What We Must Do (12)

“Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” Deuteronomy 4.6

A wide door or opportunity
The day of salvation has come! Now is the favorable time for making known the Good News of God’s Kingdom, and the righteousness, peace, and joy it brings to everyone who enters it. Atheism, materialism, postmodernism, secularism – all are exhausted, and have nothing left to offer a disillusioned world. God calls all those who believe in Jesus Christ to take up the challenge of breaking the “spiral of silence” and making the case for the Gospel and the Christian worldview.

As we have seen, this must begin in our everyday conversations at home, in the community, at work, and wherever we gather with others. The more we talk with our Christian friends about how truly good it is to be living in the Kingdom and sowing good Kingdom seed in our Personal Mission Fields, the readier will be to talk with our unbelieving neighbors and co-workers, as the Lord gives opportunity.

Talking with others about the Lord and our experience of Him, as part of our everyday conversations, is an important aspect of calling to sow the good seed.

A second means by which we must make our case for the Kingdom is by publishing the Christian worldview through every available means.

This does not require that we all become authors of best-selling books. That’s simply not going to happen. But never before has such a wide door of opportunity been available to affect the thinking of so many people by sharing the written word (1 Cor. 16.8, 9). Through local media, the Internet, and social networking, we may expect to influence many for the Kingdom of God whom we will never be able to talk with face to face.

No shortage of media
Here is a second area where every Christian can play an active role in making the case for the Christian worldview, and in sowing good Kingdom seed into the Lord’s field.

In our day there is no shortage of media through which we can employ the written word to challenge the secular mindset and propose our Christian alternative. Local newspapers still receive occasional op/ed pieces as well as letters to the editor. Even national journals of opinion will publish letters that are concise, considerate, and well-written. There is plenty of help to be found on the Internet concerning how to craft an effective op/ed piece or letter to the editor.

By engaging local papers and other journals and periodicals, we can help to make the case for a Christian worldview, if only with those who screen such missives.

But by far the greatest medium through which believers can make the case for the Kingdom of God is the Internet. Websites abound where Kingdom citizens can comment on contemporary issues, moral concerns, matters of belief, and ethics. Opportunities can be easily found for becoming involved in blogging conversations in which we may set forth our Scriptural views, even in the midst of the tares of our secular age.

Moreover, many websites exist in which questions of public policy and similar concerns are given thoughtful consideration by Christian thinkers. Articles from these websites relating to public policy matters can be downloaded and copied or simply linked and emailed to friends. We should always make sure to follow-up on any emailed articles, or articles copied and distributed, with a view to engaging in conversation over the issue examined.

Believers should not be reluctant to post their own thoughts about worldview issues – on their own websites, through email, via social media, or for discussion in small groups – and thus to encourage conversation that can affect what people believe and how they live.

It’s up to us
Now is the day of salvation!

Plenty of people are active on social media, in blogging, and on websites and in other media, celebrating their narcissistic and materialistic hopes and dreams. Why should theirs be the only message in town? No one is going to publish our Christian worldview for us. But with papers and journals, email, blogging, social networking media, and other outlets ready to hand, it would be irresponsible for us not to employ every means for making our case on behalf of the Kingdom of God, swarming all manner of media with the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Where believers are not present in those settings, the spiral of silence rules. So let us determine that here, too, we will challenge the existing worldviews of the day and make our case for the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

For reflection
1.  What do you think? Is writing about the Kingdom and the Good News of Jesus really a viable option for believers? Why or why not?

2.  What about email? Is that a viable source for striking up a conversation about the Gospel? How might it be used for this purpose?

3.  What would it take to encourage you to begin, or to accelerate, this option of using publication as a means of communicating the Good News?

Next steps – Conversation, Transformation: Ask some friends about good websites to visit where you can get involved in blogging about the Kingdom of God. Make a list of two or three points about the Kingdom you’d most like to share. Then visit those websites and join a conversation. Stay at it for a while until it’s clear you have begun to engage some readers. Let the Lord lead you from there.

T. M. Moore

Our Mission Partners Outreach can help you begin sharing the Good News of Christ and His Kingdom with the people in your Personal Mission Field. The training and materials are free, and the program is available in two formats, and can be used in your Bible study group or Sunday school class. Watch this brief video (click here), and download the informational flyer to learn more.

Are you living as fully as you might the presence, promise, and power of Christ’s Kingdom? Our book, The Kingdom Turn, can help to enlarge your vision and experience of living under the Kingship of Jesus in this day of salvation. Order your copy by clicking here.

We look to the Lord to provide for our needs, and He does so through those who are served by this ministry. Please prayerfully consider becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe with your financial gifts. You can send your tax-free contribution to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452, or use the Contribute button at the website to give with a credit card or through PayPal.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.