Missing the Kingdom

The American Church Being Preoccupied with Salvation While Missing the Central Message of Jesus

Missing the Kingdom: The American Church Being Preoccupied with Salvation While Missing the Central Message of Jesus
by Dr. Wayne "Coach" Gordon
Preface: Mathew Bates
Afterward: Marshall Hatch

For decades, the American church has poured its energy into getting people saved—into altar calls, personal decisions, and eternal security. But in the process, we’ve missed the message Jesus talked about more than anything else: the Kingdom of God.

In We Are Missing the Kingdom, pastor, teacher, and community leader Dr. Wayne “Coach” Gordon takes readers on a powerful journey to rediscover what Jesus actually preached. Drawing from a lifetime of ministry in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood and decades of studying Scripture, Gordon challenges the modern church to return to the heart of Jesus’ teaching—a message that’s not just about life after death, but about how we live right here and now.

With clarity and passion, Gordon shows how the Kingdom of God is not a vague idea or distant promise. It is a present reality, breaking into the world through justice, righteousness, love, and community. It is not about escaping the world, but about transforming it.

In this deeply personal and biblical book, Gordon explores:

• How Jesus’ main message was the Kingdom, not just salvation

• Why the Sermon on the Mount is the blueprint for Kingdom living

• The deep connection between the Kingdom, righteousness, and justice

• How the Great Commandment to love God and neighbor fuels Kingdom work

• The tragedy of reducing the gospel to a ticket to heaven

• What it looks like when churches become outposts of the Kingdom on earth

Using dozens of Scriptures, historical insights, and real-life stories from Lawndale Community Church, Gordon invites believers to reimagine the gospel through the lens of the Kingdom. He draws from voices like Howard Thurman, John Perkins, Tom Skinner, Scot McKnight and Esau McCaulley—prophetic leaders who have called the church back to justice, love, and faithfulness.

Whether you’re a pastor, church leader, seminary student, or everyday Christian who knows there must be more to following Jesus, this book will open your eyes and reorient your faith.

Missing the Kingdom is both a wake-up call and a hopeful invitation. It’s time to move beyond shallow religion and embrace the deep, demanding, and beautiful call of Jesus to live as citizens of His Kingdom—right here, right now.