The Local Church and the Kingdom of God

by Murray Averill

E Stanley Jones (1972, The Unshakable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person, p35): ‘The Christian Church, while it holds within itself the best life of the Kingdom, is not the kingdom of God. … the Church is potent to the degree that it obeys the Kingdom and embodies the life and spirit of the Kingdom. The Church is not an end in itself, the Kingdom is the end.’

Principal: The mission of the Church is the extension of the Kingdom.
Corollary: The Church has disappointed to the degree that it has failed to be engaged in the extension of the Kingdom.

We have not rejected the kingdom – we have reduced it (E Stanley Jones, p30).

EXTENDING THE KINGDOM
Kingdom Activity	The Work of God	Impact on the Believer	The Attack of the Enemy (world, flesh, devil)	The Role of the Church
Lordship – each believer coming under the reign of the King – obeying the laws of the Kingdom	Bringing everything into subjection to Christ*	Jesus Christ becomes Lord (Great Commandment Part I)	Consumerism, narcissism	Teaching and modeling the Lordship of Christ
Fellowship – believers relating in ways expected by the King of His people	Adoption as sons	Inclusion in the Family (Great Commandment Part II)	Dysfunction and disunity	Being the Family, unity of the Spirit
Witness – preaching the good news of the Kingdom – being ‘letters from Christ’	Calvary and Pentecost	Missional desire and endeavour (Great Commission)	Insecurity, lethargy, time-poverty, indifference	Adding value to missional endeavours
Influence – the reclamation and reformation of society and its major institutions in the name of the King	Creation	Fruitfulness and ‘Multiplication’ (Creation mandate)	Sense of insignificance, worldliness	Validation and support of action and influence in the world – 1 Pet 2:9

 
* E Stanley Jones (p58-9): ‘You have a Christian stomach. It works well in a Christian way and badly in an un-Christian way. The same can be said of every organ of your body. … The laws, principles, and attitudes of the kingdom of God are the built-in basis of health – obey them and you fulfill yourself as a person and your body will be at its maximum best.’

Northside Christian Church: a mission, a vision and a plan – to extend the Kingdom.