There is a war going on in the world. It is a war of ideas.
Victory in our personal lives revolves around the battlefield of our minds where we have to deal with negative thoughts, fears, doubts, and the lies and accusations of the enemy. Similarly, strong, healthy and godly societies and nations will develop as a result of what they believe.
Is the Church Discipling Society or Being Discipled by it?
As the Church seeks to advance God’s Kingdom on Earth, societal transformation comes about by winning the battle of ideas. As Darrow Miller rightly points out, ‘If the Church is not discipling the nation, the nation is discipling the Church.’ The Bible states that we are the product of our thoughts. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7). This truth applies equally to nations. As a nation thinks at its core, so it will be.
A key area of Kingdom warfare is in the realm of ideas. It is these ideas that either bring blessing and freedom to people and nations, or holds them in bondage under the power of the kingdom of darkness. Once they have taken root in a culture, the power of these ideas can become a ruling stronghold in the minds of the people.
Ideas are Seeds
In teaching on how the Kingdom of God grows, Jesus likens it to seed sown into the earth, even a mustard seed which is the smallest of seeds. But, when it is sown, the seed of the Kingdom becomes greater than all herbs and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade (Mark 4:26-32).
Ideas grow in the same way. They are like seeds planted into people’s lives and into the soil of society. Once people buy into these ideas (good or bad), they begin to take root and before long we see the results these ideas produce, blossoming in our society. If a culture begins to change, it is not because of fads, fashions, or the passing of time. It is because of a shift in the worldview and a change of faith.
Sowing Kingdom Seeds
‘TED Talks’, a series of Internet lecture videos under the slogan of ‘ideas worth spreading’, receives more than a billion views a year and over 3 million views each day. Kingdom citizens should be at the forefront of sharing Kingdom ideas, based on God’s wisdom, on issues relating to the whole of life. We should not be leaving it to the world to deal with significant issues impacting our environment, education, the economy, or any other area of life.
In the past, Western society looked to the Church for moral guidance and direction for their nations. Now it hardly gives it the time of day. This is largely due to the fact that the Church has largely stepped away from engagement in the public square and in the marketplace, due to dualistic thinking that has diluted the gospel to personal salvation alone (see my post, Why a Spiritual-Secular Divide Disempowers the Church). As it has done so, competing ideas have crept in and advanced the cause of other worldviews, particularly secular materialism and atheistic fundamentalism.
It is not the time for the Church to retreat further. It must advance the truth, goodness and beauty of the Kingdom of God! The more biblical truth a culture and society embrace, the more it will experience the blessing of God for ‘righteousness exalts a nation’. (Proverbs 14:34). Conversely, the less a culture holds to a biblical worldview with Kingdom values, the more it will suffer the consequences of going its own way. It is time for the Church to rise up and once again embrace the need to reform society and disciple nations.
(Adapted from Kingdom Mission: A Call to Disciple Nations by Peter J. Farmer & Stuart Simpson. Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash)