is seen not just in the massive demographic shifts of the past decades, but also in the worldview shift that is now in progress. Near the center of all of this are changes in the way people view religion, the church, spirituality and God.
VineLife Communities are made up of an eschatological people. Thus, they do their work in peace, without "striving" in the negative sense of the term. Rather, they are conscious of living in the "righteousness, peace and joy of the Kingdom." They know that God's Story had a beginning in the mystery of God's being; that it has a telos, an end; and that we are an eschatological people being drawn inexorably toward that end that cannot fail.
They also know that God is not stumped by the current state of affairs; nor is he afraid. He is not "up in heaven," pacing the golden streets, wringing his hands worriedly, and saying "Oh my Self, what am I going to do? I didn't anticipate post modernity! Does any one up here know anything about deconstuctionism? What are We going to do about all of those people down there who don’t want to be a part of the institutional church that does, “Business as usual?” No, our God is fully competent. He actually knows how the world works in all it's manifold systems; human and otherwise. He has invited us to participate in His mission of reconciling the world to Himself through Jesus His Son.
He faithfully gave gifted leaders to the world in pre-modern times and modern times that could, in their time periods, speak and lead on his behalf. He is currently faithfully giving us increasing numbers of leaders: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers, who can be faithfully relevant to today's contemporary culture. Kingdom people aim to arrange their life around being with God on that mission.., led by His Son, empowered by the Holy Spirit!
David L. Shirkey
