Expanding the Kingdom of God

[Matt 4:23-25]


How much thought have you given lately to the building and expanding of God’s Kingdom. Let me go further than that. When was the last time you gave any thought to the kingdom of God? What is the kingdom of God? It is something that we have most likely read about but have we never defined what exactly it is? How can you build and expand something you do not know how define or identify?
I have been pondering these questions a lot lately. How would I define the kingdom of God? I would define it simply as the rule and reign of God in Heaven and on earth. Every place the rule and reign of God are celebrated and acknowledged is part of His every expanding kingdom.
What do I mean by the word expand? The word expand can mean to become widely opened or enlarged and to increase in number or scope of. God’s kingdom can be expanded in an individual’s heart as God rules more territory and reigns supreme in more places. God’s kingdom can advance as one sinner after another come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. His kingdom can advance as communities, counties, and even countries submit to Him and submit to His rule and reign. This has happened quiet effectively in places like South Korea. God’s kingdom can expand as churches grow and as new churches are planted around the globe.
God is passionate about the expansion of His kingdom. We tragically are more often passionate about the building of our own personal kingdoms with our possessions, power, and promotion of our own glory. Churches sadly do the same thing seeking to exalt their name more than the name that is above every other name. [Phil 2:9] We want the credit and glory for things in our church that go to God alone. I am ashamed I have been caught up in this same sinful attitude more times than I can count.
Jesus told us in [Matt 6:33] to seek the Kingdom of God first. Not second, third, fourth, or tenth. First! Part of this means we must desire this first. We desire all sorts of things but do we desire God’s kingdom or put another way the rule and reign of God in our own hearts and upon the hearts of those around us first and foremost? Sadly the desire for God’s kingdom has dropped way down the list for far too many of God’s children.
Not only should we desire the kingdom but we should also plot to see it advance. We plot our financial futures, our next career move, how to gain any advantage over our opponents in athletic competition but very little plotting is going on in the minds and hearts of believers about how to advance the kingdom. Many people with strategic titles brainstorm events and catchy phrases which most often accomplish little and amounts to little more than shuffling papers around on a desk in their effectiveness. There are some who plot to really make a difference.
I love what I heard one pastor say at a conference once. He commented, “We are not trying to start a church. We are trying to start a movement!” Guess who gets the credit for that? God and many pastors don’t like that. They have a great ego built around the great attendance at their churches. They do not understand that when a person is focused on seeking and plotting for the advancement of God’s Kingdom, God gets the glory and His servants are left in the shadows where we ought to be. It was never about us making a name for ourselves. It has always been about and will be about for all eternity exalting the Lord Jesus Christ.
God has delivered me from the need to be biggest church, to have my name remembered, or to be prominent. I just want to be involved in whatever part of God’s plan He has appointed me in whatever field He chooses to set me to labor for Him. That helps me remember that His kingdom is bigger than me and it is bigger than the church I serve. His kingdom is global and encompasses millions of other believers. It is arrogant to think that our churches and our agendas are the focal points of our lives. How easy it is to get tunnel vision and miss the bigger picture. Advancing God’s kingdom should be the thing that captures our hearts and moves us to action and devotion.
How I pray that we get a greater vision for living than simply to attend church or see our churches increase in attendance. I am all for churches growing but I am more for God’s kingdom being advanced around the world. That might mean as a pastor I forsake church growth in the traditional sense as I continually challenge people to lay their lives down for the kingdom and leave our church to be a part of planting churches elsewhere. That means that every dollar that is given sacrificially to our church does not have to stay in our church but can be given back to communities and other countries. That means that I may have to completely surrender some of the brightest, most devoted, and most generous people in our church to leave go somewhere else to expand God’s kingdom.
May each of us learn to celebrate and embrace the expansion of God’s kingdom. That is what we should live for and desire, plot, and celebrate. It is a total different mind set but it is the will of God. In the end, it is all about Him. May our egos decrease and the fame of Jesus Christ increase. [Jn 3:30] It is after all, all about Him anyway and the glory of His name.