Now for those of you that have the Kingdom vision and are on the mission, this teaching is a cool, refreshing drink of water on a hot day. For others, this is dirt in the eye, an irritation and an offense. However, I hope that irritation to your soul births a pearl, and ultimately the Pearl of Great Worth, that ignites an unquenchable passion for expanding God’s glory. I know that deep down in every believer the capacity to birth that Pearl exists. However, it is quenched by the world, and all her ways. We must get beyond our religious assertions and traditions and embrace the vision, to truly be on mission. It does not matter what your denominational persuasions, or how, where or when you fellowship; It is about your spirit’s yearning to surrender everything for the Pearl of Great Worth. If your allegiance is to a system of thought or practice rather than for God’s glory, you will not catch this vision.

This is your kairos moment. You were created for a time such as this. We are in the second to last scene in history. God is enlisting His army of soldiers to engage in reaping the end-time harvest. We are very near to the end, and the mission is at hand. There are no spectators for this last burst of revival. Can you sense the times? Does not the Spirit within you leap with these words? You know this to be true deep in your soul.

Every one of us can change the world. We have to think bigger than we have been conditioned to think. A single man teaching a few, resulted in the 18% increase of the Christian population in Ethiopia in just years. One failed church planter in Rwanda retooled his methods upon catching the vision and resulted in changing the nation forever—effectively ending prostitution. One former bishop in Nairobi Kenya was kicked out of his role after catching the vision—his reward? He is now the top of a discipleship lineage 25,000 strong. These people are just a handful of the multitude of Kingdom saints impacting the world for God’s glory. Not political activism, not a better structure or doctrine; just a clear vision for the times and their role in it and a strategic and actionable plan for the mission. The rules have changed. God is on the move and enlisting the willing. Who on this loop does not eagerly desire such fruit?

All the while, men are still rushing to hell in hoards. Her fiery fate is consuming millions daily because we do not recognize the times, catch this vision, and engage in the mission. God is mocked by the devil and men. Where is our passion? Do we not care that most of the people we encounter daily are going to suffer God’s wrath forever? Does this not make us die a little each day—where are our tears for them?

The Gate is narrow. However, the Path is narrower still. The Kingdom of God is not simply “walk in and you are in.” It is a path that requires walking. We have to show people that Kingdom life if they are going to walk the path with us. Those we lead to the Gate will never walk the path alone. They need a guide, a mentor, someone to disciple them (see Philippians 3:17 and 1 John 2:6). This is one of the critical missing elements I will commit many keystrokes to unwrap in future posts.

Now to get a bit personal. I do not want to but must. Because I know that the vision is not caught by mere words. Rather my life and the Spirit must bleed into this text for you to catch this. I chase the King with reckless abandon. People call me fanatical, holier than thou, self-righteous, judgmental, among other things. Yet, I am not greater than my Master and they called Him the same. I have been radically transformed. I get questions like “no TV? seven children, you’re done, right? homeschool? meet in homes? Africa? all of you in that little house?”—it doesn’t phase me. I am on the mission moving full speed and not looking back. I have found the Pearl and want to glorify God by telling the world.

With all the idiosyncrasies of my life, the unbelievers are the least offended. Ironically, it is the unrepentent churched that persecute the Kingdom saints the most. Sinners God is working on are eerily attracted to a counter-cultural revolutionary lifestyle of Kingdom saints. They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves—and make a real difference in the world with their life. The average person is not happy with their miserable life. They have no sense of meaning, purpose, or fulfillment. They chase after entertainment, drugs, sex, money, relationships, and even religion to satisfy, but these can’t fill the need for purpose and adventure. They see that most in the church do not live much different than those not—because they lack transformed lives. We shoulder the burden for this; most of the untransformed churched have not been given a clear vision and specific marching orders for the mission. And if they have, they have not been shown by us leaders what it looks like, simply told (ouch!). They also have not been empowered by the Spirit or set free from sin. The multitude of pew-dwellers wallow in worldliness—rendering the church inconsequential. This is what I hope to shed light on with this series.

Now I know that these messages can offend. I know all of us strive to do the best we can and many have captured the vision and possess the Pearl. For you, I hope to offer practical tools that can be applied within your context. Bear with my style—the prophet in me makes no apologies, but the shepherd in me with loving compassion for you my fellow saints desires not to cause you harm. Receive what is from the Lord to mobilize the Kingdom saints, and please overlook the eccentricities of my imperfect delivery.

In the next message, we will discuss the mission…

I pray that the Lord speak to you through these words to challenge and inspire you to greater passion in the Holy Spirit to spread His Glory by mobilizing the saints into the Kingdom harvest. I pray that you will seize this kairos moment.

Amen

Marc Carrier
www.valuesdrivenfamily.com

Christ ushered in the Kingdom. However, evangelical Christians invite people to heaven, or simply to church, rather than to the Kingdom; we are accustomed to preaching the Gospel of salvation only and simply meeting together, and not presenting and engaging people in the Gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 4:23, 9:35, 24:14, Mark 1:15, Luke 16:16). Jesus focused His teaching on the Kingdom (there are over 100 references to the Kingdom in the Gospels), with far less emphasis on His redemptive work; and even less on how we gather. Interesting, huh?

This may seem like a subtlety; however, it can prove significant in how we minister to folks. Evangelical Christians underemphasize the significance of the Kingdom life and experience, while focusing much more attention on other matters, such as church, programs, doctrine, and to a lesser extent, compassion ministries and evangelism. These are certainly designed and executed with noble intent. However, there is a vital element missing.

Now let’s paint a picture—speaking in generalities and hypotheticals. When someone becomes a church attendee, they are often simply a spectator. They more often than not see the paid ministers as responsible for ministry. And they likewise only visualize ministry in the context of the programs offered at the church. When someone is converted (without transformation), they sometimes fail to embrace the Kingdom lifestyle; they may or may not even adopt a “church” lifestyle. They often do not become transformed for a long time, if they do at all. They do not embrace the vision or engage in the mission. They do not transfer their allegiance from the world to the Kingdom, from death to life, bondage to freedom, spectator to ambassador and soldier, flesh to the spirit—life more abundantly eludes them. We stop short of the true, intended born-again experience.

As a result of the disconnect, the experience of converts and church-goers doesn’t differ much from the world. Where is the freedom, peace, joy—life more abundantly, promised by Christ. Unfortunately, Christianity has become intellectual rather than transformational. We engage with our minds and not our spirits. Not very attractive, is it? Promiscuity, failed marriages, depression, and other ills plague professing followers of Christ at nearly the same proportions as the rest of the world. Why sign up?

I think this disconnect can be traced back hundreds of years. I personally believe the early church had an advantage by NOT having the canon. I know you now think I’m insane! However, think about it. Christianity was a way of life, and not a series of doctrines. They relied on the Spirit and learned through the life-styles of mature believers (discipleship). We have turned it into information and meetings, rather than a walk empowered by the Spirit.

The modern evangelical church gets most of its intellectual-bent doctrine from Paul, underemphasizing the teachings of John, James, and Peter, and all but ignoring the teachings of Christ Himself. Read 1 John, then James, and then the parables while removing the Pauline lens, and you will see divergence from the modern Christian experience. Now Paul’s teachings are certainly God-breathed; however, they are best contextualized while understanding his way of life—the Kingdom life. Pauline doctrine was never meant to be understood simply by reading a series of letters. Paul demonstrated what the Kingdom life looked like and followed up with letters for specific reasons. Paul (and Jesus) showed us how to embrace the Kingdom while overcoming the world—they didn’t simply tell us. They practiced it so they could make disciples. We must do the same.

We demonstrate the reality of Christ by how we live. We can’t confess Him with our mouth and deny Him with our lifestyle. If we do, we will certainly never achieve the vision. A sermon series, discipleship class, or reading books will not adequately present the Kingdom lifestyle to carry it forward to others. A radically transformed life is required to transform lives. And until we embrace this, we will not propagate Kingdom life.

So leaders, I urge you to consider: does your faith walk demonstrate a radical departure from the world—a full commitment to the Kingdom life? Are you transformed–living life more abundantly? How attractive is your life—how attractive do you make Christ? Meditate on these questions.

Lots more on vision to follow….

May the Lord empower you to get beyond where you are to a radically different place, to the glory of God, through Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Amen

Marc Carrier
www.valuesdrivenfamily.com

Ps. Be patient and keep reading. I will flesh all this out. We have to start with the correct foundation if we are going to build an unstoppable Kingdom growth movement. Vision specifics are next.