If you haven’t picked up on it from this blog yet, I have an optimistic view of the future because I am a Kingdom man. I believe Isaiah when he said the knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, and that the people will stream to the mountain of God. See Isaiah 2:2, 11:9.
I believe Daniel when he said the kingdom of God will crush and put an end to all these other kingdoms but that the kingdom of God will endure forever. Daniel 2:44.
I believe Jesus when He said the kingdom of God will leaven the entire world and become like a tree so that the even non-Christians will seek to nest under the shade of its branches. Matthew 13:31-33.
I read with interest the efforts to theologify (I made that word up) these beliefs into a system of strategies and tactics whether it be Christian Reconstruction, the Seven Mountain Mandate, or any of the efforts to express the idea that the world should run best when it is run by those who are obedient to King Jesus.
But while tactics and strategies are important, they are really useless if the people who are given the responsibility of carrying them out have not been trained to do the fundamentals first. Christians don’t need to understand the Seven Mountains or Christian Reconstruction to advance the kingdom of God.
If Christians only consistently did the following four things they would see the greatest advance of the kingdom of God since the first century:
1. Stay Married. The Bible says God hates divorce. Malachi 2:16. We should take note. The statistics are indisputable. Divorce leaves both parties poorer and greatly increases the chances one’s children will end up with emotional and psychological problems and criminal records. There are reasons Jesus provided only a very narrow exception for divorce. Divorce is a dominion-killer.
2. Be Good Parents. The most important thing you can do toward being a good parent is staying married. As mentioned above, divorce is devastating to children. Beyond that being a parent gives you the ability to shape another human life in a way no other relationship does. Being a good parent is part of being a good Kingdom citizen.
3. Stay out of Debt. Debt is a dominion-killer. The borrower becomes the lender’s slave. Proverbs 22:7. So, when Christians get into debt they are reversing the dominion mandate by making themselves a slave to one other than Jesus, and it is usually not because they have to have money to survive but because they want something they think is necessary to their happiness. To stay out of debt start by staying married and don’t spend more than you earn. If you want to go deeper, buy a Dave Ramsey book.
4. Excel in their Work. Work is the way we change the world. Whether the world functions the way God intended is depended largely on how well those doing legitimate work do their jobs. From political leaders to parking lot attendants, the world functions well when people do their jobs well.
So, in summary, stay married, raise good kids, stay out of debt, and do your job well. If Christians did only these four things consistently better than the world, the world would be knocking at the Church’s door asking for advice. Until then the Seven Mountain Mandate and Christian Reconstruction are just interesting coffee shop conversation. GS