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 it believes.
Winning the Battle of Ideas
As the Church seeks to advance God’s Kingdom on Earth by discipling the nations (as commissioned by Jesus, Matt. 28:18-20), societal transformation comes about by winning the battle of ideas.
As my friend, Darrow Miller says, 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 (Prov. 23:7). This truth applies equally to nations. As a nation thinks at its core, so it will be.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.” (2 Cor. 10:3-6)
Here the apostle Paul is referring to warfare in the mind, against ideas and arguments that are opposed to the true knowledge of God and anything that opposes His will.
As the Kingdom of God is the will of God, a key area of Kingdom warfare is therefore 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.
Seeding Society with Kingdom Ideas
In teaching on how the Kingdom of God grows, Jesus likened it to how seeds sprout and grow, yielding crops and eventually a harvest (Mk 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.
Kingdom TED Talks
‘TED Talks’, a series of short Internet lecture videos under the slogan of ‘ideas worth spreading’, has received more than a billion views and has millions of view 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.
Salt, Light & Yeast
A Kingdom value is personal freedom and the right to choose the way of life or the way that leads to death (Deut. 30:19). We are to be salt and light, the yeast in the ‘dough’ of society, seeking to bring a godly influence which in turn will bless and improve the lives of individuals, their families, their communities, and their nation.
The more biblical truth a culture and society embrace, the more it will experience the blessing of God for “righteousness exalts a nation” (Prov. 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.
Obedient Nations
The gospel of the Kingdom calls for repentance, not just of individuals but also a corporate repentance of whole nations. The biblical concept of repentance is not just about saying sorry and asking for forgiveness.
It refers to a complete change of mind. It is a new way of viewing life, a new worldview.
Rather than conforming to the mindset of the present ungodly world system, we are to align our thoughts and behaviours to the ways of the Kingdom of God – God’s way of doing things.
This change is not intended to stop at the individual level. Transformed individual lives are then to influence and impact society too, discipling their communities, towns, cities and nations in the process.
God is not only looking for obedient individuals. Jesus’ inheritance also includes the obedience of nations (Ps. 2:8; Ps. 82:8; Rom. 15:18).
(Extracts from Kingdom Mission Vol 1 Recovering the Vision by Peter J Farmer & Stuart Simpson. Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash)