Changing the World Jesus Way
Everybody wants to change the world. The world is not as good as we would like it to be, so we all want to make it better. This is an important question. How should the world be changed?
There are two ways to change the world.
- From the top down
- From the bottom up.
Top-Down Change
Most modern attempts to improve the world use top-down change. Most modern attempts to change the world use political power in its various forms.
Starting a new political party
Changing the policies of the main political parties
Elect a new president
Elect better people to parliament
Support the Christian Right
Legislate better laws
Pass more laws
Stiffer penalties
Three strikes and you are outs
Establish a new commission
Establish a new department of state
Develop new government programs
Develop institutions for change
Join the revolution
Shoot the powerful people
Overthrow the government
Let the people size power
All of these solutions represent change from the top. All have been tried in different places at different times, and all have failed. People do not like being controlled, so they resist change imposed from the top.
Bottom-up Change
Jesus changes the world from the bottom up, one person at a time.
God created a perfect world. Things went wrong when sin came into the world. All the problems of the world begin in human hearts. The only really effective way to change the world is to repair the hearts of the people who cause the problem. Jesus death and resurrection make this possible. The gospel is the good news that can change the world.
When a person believes in Jesus, three things are now possible.
The Holy Spirit can work in their hearts
The influence of evil spirits can be eliminated
Emotional hurts can be healed.
The mind of Christ can emerge
As human hearts are changed, the world will be improved from the bottom up.
Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the one who rules should be like the one who serves (Luke 22:25-26).
Locality by Locality
The Holy Spirit also works household by household. When Jesus commissioned his disciples, he sent them to a particular place, and urged them to focus on one household.
When you enter a house. Stay in that house ... Do not move around from house to house (Luke 10:6,7).
The good news will spread from one household to the next.
When a group of Christians are established in a particular locality their effectiveness will be multiplied. They will form a community where the Kingdom God can be manifested
The stronger will encourage the weak
The gifts of the Spirit will flow.
Tens and hundreds will form
Welfare will be provided
People will be protected.
A different lifestyle will be demonstrated
The glory of God will be revealed.
The Kingdom of God will advance locality by locality.
The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough (Matt 13:33).
Each new locality will be a beachhead from which the Kingdom of God can be slowly expanded out into another neighbourhood.
Political Power
Christians do not need to worry about the political powers. As the Kingdom of God expands, the political powers will gradually be made redundant.
Once kings and presidents have become redundant, God will sweep them away.
Christians should not try and bring them down.
Prophetic Christians will speak against the political powers to release God's power against them.
The Book of Revelation describes the final collapse of human governments and empires.
God will not remove the human government that pushes down from the top until the Kingdom is advancing from the bottom up.
Many Christians are hostile to the power of the state. They want to eliminate its intrusion into their lives, but they are quite negative about the Kingdom of God. They would not come and say it, but many believe that God's method for expanding the Kingdom simply will not work. They are free to hold this line, but they must understand that God will not remove the power of the state until he has been able to build something in its place. If we do not take the challenge of the Kingdom seriously, we will have to put up with the weight of human political bearing upon us for a good long time.
The truth is different. There is no limit on the power of the Holy Spirit, but he cannot do his work on earth without a body of believers do work through so we must never doubt his ability. If we are unwilling to pursue it seriously, he will not force the Kingdom upon us. We are the only obstacle the Kingdom, so we should not grumble about the lingering weight of the state.
