Silo vs Kingdom Thinking

The church-wide pandemic that has knocked us off mission

Winston Churchill once quipped, “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.” This insight reveals the profound influence structures have on the human mind. In the West, one structure has subtly distorted our vision: the church silo. Modern churches—and the mindsets they foster—have trained us to think in isolated compartments, undermining the expansive mission of Jesus Christ.

Silo thinking is a pervasive disease. Everyone likely reading this, myself included, has been infected. Consider a simple question: Do you have a city-wide strategy for discipling your city? Are you systematically working to bring every corner of your community under the lordship of Jesus? If not, why? The Great Commission commands us to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them… and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded” (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus claims all authority in heaven and earth, yet many of us settle for maintaining small, insulated congregations rather than pursuing kingdom-wide conquest.

How does this happen? Imagine someone attends your church and proposes a strategy to disciple every believer in your city, then turns outward to reach unbelievers. Inevitably, objections arise: “What about the other churches? We’re just a fraction of the believers here. How can we transform a city when most Christians are content with Sunday attendance?” These are valid concerns, but they expose our infected thinking. Too often, we respond, “We can’t change the city, so let’s focus on being a faithful local church.” In that moment, we downgrade Christ’s mission from kingdom conquest to silo maintenance. We aim not to disciple a city but to build a better silo—a faithful one, perhaps, but one with a shrunken scope.

This is the problem: neither you nor I has permission to redefine the King’s mission. We are soldiers, not lords. So, how do we combat silo thinking?

Here’s a proposal:

What if churches stopped fortifying silos and started fueling a movement to saturate their cities with disciples? Imagine if every congregation, regardless of size, denomination, or brand, focused relentlessly on multiplying disciples. It wouldn’t matter if someone you’re discipling attends another church or worships differently on Sunday. The mission isn’t about filling pews; it’s about making disciples who obey the King. Silo vision distracts us from this mandate, tethering us to buildings and boundaries instead of unleashing us for transformation.

Picture a city where churches unite as launching pads for a disciple-making movement, not as competing silos guarding their turf. To achieve this, we must reorient our priorities:

• Collaborate Across Silos: Partner with other churches to disciple believers citywide, sharing resources and strategies.

• Focus on Multiplication: Train every believer to make disciples, not just attend services.

• Expand the Vision: Measure success not by attendance but by the spread of obedient disciples throughout the city.

The church silo has shaped us long enough. It’s time to break free, reclaim the Great Commission, and pursue a mission that knows no boundaries. Let’s transform our cities—not one silo at a time, but as a unified kingdom advancing under the King’s command.