"The church is not coextensive with the Kingdom of God, and in two respects..." (20 Reappropriating Niebuhr's C&C)
First, the church's inclusion of hypocrites and false prophets shows us that not everyone in the church is submitting to furthering the Kingdom of God in the name of Jesus. At the same time, there are people outside of the church who have put God first in their lives and have dedicated their lives in service to Him, although they have not joined a church yet. But their lack of self-consciousness as a Christian does not in any way omit them from belonging to the Christian family.
It's like the quintessential "unofficial" artist. A man who loves to paint with wild colors and finds the most joy in the act of painting, yet does not refer to himself a painter. If that man did call himself a painter it would probably open up more possibilities. He would assume the identity in a new and exciting way, connect with other people who share the same passions, and create a platform to affect people with his art. In sum, the painter man would produce WAY more art with his newfound confidence and resources...all because he decided he would be a painter.
The analogy is incomplete in several ways, but I feel like it's similar to the way people love Christ but have not yet committed to being a part of the institutional church. Although they are undoubtedly living less effectively in the wrong identity, this does not mean their actions and influence is not furthering the Kingdom of God.
If we looked at things through this lens, I feel like we would move past the limited horizons of the "what's godly, what's not godly" discussion into the "lets make lasting stuff happen" decision. This writer's quote on the subject basically says what I just said in a better way times 100, in about a third of the length.
The influence of God's Kingdom has been spreading, bit by bit, wherever individuals, groups, nations, and transnational realities have been influenced for the better. In our day, for example, the increased profile of universal human rights in national and international politics--with particular attention to women, children, and the poor--is an example of the spread of the influence of the Kingdom of God incognito, so to speak. It is obvious that the international order is far from Christian in its identity and conduct. In that crucial sense it is clearly not the Kingdom of God. Nonetheless, the Kingdom of God is partially and mixedly, but also really, present in the extension of these values into spheres previously not deeply shaped by them.
We see the marks of the Kingdom of God, then, wherever light penetrates darkness, wherever good makes its way against evil or inertia, wherever beauty emerges amid ugliness or vapidity, and wherever truth sounds out against error or falsity. ,
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