{"id":551,"date":"2019-01-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/how-to-have-a-kingdom-focus-in-church-revitalization\/"},"modified":"2020-06-21T21:48:25","modified_gmt":"2020-06-22T01:48:25","slug":"how-to-have-a-kingdom-focus-in-church-revitalization","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/how-to-have-a-kingdom-focus-in-church-revitalization\/","title":{"rendered":"How to have a kingdom focus in church revitalization"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have a theory about churches that are in need of revitalization. My theory goes something like this: Somewhere along the line, these churches lost sight of the Kingdom of God and began focusing primarily on keeping their own doors open. In a church that is struggling to pay the bills from month to month, it\u2019s easy to understand why the focus may turn inward.<\/p>\n

So, one of your most important (and most challenging) tasks as a replanter will be to refocus your church\u2019s vision beyond the walls of your own building. In the churches I\u2019ve served and the conversations I\u2019ve had with church revitalization pastors, I\u2019ve seen three things that happen when we lose sight of the larger kingdom of God in favor of building up the kingdom of our local churches.<\/p>\n

When we are focused inward, people become commodities<\/strong><\/p>\n

God values people, so we should value them as well. However, I\u2019m afraid we can begin valuing them in the wrong ways. For instance, when you are struggling to meet your monthly budget receipts, each new family who walks in the door can begin to represent nothing more than dollar signs – \u201cHey look! A new family! I hope they give today!\u201d While I\u2019ve never met a pastor on the planet who would vocalize that, I\u2019ve pastored long enough to know those are thoughts that race through our minds. Right? No? Just me? Ok. Moving on.<\/p>\n

When we are focused inward, other churches are seen as enemies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read these words carefully:\u00a0the other churches in your community are not your competition.<\/em>\u00a0OK, now re-read that sentence. Got it? Just for good measure, read it a third time. If your church experienced a split at some point in the past, it\u2019s possible there are large numbers of people who were once members of your church who are now attending another church. Even so, that church is not the enemy. They are brothers and sisters in Christ and we need each other. There is too much darkness in our world to be worrying about who has a higher attendance in Sunday school or who is giving more to Lottie Moon. We desperately need other kingdom-focused churches in our communities to be strong. (Note: I will make one exception to this statement. If there is a church actively involved in sheep-stealing, while that still doesn’t make them the enemy, that is something that needs to be addressed between your church\u2019s leadership and their leadership. No one is called to build a congregation to the detriment of other congregations).<\/p>\n

When we focus inward, we lose sight of the Great Commission<\/strong><\/p>\n

Generally speaking, churches that are focused inward are not reaching people for Christ. Why? Because usually lost people aren\u2019t beating down the doors to our churches. Instead, they\u2019re in our neighborhoods and our grocery stores and the cubicle or the office next to ours. Why are they not in our churches? Maybe because no one has invited them. Or maybe it\u2019s because they just don\u2019t get what church is all about because they have no idea they are lost and in need of a saving relationship with Christ Jesus. So hear me replanter: if you want to reach the community, you\u2019ve got to meet them they are.<\/p>\n

Get to know the staff at your local coffee shop. Get to know the folks behind the counter at the Dairy Queen or McDonald\u2019s. Learn some of the checkers\u2019 names at Wal-Mart. Meet your neighbors. This will take some time, but it will also allow you to get to know the people in your community who desperately need a saving relationship with Christ. And you can\u2019t simply get to know them with the goal that they will eventually come to your church. If that is your only goal, they will see right through that veneer. The ultimate goal is not that we can introduce them to our church, but that we can introduce them to our Savior. If they end up coming to our church, that\u2019s just icing on the cake.<\/p>\n

Take stock of your church. Are you focused inward or outward? What steps can you take today to begin turning your church\u2019s focus outward? For more on making a Kingdom impact, I highly recommend \u201cKingdom First\u201d by Jeff Christopherson.<\/a>,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a theory about churches that are in need of revitalization. My theory goes something …<\/p>\n

How to have a kingdom focus in church revitalization<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":552,"template":"","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[],"channels":[],"topics":[57,67,68,53,58,59],"languages":[],"class_list":["post-551","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","resource_type-article","topics-leadership-replanting","topics-missional-engagement","topics-replanter-stories","topics-replanting","topics-revitalization","topics-shepherding"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow to have a kingdom focus in church revitalization - Church Replanting<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.namb.net\/church-replanting\/resource\/how-to-have-a-kingdom-focus-in-church-revitalization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to have a kingdom focus in church revitalization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I have a theory about churches that are in need of revitalization. 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