Thy Kingdom Come
One of the most notable parts of the Lord’s pattern of prayer is, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” For a Jew, this prayer means asking God to bring back the glorious Davidic kingdom, with all its material prosperity, power, national security, etc., to Israel. However, “the kingdom of God is not meat and drink” (Romans 14:17). Jesus’ prayer wasn’t for a political kingdom to come for He knew that “the things which are seen,” that is prosperity, power and security are temporal.
But the “things which are not seen,” that is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost are eternal.
Those who do not know Christ, seek for temporary things. They give most of their lifetime to give an answer to their recurring questions and doubts, “What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” (Matthew 6:31). They look for a political kingdom because they want to secure meat, drink and clothes for themselves.
The Gentiles seek for a political kingdom to get what they need, but Jesus teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness “and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33b, emphasis mine). These things, referring to what the political kingdom offers, aren’t the centre of attraction in the Kingdom of God; these things are just by-products of seeking the spiritual kingdom first.
We are not made to follow the blessings; God designed the blessings to follow us. “The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee” (Deuteronomy 28:8) if we will seek the spiritual Kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Which kingdom do we want to come on earth? Are we confined to the false security that a political kingdom offers? As ministers, are we primarily concerned about the “these things” of the people whom we are serving? Or are we focusing on expansion of the Kingdom of God in their lives?
The church and its ministries must be in the redemption business.
Characteristics of a Kingdom-minded Minister
1. Soul-oriented
Souls are God’s heartbeat. He said, “Behold, all souls are mine” (Ezekiel 18:4a), and it is apparent that He moved heaven and earth to take back what He owns. He endured the cross, the rejection, humiliation, pain and death, for the joy that was set before Him. Such joy didn’t come from seeing His defeated enemies after the resurrection but from a torn veil through which precious souls can enter again. Calvary’s primary purpose wasn’t to give us a joyous life on earth, but to bring our souls into God’s eternal rest.
We miss the whole point of Calvary if we are not soul-oriented in the ministry. If our hopes and dreams have nothing to do with the welfare of the souls of other people, we might as well quit from the work of the ministry. If our motive is anything other than souls, we will certainly fail!
The church and its ministries must be in the redemption business. Our first ministry is the ministry of reconciliation – to restore the souls back into the hands of the One who created them. Each activity of the church, whether it is a preaching, ushering, teaching, music, etc., must aim to reach out for souls and souls alone.
Kingdom-minded ministers will never put themselves above others and the kingdom of God.
2. Visionary
Moses sent out twelve people to spy the land of Canaan. All twelve spies looked at the children of Anak and saw giants. However, while the ten spies saw themselves like as grasshoppers, Joshua and Caleb saw the Promised Land and believed that God was able to give them the victory. Elijah looked at a small cloud rising up from the sea, but what he saw and heard was the sound of the abundance of rain. Prophet Isaiah looked at their dead king, Uzziah, but what he saw was “the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).
Kingdom-minded ministers are visionary; they see something beyond the reality. Visionary ministers see a picture of what could be and what should be. They are not satisfied with the status quo and negative reports; they see the Kingdom of God as a progressive kingdom – always moving forward.
Having a vision is not only for leaders; every minister must have a vision for the ministry that they do. Everyone must see something beyond the present situation of their families, their local churches, their communities and their service to the people. Without a vision, an open valley filled with dry bones will never become an exceeding great army! Where there is no vision – a godly revelation of what could be and what should be – the people will perish.
Loren Yadon believes, “The poorest of all men is not the man without a cent; it is the man without a dream [vision].” Likewise, in the Kingdom of God, the poorest of all is not the minister with a little ministry; it is the minister who doesn’t have a vision for his ministry.
3. Servants
Jesus made a clear comparison between an earthly (political) kingdom and the Kingdom of God. Those who are in a position to lead or rule over the Gentiles – representing the earthly kingdom – exercise lordship over their subordinates. They are considered masters who must be treated with utmost respect.
No wonder that most people today think that leadership means authority, power and position. Furthermore, what’s more surprising is how this idea creeps into the church. Many Christians today think that ministry is a position, title or lordship.
In the Bible, the word ministry was translated from the Hebrew word shârêth and the Greek word diakonia. Both words primarily mean service. Apparently, the Biblical definition itself doesn’t fit into the leadership and greatness ideology of the world.
Working for the kingdom of God means the rules have changed. We ought to understand that in His kingdom, there is only one throne and only one King is sitting on that throne – Jesus. The way up is not stepping on others to get ahead anymore; in His kingdom, the way up is down. The aim is no longer to put ourselves in a position higher than the others, but to submit ourselves one to another and to become a servant of all.
Jesus’ life teaches us that service means giving up our lives so others can have the life God desires for them. It means taking the backseat so others can clearly see what God has in store for them. Serving requires us to lose so others can gain. It sounds heroic but the greatest men and women of God in the Scriptures, in one way or another, had considered themselves servants of God and of the people. Service is, indeed, the way to greatness.
The poorest of all men is not the man without a cent; it is the man without a dream.
Loren Yadon
Kingdom-minded ministers will never put themselves above others and the kingdom of God. Others is the key word in their vocabulary and I is rarely in their thoughts. The welfare of other people is their top priority and “what will it profit me?” is never their question.
4. Empowerer
Jesus was an empowerer (Matthew 28:18). His style of leadership and ministry is an example for us today that if we want the Kingdom of God to advance, ministers ought not to be hoarders but sharers of power. The Holy Spirit and His power is not just for a few people; “for the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).
Empowering others is a win–win style of ministry. Firstly, people under the ministry of an empowering minister are like paper in the hands of a talented artist – they become treasures. Oliver Wendell Holmes observes, “The biggest tragedy in America is not the great waste of natural resources – though this is tragic. The biggest tragedy is the waste of human resources because the average person goes to his grave with his music still in him.” Each person has God-given potentials invested in them and there’s no telling what God can do through them if we will only choose to empower them in the Kingdom of God.
Secondly, a minister – whether he is a preacher, Sunday school teacher, usher, musician, singer or administrator – who chooses to empower others utilises the power of unloading. There are two types of weight: weight that comes to us through life and the weight that we pile on ourselves because we do not share our ministry. There are some things that we need to delegate to others so we can do the things that God wants us to do. We will discuss more about delegation on the final chapter, but let us be reminded that “if we want God to infuse us with last-day revival power, then understand that first we may need to unload some things in our lives.”
Lastly, no matter how much work we do, we will not advance far in the Kingdom of God if we cannot work through other people.
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