I’m a big fan of being “Kingdom Minded.” Craig Groeshel wrote a couple of years ago on his blog, “We should not just focus on our ministry, but embrace, celebrate, and partner with God’s Spirit in our cities, countries, and around the world.” I’ve never thought for a minute that Cross Point does church better than anyone else. Our way of doing church is not the only way, nor the best way. We are one of hundreds of thousands of churches that makes up the body of Christ around the world.
I believe the future effectiveness of the church will be directly tied to our ability not only to get along with one another, but in our desire to share resources, ideas, missions, buildings, and ministries.
I was told early in my ministry that smaller churches “get it” but most larger churches are too concerned with their own kingdoms and egos to partner with other churches. I’ve found that thought to be so untrue. In fact, here’s a couple of contrary examples.
The first example comes from Long Hollow Baptist, a fast growing contemporary church running around 6,000 just up the road in Hendersonville, TN. Their senior pastor David Landrith sought me ought a few years ago when Cross Point started to really grow and has been an incredible friend, mentor, and sounding board. When we announced we were launching Cross Point North (just a few miles from their main campus) David was one of the first ones to contact me and not only welcome us to the area, but offer all kinds of contacts and resources if we needed them.
A few weeks ago (on the first Sunday of our Cross Point North launch) David invited me to speak at their staff retreat. Invitations like that communicate to his church and staff that they are not in competition with other churches in the community but rather partnering with them. That’s Kingdom thinking!
My second example (and the inspiration for this post) comes from Perry Noble the pastor of New Spring Church in Anderson, South Carolina (Yeah, I don’t know where it really is either). What I do know is God is using Perry and New Spring in some amazing ways. The fact that they are running over 11,000 people in their weekend services is amazing, but that’s only the beginning. A couple of weeks ago they baptized over 900 people in one stinking day!
So I get a twitter from Perry yesterday afternoon that he met a woman at his church who was from Nashville and he told her all about Cross Point and wants to get her connected here. My first thought is with everything going on there how and why would he take the time to twitter me concerned with getting some random woman he had just met connected with our church? Then later in the afternoon in the middle of his four services he CALLS me still excited and determined to get me this woman’s contact information so I can call her.
I’ve always known Perry is relentlessly committed to growing New Spring Church. Yesterday, he proved to me he’s equally as committed and passionate about growing THE CHURCH.
Guys like David and Perry are having a tremendous impact in their own churches, but the eternal impact they will make will go far beyond the four walls of their church to the larger Church. They get it. It’s not about their name. It’s not about the name of their church. It’s about making Christ famous and His church of all sizes and styles coming together to communicate His hope to a watching world.
What are some ways you think the church should be more Kingdom minded?
I love it Pete! I have been ordained with a certain fellowship for a number of years. On the big scale of things I believe they get it. On a state level, they don’t. Sinse resigning from our great Church of 10 years we now attend New Life, pastor Rick Bezet. Every weekend they call a local church out of the phone book and ask what they need prayer for. At their weekend services they pray for that Church outloud along with NLC. They get it. This is one of my passions, I am so glad that you touched on this. So, we now can call it ” Gods Church with an earth location”
This is an amazing post Pete. I so desire for the churches in our area to be able to do the same thing. We have been fortunate enough to serve a local drug/alcohol rehab clinic whose clients attend our Sunday morning worship during their 30 days of inpatient treatment. We’ve experienced great life change in a lot of these folks, and towards the end of the 30 days, before they leave, we do our best to connect them to a church in the town/city they live near.
It’s been a huge blessing, great life change. We are the “body of Christ”. We should act like it too!
.-= Tom´s last blog ..Who get’s the credit? =-.
Sadly, just the opposite is happening in several churches in our area (not the one we are currently attending). Pastors can’t even get phone calls returned from other pastors.
Anderson is not too far from me and I’m always surprised when I hear it has such a large church there.
.-= Amy´s last blog ..Asheville Weekend =-.
This church moved me to be covered in goose bumps. This IS what it’s all about.
But I like to think that Mr. Noble didn’t have the church in mind, as much as he just had this woman in mind. He wants to help her find a home, more than he wants to help a home find another family member. I could be wrong. Either way, his heart seems to be one of love and hope, period.
I hope she comes to Cross Point and that she feels more than welcome.
And thanks for being one who has a vision for the world, not just our church.
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..Nevermind About the Vomitting =-.
Oh Pete – this just warms my heart to hear such amazing stories!!
I think a lot of people in ministry tend to lean into the “business mind” sometimes too much in this area. And as with business communities, we have to tread carefully the friendly competition with supporting each other. No business can capture all the customers out there – so rather than competing so heavily, it does benefit everyone to partner together and refer customers to those who best fit their needs.
It’s so heart warming to know that there are churches out there who really are focused on reaching people for God, and not themselves.
This year, after 15 years of trying, our church is finally partnering with some local churches to reach out to the community. We are finally seeing unity start to grow in our town and we are celebrating it! They are little victories, like joining forces for VBS, but we are starting to see THE Church in action! I don’t think it’s any mistake that it’s children’s activities where we see the change first.
.-= Karen´s last blog ..Insanity =-.
@Karen, that’s an awesome start. Hopefully there will be more of that in the near future!
Anderson SC is about 45 minutes south of Greenville. So glad to hear that churches aren’t competing for people! Praise God!
I’m a nobody that started a church in Grovetown, GA…yeah try finding that on a map
and you have been a good friend to me. You’ve offered for me to call you anytime with any questions, and though I have not as of yet, you’ve been there willing to help me (And BTW, I’ve got some real questions now, so I will be calling).
We don’t have a lot of money starting out, so our PassionKidz area is using the free resources from Life Church. Wow! Have you seen the quality of their stuff? It would cost a church thousands of dollars to duplicate what they’ve done, and they give it away, all for free! If that’s not Kingdom Minded, I don’t know what is.
Finally, a local church in Augusta (Stevens Creek Church) which is right outside of Grovetown started their second campus (a multi-site campus) in Grovetown on the same Sunday we launched in Grovetown. Their main church runs over 1,000 every week. They had the ability to advertise their launch to a big body of people, whereas we had to rely on personal relationships for our launch team (Only saying that to point out we are a much smaller church). Their senior pastor came by on our launch Sunday and gave our church a financial gift and a card saying they were praying for us and wanted to invest in ‘good soil’! Wow…I was blown away! They are continually sending us tweets and messages telling us they are praying for us and are on our team. That is Kingdom Minded. I love to say I get to serve Jesus alongside that church in Grovetown.
.-= Nick´s last blog ..Embracing Faith Bigger Than Ourselves =-.
Pete, I’m with Nick on this one. You display this heart as well. You DM’d me the other night to connect me with someone who follows your blog, but is moving to Clarksville. You could have said, “Hey, we aren’t that far to drive.”
You aren’t BTW, which is why I find myself slipping into one of your services as often as I can.
Thanks for being a fellow Kingdom-builder.
.-= Ron Edmondson´s last blog ..Everything is Relative to Context =-.
I think the “church” needs to continue acting like the examples you provided in this post. Keep the focus on those who need Jesus and not on the count of attendance every Sunday.
.-= Jason´s last blog ..I have to admit "Purpose Driven Life" sounds about right =-.
Pete, that is awesome and I hav had the same experience, both with Perry and some other pastors of larger churches. Being an unconventional church in a very conventional area, I find it hard to partner with many other churches or pastors. Many just don’t seem to have the time. I will continue to try, in the meantime The Summit is committed to always helping others in anyway we can to grow God’s Kingdom. We just made a bold move to be a church “without walls” for an indefinite period of time. We WILL REDFINE the way our community sees God and His church by doing this http://tinyurl.com/yae5pzn. Love ya brother, thanks fr helping me think BIG.
.-= Bryan Mcknight´s last blog ..The Summit Church is Closing It’s Doors… =-.
I love my church, partly for this reason. My pastor seems to know the other pastors, we pray for the churches in close proximity to us, have other pastors as guest speakers occasionally and partner with a wonderful organization called Beautiful Day.org
Beautiful Day is a national network of churches (though it seems predominantly in the bay area, CA) that come together in collaboration with businesses, churches, local government, etc. to
“unleash compassion” and make an impact on local communities. I’ve only been involved in a smattering of things they’ve done but it has included walking in an AIDS walk (coming up again soon… last year we did not “do” church… just went and walked), baking, assembling and distributing cookies to local fire stations as a way of saying thank you, and Project Restoration, where we came together as the collective church, zeroing in on a community area that had the most foreclosures and abandoned houses and, partnering with the city, went in and picked up trash, weeded, swept, cleaned, repaired fences, hauled away so much garbage it was crazy, and we’ll do it again in November. I’ve heard that the city realizes that we the church are doing something right and want to partner with us to improve our city and people’s lives.
I know it sounds like I’m a spokesperson for this organization; I’m not. I’ve just seen firsthand what it’s accomplishing and experienced the joy of coming together in unity as the collective church (which is so exciting and uplifting!) as well as seeing the beautiful impact on people’s lives. Their question that started it is a bit haunting yet inspiring to me: “if our church burnt to the ground would our community care?”
I just love seeing that we can truly make a difference through compassion, justice and service in Jesus’ name when we come together as the Body of Christ.
.-= Torybee´s last blog ..To Market, To Market =-.
Praise God for this insight Pete. This truly is what it is about. One thing I am trying to pray as much as possible is not to stamp the Connections logo/ministry on everything I do, but the JESUS logo on everything I do! If we recognize that we literally are ALL part of one large body that makes up the whole around the world. We would be EXCITED to share our insights, resources and whatever else with other parts of our body wherever God is moving. Now lets go do it! Woo Hoo!
.-= Jeremy Wight´s last blog ..Don’t Waste Your Life =-.
Great post Pete. Spot on.
Missions. This summer I was privileged to serve with Hope 221 in Rwanda, Africa. Hope 221 is a community of believers in the East TN area that are passionate for Rwanda. There are approx. 5 churches represented in that group. They in turn are partnered with a church in Rwanda, facilitated by World Orphans. The church in Rwanda is passionate about widow & orphan care (as is Hope 221). Through this partnership, Hope 221 is walking alongside our brothers and sisters and supporting them in their call and ministry not only to the orphans but also the community. The video at the top of my blog really paints the picture of what that looks like.
I’m so glad that you posted this. This is where my heart is: local/global church partnerships & relationships. The church being the Body of Christ.
.-= Abby´s last blog ..Weekly Homeschool Highlights–MFW CtG wk 4 =-.
I live down the street from one of New Spring’s campuses and know what you’re talking about with Perry’s vision and faithfulness. Recently, several churches in our community came together to pray for our society in a second annual meeting. It was an amazing fellowship of believers from all different churches.
Check it out: http://www.hingegreenville.com/
Unity for the cause of Christ is a beautiful thing.
.-= Trina´s last blog ..Easy Egg Sandwich =-.
@Nick, that is an awesome example. I love it!
Pete,
I love this post AND I love Perry and David. I can say from first hand knowledge that these guys are the real deal, very kingdom minded, and are great leaders. Its because of leaders/pastors like you and those two guys that the Church’s better days are ahead of her. The Church needs to be free from the losers that promote church on church or pastor on pastor hate… like we’re competing with each other… and follow our Lord’s command to love one another (John 13:34-35). The pastors, leaders and believers that lock into a kingdom focused mindset will see Jesus do a great work while the rest will simply see what they already see… themselves.
.-= Shane´s last blog ..CS Lewis on Pride =-.
Pastor Pete,
I worked for a local organization for the past three years that is focused solely on accomplishing the exact “kingdom mindedness” that you mention in the Middle Tennessee area. There are several area pastors involved, and there is a prayer summit coming up in White House next month. It would be so cool for you to connect with them. Check out the website sometime, it’s http://www.operationandrew.org. They share your heart exactly!
.-= HIlary´s last blog ..Calling All Morning People! =-.
Be concerned about the church worldwide. A huge thing God has laid on my heart is that the “resourced” church should share with the “underresourced” church. So if I’m concerned about worship HERE, at my church, in my area, I should also be concerned about worship the world over. I can make some small choices and support church leaders that might need help. That is why I founded the give worship project. Check it out at http://www.giveworship.com. I’d LOVE to see other worship teams share their wealth with others as well!
.-= Jan Owen´s last blog ..Humbling….. =-.
It would be cool to see the church become more connected and support organizations that are doing the work of Christ, but are not necessarily labeled as such. Yep, that’s what I said. The church shouldn’t be afraid to work with ‘non-christian’ organizations in order to fulfil the same mission.
I say ‘why not’?
I think that it’s easier to have an attitude of sharing when we realize that everything that we have comes from God. Although we can work hard in our lives on earth and expand the gifts that we’ve been given, they are gifts, nonetheless. And without God’s generous giving, no amount of human effort would succeed, in my opinion.
I think that too often we get wrapped up in our own temporary “kingdoms” and forget that we’ve been blessed. Our pride can lead us to believe that we’ve done this all on our own. This happens, in my view, on the micro and macro level, to individuals, churches, and nations. But, the truth is that God gave gifts for the sole purpose of sharing to “me, you, them” – to quote “The Blues Brothers.”
I think that we’re on a “mission from God” – again the Blues Brothers, sorry – when we realize that there is only one Kingdom, God’s.
Anyway you could combine being kingdom minded with a more effective stay-at-home Dad? Maybe being kingdom minded is saying “thank you, God, for a great partner.” I’ll go home and do that. Today.
You’ve given me a lot to think about today.
.-= Sarah´s last blog ..Music Monday =-.
Great post! I love that larger churches remember it is about Christ and sharing Him with a thirsty and hungry world. I haven’t attended New Spring, even though I don’t live far away…but I do read Perry’s blog and follow his Tweets and it is obvious that he is on fire for the kingdom. His passion is electric and contagious. Love it!
.-= Chrystie´s last blog ..6,321 Miles =-.
@nick that is awesome
Listened to my first one of Perry’s sermons last night… he brings it to say the least.
Since I’ve been in the DR it has been more apparent to me than ever watching people put their own pride or interests in front of loving and serving people. Makes me really sad and really angry except that I know there are times my own pride etc. getting in the way too.
.-= Chris Sullivan´s last blog ..Two Months In Review =-.
@Wes, great point!
Pete,
I appreciate the examples that you have provided but I think those are the exception and not the rule. Now hear me out. I don’t think that the reason we struggle in this area is always because of lack of desire to do so but for pure practical reasons.
We focus on the immediate needs before us which are usually the large demands of keeping a large church functioning. I was just listening to Matt Chandler’s podcast about cleaning house and he broadcast a long list of needs that they have in their immediate congregation because of the strain that having a large church puts on the limited resources. When 20% of the people are doing 80% of the work, how do you find resources to make sure that the church body is seeing and living the examples that you mention in your post?
I don’t know that we can ignore the fact that many of the people who show up at church on Sunday morning drive by several churches (with options in the same denomination) in order to attend the one they do. Why is that?
Wouldn’t it make better sense to attend a church in your own community in order to impact the people that you are more likely to come into contact with on a daily basis?
I can’t remember the last time I heard the church encourage people to explore churches in their own neighborhoods. Sure we encourage those who may be “out-of-town” to find a local body, but we don’t encourage community exploration. When I say ‘we’ I am speaking of the churches that I have been exposed to and not necessarily every church out there. I am sure that there are some who are doing well in this area.
Here is another point worth considering… if we are all about reaching out to other bodies of believers and sharing resources, why do we have so many empty buildings going under-utilized for much of the week? Why can’t we question the paradigm that says we all have to meet on Sunday morning or Sunday night? Let’s have some churches that meet other days of the week for their main service and utilize existing buildings to do so.
I wrote along these lines back in May: http://30secondrule.wordpress.com/2009/05/23/my-twisted-mind/
I love the idea of a the body of Christ reaching across denominational lines, races, and geographies. But here is a common thought that we are taught, “look at your checkbook and you will see what is important to you”. If the church were to scrutinize their budget, would it show more of an ‘us’ church or a ‘we’ church?
Ever heard of a community where all the churches in a there got together to talk about budgets and needs? That would be interesting to see.
More and more we see churches adopting business-like strategies and applying them to how they govern their church bodies and resources. I would raise this question, how many successful companies pay for redundant positions or programs? Or empty buildings?
OK.. so I brain dumping here and I should probably stop since its getting so late. This is meant to be conversational and not confrontational. Topics like these can help us all to look at where we are at and ask God where He wants us to be.
.-= Tony York´s last blog ..Running Scared =-.
@tony, sadly, I think your right on several of your thoughts here. Consider me convicted.