Ekklesia Series / Kingdom vs Church

In my last post, I asked the question about the role or relevance of Ephesians 4 ministries in the context of Ekklesia and the fresh understanding that Father is releasing around it in the world today. In my next two posts, I want to try and delve into the mindset that I believe God is wanting to emerge as He positions His Ekklesia to start fulfilling its mandate and purpose.

I am going to set out a couple of points I believe highlight the difference between where are we are today and where we need to get to in terms of Ephesian 4 ministries letting God’s people go so we can impact the mountains or gates of culture.

To start off, I want to first define two phrases that I will use during the course of this post: Kingdom Leader and Church Leader.

When I refer to a Kingdom leader, I am referring to a mindset or leader that reflects an understanding of how the Ekklesia bring and manifest what Jesus called the Kingdom of God/Heaven. It reflects or demonstrates an understanding that in ruling or governing in the gates of culture, the Ekklesia outworks the heavenly kingdom into the spheres of culture and nations.

When I refer to a Church leader I am referring to a mindset or leader that reflects an understanding of the Church and its structures in the present day. It reflects the status quo of many of the Ephesians 4 ministers today.

Let’s take a look at some of the contrasts:

A Kingdom leader interprets Matthew 28:19-20 as referring to the discipleship of all nations in all the gates of culture and influence whereas a Church leader believes it only refers or relates only to individual ethnic people.

As we wake up to a fresh understanding of Ekklesia many are viewing the command to go into all the world and preach and make disciples as being applicable to not only individuals but world systems and gates of culture that exist within nations.

A Kingdom leader teaches and nurtures world-changing leaders who serve communities and gates of culture. Church leaders typically try to raise up leaders to serve in the programs, meetings and functions of the local church.

Only about 2% to 3% of churchgoers are called to function within the church gate. Kingdom leaders recognise this and place an emphasis on equipping the whole body for the work of the individually assigned ministry, irrespective of the sphere.

A Kingdom leader works with God’s common and saving grace. Church leaders understand and work with God’s saving grace only.

There is a grace that has been poured out to all humanity so that the world can function. In Romans 13:1-7 civic leaders are called God’s ministers. If God calls unredeemed leaders His ministers, then a kingdom mindset allows leaders to partner with civic (political, community, policing, educational institutions etc.) leaders, even if they are not in total agreement when it comes to faith.

Church leaders tend to only work with those that agree to their core religious beliefs, values and vision.

A Kingdom leader encourages a biblical worldview that encompasses all of life and all of the cultural gates. Church leaders tend to regard only those activities that appear to be “spiritual” as important.

Kingdom perspective says the earth is the Lord’s (Psalm 24). It recognises that creation and the material world according to God are good (Genesis). Thus the material world is also sacred and something to be cultivated, tended to, honoured and enjoyed!

Church leaders usually place a greater importance and focus on “spiritual” things like prayer, healing, gifts of the spirit etc. However, these “spiritual” things are only really effective when tied into God’s redemptive plan for creation (Rom 8).

A Kingdom leader strives and works towards establishing Christ in individuals, systems and the different gates of culture. A Church leader strives to produce individual Christians.

A kingdom perspective seeks to intertwine God’s principles into every fabric of culture and gates of a city and nation so that the base laws and culture of a nation are built upon Godly principles.

A church mindset is not overly concerned with governments and economics etc. but rather with adding new converts and building up the local church. Unfortunately, this just perpetuates the ungodly humanistic systems that govern today.

A Kingdom leader strives to turn the world upside down. A Church leader focuses on restructuring and building local churches.

Acts 17 describes the Apostles as “those who turned the world upside down had come” when they entered a community. The kingdom mindset impacts every aspect of our local communities, cities and nations. The church mindset is concerned with what happens with the community that gathers every Sunday.

A Kingdom leader articulates Christ as Lord over every culture and every aspect of culture. Church leaders present Christ as only Head of the Church.

Kingdom leaders recognise Christ as head of every secular government, authority and kingdom and as a result, seek to bring this authority to bear in every possible situation, be it political, financial or other. This encourages responsibility on the Ekklesia to participate and influence every aspect of life.

A church mindset tends to preach Christ as head of the church and neglects to see Jesus’ function as King over all the world, redeemed and unredeemed.

A Kingdom leader looks to shepherd whole communities, cities, systems and gates. Church leaders tend to shepherd only local congregations or specific streams of congregations.

A Kingdom leader recognises they may be called to communities and different gates, not only to local churches. Hence they see themselves as spiritual leaders of regions, systems and gates. Church leaders tend to understand commitment in the context of support for the local church programs and outreaches.

I have another five or six differences that I will write about next time but I trust the above contrasts help in framing some of the mindset that I believe the Lord is asking Ephesians 4 ministers and indeed every “church” member to start developing during this epoch moment.

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