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Not About Itself

Since the duty of the Church is to preach the coming Kingdom, any pastor that obscures the Gospel with a different message, sins. The declaration of the Gospel of the Kingdom cannot take a backseat to any other church activity. To establish other priorities like community-building, schools, music ministries, or building programs, is to commit a grave error.

False shepherds abound, misleading believers into thinking that the Church is about the Church. It’s not. The Church is not about community-building, schools, music ministries, or building programs. The Church is the doorway to the Kingdom. A true church will not proclaim itself. It will proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

If you find a group of people who are seeking first the Kingdom, join them. God has added a church to your life. Stick with them, unless they stop prioritizing the Kingdom. If they diverge from that goal, don't let them drag you with them. Don't 'seek first' a church. Seek first the Kingdom and let God add all other things to you--including a church.

Jesus removes churches from their places in the World precisely when they cease to function as doorways to the Kingdom. Churches are not indispensable. If they don’t function the way Jesus designed them to function, Jesus gets rid of them. He takes them from their place.

[Jesus warned a church] If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place (Revelation 2:5).

Churches come and go, but the Kingdom will remain forever! That’s why the hope of the Kingdom is the anchor of our souls. Hoping in the Kingdom gives us stability like an anchor keeps a boat stable in the midst of currents, storms, waves, and wind. The Kingdom hope makes us firm. A church community cannot provide that stability for you, as wonderful a church as it may be.

This hope [of the Kingdom] we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast (Hebrews 6:19; NASB).

The Church’s Vision

A fad in Evangelical churches which started in the 1990s and is still going strong is the famous "mission and vision statement." Pastors commit to these because mission-vision statements are a popular business model, not because there’s any Biblical precedent for them.

Although many pastors have been correct in choosing the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) as their church's mission statement, most of them fail to recognize the basis for the Great Commission. Remember: The Great Commission is Jesus’ command to ‘Go and make disciples, baptizing them… and teaching them…’

What did Jesus say his reason was to command us to go and make disciples? On what basis did he command us to go? He said that it was on the basis of his Kingdom authority. We know that this because Jesus said right before he issued the Great Commission that ‘all authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given' to him (v. 18). After he said that, he told us to go and make disciples. So, we do it because of his is King.

So, Jesus has given the Church a mission, and he commissioned us to fulfill this mission because he is King of the Kingdom. Those churches which fulfill his mission (the Great Commission) do so because we honor his authority.

The Church's Vision

We've established that the Church has a mission, but what about a vision? Most churches that use the modern business model state that their vision is something like this: to reach the lost, strengthen families, evangelize their community, be a light in the darkness, make disciples, transform their culture, etc. These are all good things, but are they the vision Christ has given to the Church? No.

The Church already has a God-inspired vision. We do not need a business model to invent it. We know what the vision of the Church is through the preaching and activities of the first Christian community--the one that was pastored by the Twelve Apostles. That congregation had the only vision any Christian church should ever have. They didn’t need to print it out on t-shirts, write it on banners, post it on a website, or engrave it on a plaque. God’s vision for them was written on their hearts. It governed their every word and action. Their vision was the Kingdom of God!

Vision in Action

The vision the first Christians had of the Kingdom inspired them to do radical things including selling their houses and giving the proceeds to the needy. Upon a first glance at them, you might have thought that they were trying to change society, but they were not. They sold their houses for the Kingdom.

Observe: Those first Christians didn’t put the funds of the sales of their homes in a church building fund. They did not invest the money in any church programs for outreach or church growth. They didn’t use the funds to pay for more staff on the church’s administrative team, like the salary for a new youth pastor or pastor of outreach—no. They didn't buy new musical instruments and speakers. They used the proceeds of the sales to provide for the needs of the poor among them. It was for food, clothes, and shelter.

… all who believed [in the Gospel] were in the same place, and had everything in common. And they began selling their possessions and property, and distributing these things to all, to the degree that anyone had need (Acts 2:44-45; LEB).

Now the group of those who believed [in the Gospel] were one heart and soul, and no one said anything of what belonged to him was his own, but all things were theirs in common… For there was not even anyone needy among them, because all those who were owners of plots of land or houses were selling them and bringing the proceeds of the things that were sold and placing them at the feet of the apostles. And it was being distributed to each as anyone had need (Acts 4:32, 34-35; LEB).

Investing in the Kingdom

But we're not done explaining what that first church was doing. They gave offerings to do something greater than provide food, clothes, and shelter. They were not aiming to eliminate poverty. They knew that ‘the poor they would always have with them’ (Matthew 26:11).

So, then why did they sell their homes? It was because they had the vision Christ preached to them. They were living with a vision of Kingdom glory. That first Church was laser-focused on the Kingdom. Consider the words of Christ that they had emblazoned on their hearts:

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the Kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in Heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys (Luke 12:32-33).

Jesus taught a story whose hero says these words:

‘I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses’… ‘I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings’ (Luke 16:4, 9).

We don't understand that kind of thinking these days. No pastors teach it, and few people are interested in understanding it. However, the members of the first Church took Jesus’ words seriously. They didn’t try to twist his teachings into a metaphor, or to soften them. When he taught to invest in the Kingdom, they provided purses for themselves that would not wear out. They provided for themselves treasures in Heaven.

They used their worldly wealth to be welcomed into eternal dwellings. They gave to the poor to invest in the Kingdom! Won't you?

Beyond Love

Yes, the members of the first Church gave to the poor because they loved one another. They lived in obedience to Christ’s command ‘Love one another’ (John 13:34). They obeyed their King. They kept the royal law, the law that gives liberty. Nobody is denying that. But they went beyond love.

The members of that first church knew that love ‘does not seek its own benefit’ (1 Corinthians 13:5; NASB) just like you and I do. However, they may have known something you don't know. They knew that 1 Corinthians 13 speaks against seeking one’s own benefit in this World. They did not allow that passage to make them feel any restriction seeking benefits for the next World.

To seek your benefit in Eternity is good. There’s nothing selfish in seeking the glory that comes from God. Ananias and Saphira sought the glory that would have come from their friends in the church community. Remember them? They lied about their offering in Acts 5-1-11 and lost their lives for it.

Do you want people in your church community to think highly of you. Is their opinion of you very important? Be careful. Jesus rebuked that kind of glory--glory that comes from a church. Jesus instead taught that we should seek glory that God gives. Look at how he rebuked the Pharisees:

… you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God (John 5:44).

Seeking the Glory God Gives

Do you resist the temptation to seek your own glory and instead do you actively seek the glory that God gives?

Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the One who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him (John 7:18).

Jesus defined himself as someone who sought the glory of God. Do you do the same? Do you seek God's glory--the glory that he'll give us in the Resurrection? If you do, you won't regret it. Once you're resurrected, glorified, and inherit the Earth, you'll realize that you were wise in seeking first the Kingdom.

Let's go back to our main topic: What is your estimation of the men and women who sold their houses and gave the proceeds to the poor in the first Church? Did they invest wisely? For a worldly-minded person, what they did was foolish. It was a waste of money.

However, for someone who is spiritual-minded, their feeding, clothing, and caring for poor brethren was the best possible investment. They believed that they would receive a reward in the Kingdom. And they were right. Following Jesus always pays off.