What exactly does it mean when a church calls itself a Kingdom Church?
The Kingdom of God was designed to come to Earth in two phases. Phase 1 is the Church, the body of believers. This is sometimes called the invisible, or spiritual Kingdom, the Kingdom that’s in the world but not of the world. It was brought with the 1st Coming.
When Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21) He was referring to phase 1.
Phase 2 comes with the Lord’s return and is described in Matt. 24:30.
“At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.”
Phase 2 is also called the Millennium. It will be a literal kingdom with the Lord as King over the whole Earth.
Some churches who call themselves kingdom churches blur the distinction between these 2 phases and teach that it’s the Church’s job to conquer the world and prepare it for the Lord’s return. They’re looking for some great revival that will draw the whole world to the Lord and result in a shift in world politics toward Biblical principles. They think that this will restore the world to a state of decency and morality and make it fit for the Lord. Some believe that He won’t come back until the Church has accomplished all this.
While all would agree on the desirability of this goal, it’s not consistent with Biblical Prophecy that says the true church will become weaker and less influential as the end approaches while the world becomes more and more depraved and ripe for judgment. Sadly, recent events have confirmed this as the more likely scenario.