Somewhere along the way, the Church (Kingdom of God globally) started acting like the church (congregations in local communities).
We traded Kingdom vision for congregational maintenance.
We started measuring success by program attendance instead of life transformation.
We have become more obsessed with our church’s growth than God’s Kingdom advancing.
And that’s a problem!
When the Church Becomes Too Small
Jesus didn’t die to build a church brand.
He died to bring the Kingdom of God crashing into a broken world.
But many of us have started living like our congregation is the Kingdom. As if our membership rolls, our budget, our building projects, and our social media reach somehow equal the movement of God.
Too many of our prayers sound like “God, grow our church,” when they should sound like “God, grow Your Kingdom even if it’s not through us.”
You know what. That’s a dangerous shift. Because the moment we make church about our congregation instead of God’s Kingdom, we stop being the Church altogether.
The Kingdom is Bigger Than Your Logo
When Jesus talked about the Kingdom, He wasn’t talking about a brand, a denomination, or a Sunday morning time slot. He was talking about His reign breaking into every corner of the world.
“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed… For behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
– Luke 17:20–21 (ESV)
The Kingdom is wherever Jesus rules hearts, heals the broken, forgives sinners, and sets captives free. That means it’s happening in homes, workplaces, schools, parks, prisons, and yep it’s happening in other churches too.
Look. If the only time we celebrate the work of God is when it happens in our building, we’re no longer building His Kingdom, we’re building our empire.
Kingdom Builders Don’t Compete – They Collaborate
A congregation-centered mindset says, “We’ve got to be the biggest.”
A Kingdom-centered mindset says, “We’ve got to reach the people far from Jesus, no matter who gets the credit.”
A congregation-centered leader says, “Come to our programs.”
A Kingdom-centered disciple says, “Go into the world starting in your neighborhood.”
When the early church grew, it wasn’t because Peter and Paul were trying to fill seats. It was because they couldn’t stop talking about Jesus. The Kingdom spread like wildfire because believers were scattered and sent, not settled and safe.
Pretty sure we need that again.
It’s Time to Think Bigger
I know all analogies break down over time. I get it. But here’s one to at least help us start seeing things a little differently.
Think of your congregation as a vehicle. And the Kingdom is the destination.
And if the vehicle ever becomes more important than the mission (destination), we’ve lost our way. No kiddo ever gets in a car headed to Disney more excited about the car than the theme park. We should be the same way as the local church pointing people with great excitement to the Kingdom not the carpet.
Maybe the hard question we need to ask is this:
- Would we still rejoice if revival broke out across our community and none of it happened under our roof?
- Would we still celebrate if families met Jesus at another church down the road?
- Would we still serve if no one ever knew our name?
If the answer is “no,” then we’ve confused church growth with Kingdom growth.
The Church is not a club to grow. It’s a movement to unleash.
Jesus didn’t tell us to build our own crowd. He told us to make disciples of all nations. That means, He didn’t say “grow your congregation.” He said “seek first the Kingdom of God.” (Matthew 6:33)
Don’t get me wrong. The local church can and should grow. But the local expression of church never should be more of a focus than the Kingdom of God.
So let’s stop playing small. Let’s stop guarding our corner of the Kingdom and start advancing it together. Let’s stop worrying about how big our church can get and start dreaming about how far His Kingdom can go.
Because the goal isn’t a full sanctuary. It’s a full heaven.
Source: www.derrickhurst.org