In the last two posts we discussed social, economic and political dimensions of God’s vision for the Church as well as Christians. Once again this post will challenge your perspective of Christianity. But hopefully move you to step into God’s vision for YOU. God had a grand evangelical vision for the Church. We call it the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18-20: “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” God’s design is for ALL Christians to do the work of the ministry. We are called to make disciples of nations.
God’s intended model for the church is centrifugal, with human resources directed outward. The church is a training ground for the deployment of Christians into ministry work, and the world is the theatre of operation. Ephesians 4:11-12 says “And He (Jesus) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” The purpose of the 5 fold ministry is 2-fold: (1) Personnel development & deployment (2) Edification of the Body. Jesus presented the concept of “kingdom”, not religion. Kingdom is a political concept, not a religious terminology. What we call “Christianity” is a hybridized nation of priest-kings – a peculiar nation. (1 Peter 2:9) Christianity is a political concept. When Jesus taught us The Lord’s Prayer, the preamble was an appeal to a political figure. (Matthew 6) God the Father is a political title, not a sociological title. Just as God the Son is a political title. (Psalm 2:7) As a child of God, the rights of Jesus belong to you. The instrument of devolution of rights is called righteousness. As Christians we have been equipped for evangelical work, and equipped for spirito-political warfare. Our political warfare is not second-rate. We’re dealing with Satan’s sophisticated power structure. Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, the rulers of darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in the high places. None of the titles mentioned in Satan’s organogram is religious in nature. They’re political. Satan is focused on power. You’ve got to understand the scale of political realism you’re dealing with as a Christian or your vision will be small.
There are 3 types of evangelism in scriptures: retail evangelism, wholesale evangelism, policy and cultural evangelism. Retail evangelism is one-on-one. We see this with Phillip witnessing to the Ethiopian Minister of Finance. (Acts 8:26-40). Wholesale evangelism happens in larger numbers. We saw that when 3,000 people were converted in one go at Pentecost. (Acts 2) Policy & cultural evangelism devolves God’s ethos and value system into nations of the world for peace. This type of evangelism is perhaps the most important form of evangelism. It provides operating context for the other two forms. If there’s no peace in a nation the gospel cannot be preached. So Christians must work to instil peace in political contexts. It’s why Paul asked us to pray for peace so the gospel may be preached. (1 Timothy 2:1-4) It is foolhardy of Christians to abandon the political & cultural terrain. You can’t keep praying people out of government. It’s inefficient. You need to get in there and get the job done. Unless Christians get involved in the political system, Satan will oppress the Church with legislation and political power.
Satan is fanatically focused on power, government & culture. His mission hasn’t changed – steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) Christians must be involved in the media and culture space. They create societal and political context. We can’t be locked up in church playing religion while societal context is being redefined to our detriment. Christians have got to stop thinking clannishly. If you don’t alter your paradigm you can’t disciple a nation. Christianity is not antithetical to use of intellect. The Bible is not against thinking. Philippians 4:8 enjoins us to think. Use your intelligence. You have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) The Bible is not antipodean to involvement in policy formulation. It’s why we have Joseph and Daniel as stories. Christians ought to get involved in politics and governance, as well as legislation, law, economics and social justice. The Church tends to limit herself to social justice ignoring other dimensions of human society. Christians can’t afford to avoid the cultural space. Get into music, art, drama, fashion, technology, media, entertainment. Being entrepreneurial is not anti-Christian. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were entrepreneurs. The great battle of the 21st century is not about miracles, signs and wonders. It’s about intellect and culture. Policy and cultural evangelism are so critical in these times. Look at what’s going on in the world. Media is particularly important. Media controls the mind of the people, shapes worldview. It’s a tool of power. The church has always struggled with media. We called television the devil’s box. We couldn’t discern content from platform. It’s a lack of sophistication that makes Christians think media must be wholly religious.
The dialectics of the 21st century are radically different from the dialectics of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s and the noughties. Enlarge your vision. (Isaiah 54:2-7) The battleground is the minds of men. God wants to raise an intelligent generation. They will take the intellectual and cultural battle to the gates of the Enemy.
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If you’ll like to give your life to Christ please pray this prayer: “Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I know that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for me and that you raised him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Christ is Lord and I receive him as my Lord and my Saviour. I am now born again. Amen.”
© Leke Alder | talk2me@lekealder.com