How Does It Impact the Kingdom?

“Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’…But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:9–10, 33; ESV)

Building On The Last One

This post will build upon the last post. In the last post, I wrote about the temptation to turn in on ourselves when making a difficult decision and the importance of looking beyond ourselves to consider the impact of a decision. In that post, I wrote about asking, “How does this affect the Body of Christ?” In this post, I want to push our gaze further out into the Kingdom of God. We need to ask, “How does this decision affect the Kingdom of God?” 

Body vs Kingdom

Some may question the distinction I’m trying to make between the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God, thinking they are one-and-the-same thing. Yet, I think it’s important to think about these two terms in different ways. 

As I’ve studied the way scripture uses the term “Kingdom of God,” I’ve come up with the understanding that, “The Kingdom of God is present wherever there is submission to Jesus Christ.” When someone puts their faith in Jesus Christ, and submits their life to Him, they enter the Kingdom of God. Yet, as scripture repeatedly says, they haven’t completely submitted their life to Christ—otherwise they would be perfect. They need to grow in their submission, continually laying their life at Jesus’ feet.

This connects with the imagery of the Kingdom of God growing like a mustard seed and spreading like leaven through the dough. As believers grow in their submission to Christ, more and more aspects of their lives are brought into submission, which affects the way they work, shop, lead their families, etc. In this way, the Kingdom of God works its way out of the hearts of believers, through their fingertips, and into the world around them, continuing to spread like leaven through society. Yes, the Kingdom of God grows as more people are brought into submission to Christ, but it also grows as more of culture and society are brought into submission to Christ. 

How Does It Affect The Kingdom?

With all of that in mind, ask yourself, “How does my decision impact the Kingdom of God?” This question forces you to consider how your decision will impact society and culture. On the one hand you can ask, “Will this decision result in more people submitting their lives to Christ—entering the kingdom?” 

However, you can also ask these questions:

• Am I making this decision in submission to Jesus Christ as my Lord and King?

• Am I seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness as I make this decision?

• Am I making this decision with the desire to see Christ’s Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven?

• Will this decision help to bring my life into further submission to Jesus Christ?

• Will this decision bring my business, home, or neighborhood into further submission to Christ?

• Will this decision result in more aspects of culture and society being brought into submission to Christ?

Obviously, I could come up with more questions, but I think you get the gist. 

Broadening Your Perspective

Like I mentioned in the last post, I understand that we don’t always know how a decision will impact the Body of Christ or the Kingdom of God. However, that doesn’t mean we should completely ignore the question. When Jesus tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God, he is telling us to pursue it. If we are going to pursue the Kingdom of God, we need to spend time prayerfully thinking about how our decisions will impact the Kingdom. We need to do our best to make decisions that further the Kingdom of God here on earth. We need to make decisions, keeping in mind that one day voices from heaven will cry out “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15, ESV).