What We Must Do (13)

Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Exodus 4.10

Three means
Worldviews are shaped and shared in everyday conversations, and through the views and opinions published in the various media of the day, especially the Internet.

Believers know how to talk, and practically every one of us is involved with email, social networking, and the Net. We must make the most of these opportunities to make our case for the Kingdom of God, and to argue the merits of its blessings as a worldview to be preferred over the failed secularism of our day.

Everyone else talks about their dreams and hopes and the things they love the most. Why shouldn’t we? If we truly understand our times, and know the Kingdom of God to be Good News, then languishing in our current spiral of silence does not behoove us. We must find ways to break out of this black hole and begin living and proclaiming life under the heavens to our under-the-sun neighbors throughout the Lord’s field.

A third opportunity for shaping the worldviews of others can be engaged by participating in arenas where people’s views are being shaped. We may feel reluctant, like Moses, to take up a work of teaching, to start a reading group, or to become involved in a class at a university. But as Moses was made to understand that God’s will for His people could not be realized without their involvement in the public policy arena, so we must come to see that God is calling us to participate where we can, in those settings where worldviews are debated and people are persuaded concerning how they ought to live.

Yes, you!
Opportunities exist to throughout your community to participate in reading or discussion groups. Check your local library or bookstore. Ask around at church. If Christians could become more active and outspoken – with gentleness and respect, of course – in every such setting, how many minds might be changed for the Kingdom of God?

Ask your pastor or a church leader about ways you can become involved as a teacher or discussion leader at church. So much of what passes for Christian education today is focused too narrowly, with too small a vision of the salvation of the Lord. The Church needs leaders and teachers who understand the Kingdom of God and are living the Christian worldview as fully as possible.

It’s not too much to expect that some of us, at least, might participate more actively in the work of politics and government. That governments frequently stray from the framework of goodness God intends will surprise no one. It certainly did not surprise Moses. Christians must be prepared to enter the arena of politics and government, as the Lord leads and calls, to work for policies consistent with the Kingdom interests of the Lord. Moses did not feel qualified for such work; yet God provides the qualifications His people needs when He calls them to any task.

But most of all, we must engage the people to whom God sends us each day, the people in our Personal Mission Fields, with a view to demonstrating the reality of Jesus, alive from the dead, living and caring and talking through us. If we refuse to become involved at this level, we are neglecting the most important arena where can bring the light of God’s Kingdom into the darkness of our secular and narcissistic age, and we shall have to give an account of our stewardship of this calling before the Lord Who sends us.

Begin and continue in prayer
Involvement in these various arenas begins with prayer ,and is sustained by prayer, for all participants in the process. We must pray – for ourselves, our fellow Christians, the lost people with whom we have contact, and the secular generation among whom we live. Without prayer, our conversations, publications, and participation with others will lack the focus and power they require.

Prayer must be the basis for all our efforts to make our case for the Christian worldview. Believers must pray daily for the coming of the Kingdom (Matt. 6.10), that righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit would increase and abound wherever Kingdom citizens live and move and have their being (Rom. 14.17, 18). We should also join together, uniting our voices in prayer and crying out to God for revival, renewal, and awakening in the world. Abraham Kuyper wrote concerning prayer, “Movements in history…which do not spring from this deepest source are always partial and transient, and only those historical acts which arose from the lowest depths of man’s personal existence embrace the whole of life and possess the required permanence.”

Participation in prayer, in short, is our most important form or participation, and is essential to being effective in all our efforts to embody and proclaim the Kingdom of God among the tares of this generation.

Every day, let us take up the work of conversation, publication, and participation in order to declare and defend the Gospel, to set forth the reality of the Kingdom and the desirability of the Christian worldview. Commit your work to prayer and stay at it every day, making the most of every opportunity to make your case for the Kingdom!

For reflection
1.  Getting involved and talking about the Kingdom should begin in the “safe zone” of our local church. What opportunities for getting involved in Kingdom conversations are you currently involved in in your church? What are some other places you might become involved?

2.  We need to evangelize one another as much as we do the people in our Personal Mission Fields. Why?

3.  How can prayer become a more important component in your work of declaring and defending the Good News of the Kingdom?

Next steps – Transformation: Talk with some Christian friends about opportunities for participating in a group or other activity where worldviews are discussed. See if you can recruit a couple of others to join you. Then make it a matter of prayer together to encourage and help one another to use your participation as a way of embodying and proclaiming the Christian worldview.

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.

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