Enough Games, Enough Cliches, Let's Take Authority!

All the bad people in the world don’t have to “change” for the world to be a better place. This makes sense when we realize all the righteous people in the world don’t have to change for the world to be an evil place-it already is! Evil governs by powers and principalities set up in high places according to the Bible. It seems pretty clear then where the real battle is taking place-at the top! It is pretty evident however that the righteous ones are currently losing the fight. If we look at the world in terms of market share, evil has a monopoly. Sad as it may be, we’re just not choosing our battles wisely.

As disciples of Christ, it is our calling to be salt and light. Salt preserves, light illuminates. It’s Who Christ Is! When salt is applied to meat, preservation begins automatically. When the light switch is flipped on, darkness leaves immediately-no questions asked. My point is that we’re working too hard to convert lost souls, and equally as hard to fill churches. But, before you slap a label on me, consider this:

Jesus never tried to convert, but rather revert. He told us to repent, or change our thinking and perception because the kingdom is here! Kingdom, as used here means governance, authority, ruler-ship. Jesus wasn’t merely giving us salvation, He was giving us back the authority we lost when Adam and Eve fell from dominion. The biggest problem with “converting” lost souls is simply the angle; the perception it brings. On one hand, Jesus tells lost souls to refrain from being deceived and change their thinking to retake their rightful authority, but on the other hand we tell lost souls to stop sinning or else they will burn in hell. Well, there’s usually two responses to this message. Convert and become a Christian, whatever that means. And the second is the person who runs further away from God because he/she doesn't want to know a God who would “send them to hell.” But let’s go back to the first group of responders who decide to convert. Why is it the greater portion of these “converts” convert back to their previous state not long after they made a decision for Christ? Take a look at this excerpt:

In 1972, Campus Crusade for Christ had a huge evangelistic conference in Dallas, TX called Explo ‘72. Attendees were equipped and sent home with the vision of sharing the Gospel with every person in the United States of America by 1976. Though it did not happen, the campaign did “reach” millions with the Gospel.

Phase One of the project was to wear buttons and have billboards and newspaper advertisements that read: “I Found It!” (’it’ meaning eternal life). Phase Two involved trained volunteers making millions of evangelistic telephone calls. Those who prayed with the volunteers, were “visited by the volunteers, given follow-up literature, and encouraged to join a Bible study group in their neighborhood.”

By the end of 1976, 6.5 million people had been contacted, and 536,824 people had indicated they trusted Christ for salvation (60,000 of those joining the neighborhood Bible study group). It was estimated that 50 million people saw the television special that went along with the campaign! Amazing stats...seemed quite effective at “reaching” the United States with the Gospel.

“Though the campaign’s statistics seemed, good, the campaign drew criticism from experts on church growth. Win Arn noted that few of the converts actually joined local churches. For example, in Edmonton, Canada, 1,700 workers from 63 participating churches recorded 1,009 decisions for Christ. Only 250 of those people actually attended one Bible study, and not a single person became a church member as a result of the campaign. In Indianapolis 823 volunteers made 28,976 telephone calls. These calls produced 1,665 decisions for Christ. However, only 242 attended a Bible study, and only 55 became church members. Of these, 23 were transfers from another church. Therefore, the net gain in membership in area churches was 32.” (John Mark Terry, Evangelism: A Concise History, 189-190).

It seems to me that hell fire, the promise of eternal life, and even salvation isn’t the correct angle all by itself. Even more than that, it isn’t holistic enough to be a complete gospel. When Jesus preached the gospel/good news, it was always about the kingdom. The gospel wasn’t salvation, eternal life or hell fire, it was the kingdom-regaining our rightful position as children of God; Salvation is how we get into the kingdom, but the kingdom is The Message.

With that said, we need to go back to basics. The basics of the kingdom. Once we understand the kingdom, we will understand the angle that every human being on the face of the earth can relate to; the angle that gives them the perception they need to realize Christ in fullness and in truth. We all have circumstances we go through, we all have burdens we need lifted; it's the message of the kingdom ( Governing Circumstances: The Way of the Kingdom, Part 1, 2, 3, 4) that fills the need of every human being on the face of the earth, making it the one true common denominator for all of humanity.

It is the kingdom of God in us that will fight principalities, powers and strong holds in high places. Once we regain authority in these high places, the world will change, because it is from the high place that a world is governed.