No Kingdom Outside the Church: Social Activism Is Much Easier than Building the Church

...all true kingdom mission is church mission. For many today it is far easier to be committed to social justice in South Africa, to the restoration of communities on the Gulf Shore following Katrina, to cleaning up from the devastating tornadoes of the Plains or to fighting sexual trafficking in any country than it is to be committed to building community and establishing fellowship in one's local church. I hate to put it this way, but I must: it is easier to do the former because it feels good, it resolves some social shame for all that we have, it creates a bonded and encapsulated experience, it is a momentary and at times condescending invasion of resources and energy, and it is all ramped up into ultimate legitimation by calling it kingdom work. Not only that, it is good and right and noble and loving and compassionate and just. It is more glamorous to do social activism because building a local church is hard. It involves people who struggle with one another, it involves persuading others of the desires of your heart to help the homeless, it means caring for people where they are and not where you want them to be, it involves daily routines, and it only rarely leads to the highs of "short-term mission" experiences. But local church is what Jesus came to build, so the local church's mission shapes kingdom mission.
___
from Scot McKnight, Kingdom Conspiracy: Returning to the Radical Mission of the Local Church, pp. 96-97.