- Mark Pender at GCC last weekend -
Someone sound the trumpet! Out of the chaos governing this broken,
sin-sick world, the order and goodness of God’s Kingdom is coming!
What brings order out of the chaos?
In the extreme, it’s either power forcing chaos into
compliance (controlling the chaos and forcing order), or else the chaos is
“converted” and wills its own order, even in the absence of forced compliance.
Draw a line.
Label one end of the continuum “CONVERT.” Label the opposite
end “CONTROL.” This is the continuum of cultural compliance. It’s a line that helps
people visualize the means by which any social order perpetuates itself.
Societies, organizations and cultures integrate new
constituents, and ensure their compliance with existing values and social norms,
by some measure of “conversion” or “control.” Newcomers must either be
“converted” to conform to a society’s expectations or “controlled” by governing force and
made to comply. If the newcomers don’t cooperate of their own accord, they must
be forced to oblige society’s norms or the culture is lost. The result of each
person doing their own thing and going their own way, is the eventual
disintegration of the culture.
Societies change when people won’t be converted or
controlled.
Call conversion "indoctrination" or "propaganda" or "political spin;" whatever it's named its effect is the same if it brings people into compliance. Either it satisfies the government's need to assimilate everyone or you’ll see
that society’s governing principle sliding along the continuum toward more and
more “control.” Give up “conversion” and the only way to make progress (as this
world defines it) is by increasing “control.” If new people aren’t “converted”
they don’t comply willingly. If new people don’t comply willingly, those in
power are inclined to force compliance. Devalue the assimilation of newbies by
“conversion” and governing “controls” must be increased; if “controls” aren’t
boosted conditions will change.
How can any society include those who were once “outsiders”
as “insiders” without changing the culture? Whether newcomers are born into it,
invited into it or they invite themselves, the issue is the same: the manner by
which new people are acculturated can be plotted somewhere on the continuum
between “convert” and “control.”
Societies “converting” newcomers (virtually guaranteeing
those newbies commit to the ideals and personal responsibilities valued by the governing group) aren’t required to exercise extreme “control” over the population. It’s
not necessary. People cooperate because they’re obliging.
On the other hand, extreme “control” reduces a government’s need
to “convert” newcomers. It’s not as important for the individuals in the group
to agree with the foundational principles and values informing their society,
if severe “controls” negate their ability to modify the culture. Extreme
“control” means there’s little need to “convert” newcomers; they’ll be controlled
and forced to conform to the will of those in charge, no matter what they
believe or value.
Want examples?
Consider the vote of an annual meeting of stockholders.
Would a company give control to people with nothing at stake (because they have
nothing invested) and ask them to make major decisions for the company? Who
would allow outsiders to control the future of a business they’re not in?
Resource allocation is the privilege of the “converted” or the prerogative of
those in “control.” The more the stockholders are informed and envisioned
(converted), the more they are able to shape their community. The more those in
“control” keep information to themselves and force compliance with their
dictates and threats, the less people need to be “converted” to willingly
engage. Those unwilling to convert
and impossible to control will end the status quo and threaten the
establishment with a new order.
Would the culture of your family change if you let your
little children decide how you’ll treat each other, how you’ll prioritize your
household budget or whether your family follows Jesus? Many parents invest a
lot of energy to “control” newcomers (babies) – “Don’t bite. Share your toys or you’ll have to have a time out.” –
until they’re able to “convert” them to the family’s shared beliefs and values.
“Control” is only possible for a few years, then the newcomers to your family
will either be “converted” to the family values or they’ll destroy them. It’s
simply a matter of time. Those newcomers unwilling to convert and impossible to
control will end the status quo and threaten the establishment with a new
order.
Imagine a local church that gives people control of the
mission of the church whether they’re Christian converts or not. That would
change the governing DNA of the congregation. Encouraging decentralized missional
communities (with an expectation that “every
follower of Jesus will be a reproducing follower of Jesus”), exemplifies a
“conversion” culture where newcomers are as trusted with the mission as they are
devoted to it. On the other hand, pastors who believe their people will behave
badly unless they submit to stringent controls and intrusive oversight, must
rule with strict “controls” to preserve their notion of ordered community. It’s
either “convert” or “control.” Those newcomers unwilling to convert and
impossible to control will end the status quo and threaten the establishment
with a new order.
A new order can be the direct result of the new influences
of new people. A tsunami of uncontrolled, unconverted newcomers can transform
culture.
If newbies aren’t “converted” to the ways of the world they
occupy, they’ll bring their “other-worldly” values, gods and behavior patterns
with them when they arrive. If they’re not changed they’ll change the culture. If their numbers are sufficient, they
can overwhelm the systems, overrun the values and obliterate the constitutional
structures that preserved order and informed relationships. No matter how they
enter the society - whether by birth or immigration – if the newcomers aren’t
“converted” you can be sure the culture will shift with the weight of their
influence. The culture that was, can be no more.
That is the power of influence. That’s the clout of
uncompromising love intruding on the compromised chaos of this world’s systems.
That explains how Christians are changing the world.
Christ’s followers won’t be controlled, cowed into obedience
or conformed to this world. They won’t be seduced by the lies of promised
power, prestige or position their enemy often uses to tempt them to conform to
the ways of the world. They won’t buy the lie that political power can
accomplish the ends they seek. They won’t conform to this world, but instead
they're being transformed by the renewing of their minds. They won’t be converted;
they are converting the world around them.
Christ’s followers know the Kingdom of our Lord is coming.
In a world where power is everything, people cave to power
because they’re controlled by their fear of punishment, loss, pain, failure and
death. Those who refuse to be “controlled” by fear and refuse to be “converted”
to the evils of the world’s corruption are sure to feel resistance from the
systems embraced by this fallen world. Even so, the King of all kings is
ultimately bringing a righteous order to sin’s chaotic social sickness, and as
Christ’s Kingdom comes we will see His will done, one way or the other.
Either every knee will bow, and every tongue confess “Jesus is Lord,” because people are
“converted” to believe and they choose to live on mission (whether or not the society
welcomes their investment), or everybody will bow and confess “Jesus is Lord,”
because God destroys the sin-sick controls of this world’s powerful
kings, exposing them as the shams they are. Either way, everyone’s eyes will be opened and all will finally
see the Truth.
When that Day finally arrives, wrongs will be righted, sin
will be punished and righteousness rewarded. The chaotic governance of sinful kings and
kingdoms will end. On that Day the will-to-power can no longer drive Creation’s
agenda. Pride, Lust, Envy, Hate and Greed will no longer disrupt our lives. The
Lord of all lords will use the enemies of Love as His footstool. On that Day the chaos of
this warring world will end.
Isaiah said it so clearly: “The
Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place.
He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. ‘I am the
Lord,’ he says, ‘and there is no other.’” (45:18)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LORD, hasten the Day when the chaos governing this world’s hunger,
poverty, disease and war gasps its last dying breath. Let Death be done unto
death. Let sorrow cease. Let the order and goodness of your Kingdom come. Let
your will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven. Give us the love, hope and
faith to endure until that great and glorious Day. Deliver us from evil and
preserve our strength, that we might be faithful in all things, unwilling to
choose the "season of pleasure" Sin promises to exchange for the inheritance of
the Saints. Hold us. Deliver us from the destruction of a "soft life of sin." Keep us. Heavenly Father, no matter how much loss we face, no matter how much grief we bear, let us run the race set before us, keeping our eyes on the Author and Perfecter of our faith. We belong to Jesus and we put
our trust in Him. – Amen.
Hebrews 11:24-27
- By faith, Moses,
when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. He chose a hard
life with God’s people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the
oppressors. He valued suffering in the Messiah’s camp far greater than Egyptian
wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. By an act of
faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king’s blind rage. He
had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going.
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