The ultimate expression and realization of the Kingdom of God is when the redemptive reign and rule of Jesus happens in the lives of people …when the Kingdom breaks in and the highest and most excellent of the created order—human beings—become committed followers of the King of the Kingdom. While there are certainly other essential manifestations of the Kingdom, this remains the ultimate biblical centerpiece of the mission of God.
A phrase that I like to use to describe this priority is that the Kingdom of God is never fully present unless people are becoming followers of the King.
When it’s all said and done, that’s what we are all about.
The movements of the gospel for which we work as a global band of apostolic missionaries are really a means to a much greater end. We believe that the results of such gospel movements are “…when many people become committed followers of Jesus and groups of these disciples rapidly multiply.”
Over the past four decades, God has graciously entrusted to CRM—at different times, different places, and difference paces—the necessary components of these gospel movements. But in the past ten years, these components have all begun to come together into a rather extraordinary, unified mosaic. We’ve seen a remarkable and increasingly clear movement paradigm emerge that has become the guiding “North Star” in our philosophy of ministry.
In the last year, along with our various leaders, I’ve sensed a shift from this very important “What we do” and “How we do it” to embracing more deeply “Why we do it.” I believe God is gently, but firmly, drawing us together toward the grand scope and magnitude of that calling. He is graciously wooing us with his cosmic vision that stretches beyond time and space. This captivating “why” is succinctly captured in the following phrase from Revelation 7:9:
...behold a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages before the throne and before the Lamb.
When God calls us to himself, and into intimate union and communion with every aspect of his triune nature, he also calls us to one of the deepest longings of his own character. He longs that we participate with him in his magnificent, far-reaching, redemptive purpose, to claim as his own “…a great multitude that no one could count from all tribes and peoples and languages before the throne and before the Lamb” so that Jesus is worshiped and glorified forever and ever.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sam Metcalf has served as the president of CRM-US since 1985. His passion for leadership development, discipleship, and the spread of the good news of Jesus around the world has led CRM into over 85 countries and a variety of innovative ministry models contributing to contemporary movements of the gospel. He and his wife, Patty, are based in Fullerton, CA. They have two adult children and four grandchildren.