Defining Church: Reviewing the Gospel, Part 8(C)

Considerations and Context for Church Building

1) Understanding the “whole counsel” of God

2) The Issue of Leadership

3) The Issue of Vision

4) Reviewing the Gospel (Part 8C)

There are a couple of important thoughts that we’ve identified in the last two articles on this very important issue of reviewing the Gospel; these are:

• The word “gospel” simply means “a good message”. The Gospel can be defined as the Total and Collective Instruction of God to Humanity (a message from God), established progressively throughout generations through the mechanism of revelation of Christ.

• The point of departure in proclaiming the gospel is not the ability to preach but it is the possession of an understanding of the kingdom of God as a system of life.

• The kingdom of God is a governmental system of definition, regulation and development of human life through Christ.

• The Gospel is Universal; it is not for “poor Africa”. Since the Gospel is a proclamation of God’s system of life (the Kingdom), it equally needs to be proclaimed to the apparently and seemingly “stable” nations of Europe and elsewhere. And since these nations are also responsible for the global unjust political and economic conditions of humanity, they need to hear and understand the Gospel even though some project themselves as “Christian nations”.

• The Gospel was proclaimed to Abraham, Gal 3:8. The Gospel is therefore about church becoming a blessing to the nations (Gen 12). This implies that church can not position herself as a religious institution that speaks only into the spiritual affairs of humanity (church is not a papal-ecclesiastical system) but as a system of development of human life.

• The Gospel was proclaimed by the Prophets, Rom 1:1-4. The Gospel is not a New Testament phenomenon. Those involved in the proclamation of the gospel need to have an understanding of the fundamental positions in the message of the Prophets. These prophets spoke more about issues of justice then they did about “blessing” etc. That is, they spoke directly into the nature of human existence, calling for a just humanity. Anybody who claims to have a revelation of God without seeing and being burdened by issues of justice is walking in a defective-limited sight (Ps 97:2, Ps 103:6, Jer 22:16).

Moses and the Proclamation of the Gospel

Hebrews 4:1-2

1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. NIV

The writer of Hebrews tells us here that Moses proclaimed the Gospel to his generation (Israel). The word says ‘we have heard the gospel preached to us just as they did’. This is a significant statement which tells that we can look into patterns and extract some key lessons in (a) how the Gospel was proclaimed to Israel and (b) how they responded to that proclamation. Not only so, this statement by the writer of Hebrews tells us that they heard the same message we are hearing, the only difference now is that Christ (our Lord and Saviour) is our means of accessing life.

1 Corinthians 10:6

6 Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. NIV

1 Corinthians 10:11

11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. NIV

The verses above sent to the Corinthians further strengthen the idea of looking at Israel for patterns so that we perfect our journey with God.

What did Moses proclaim to Israel?

Let my people go

The first thing Moses proclaimed to Pharaoh and by implication to Israel was ‘let my people go’ (Ex 5:1). Moses proclaimed an exodus of people from a false order of life. This was a proclamation of freedom and liberation to a people who were oppressed by an empire. “Egypt” represented a deficient system of life that was characterised by injustice and oppression. The issue that God was after was not simply Egypt but what it (Egypt) represented. God was confronting an unjust system. “Egypt” therefore becomes a metaphor, which means that our focus today is not a Geo-political state that’s located in Northern Africa but a set of principles that can be found in most parts of the world today. For example, Apartheid South Africa was a form of an Egypt in the sense that it was an oppressive system that marginalised its own citizens.

What this tells us is that the proclamation of the Gospel must effect liberation on all levels of human life. Moses did not only liberate people from the idols of Egypt (spiritual liberation) but also from its unjust political, social and economic system. As church we function largely within the realm of spiritual liberation. By and large, we have not created platforms and systems to bring about social, political and economic liberation. The proclamation of the Gospel is a release of new spiritual laws and understanding that bring about illumination and empowerment to people, causing them to overcome oppressive systems of this world.

Revelation 18:4

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:

"Come out of her, my people,

so that you will not share in her sins,

so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

NIV

The Apostle John is seeing in Revelation chapter 18 the collapse of Babylon. Again the Book of Revelation is a prophetic book and so John here is not talking about a Geo-Political State called Babylon which is Iraq today. It was interesting to see books written about “the collapse of Babylon” at the time that America attacked Iraq a couple of years ago. This was a complete misunderstanding of prophetic writings. It’s no different to an emphasis on anti-Christ being a man or some politician and not a spirit and “a dimension of life and understanding” that is largely prevalent both in the church and in the world system already, driving how people see God, how they think and how they live. Just as Christ is “Logos” (a system of reasoning) so is anti-Christ a system of reasoning that is directly in opposition to the values and thought patterns of Christ.

So the Apostle John talks about a people coming out of Babylon in Rev 18:4. Babylon is a historical Geo-Political State, an empire that existed in Old Testament days. This empire was a system of life that represented a certain value system and that produced a certain kind of human existence (the Book of Daniel reveals much about Babylon’s mentality and value system). In the prophetic writings, God takes the same empire and uses it as a metaphor to describe the nature of human conditions in the earth. If we took Rev 18:4 literally, it would mean that God does not want any Christian living in Iraq today. We know that this thought would be completely out of line with the general thrust and direction of the kingdom of God: Jesus said ‘go to all the nations (including Iraq) and make disciples’ (Matt 28:18-20). Jesus also said ‘the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to all nations and then the end will come’ (Matt 24:14).

So if this Babylon is not a Geo-Political state called Iraq today then what is it? “Babylon” (as a metaphor) is a system of life that is rebellious to God. The foundational principles of Babylon are found in Gen 11:

Genesis 11:4-9

4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel — because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

NIV

• Babylon is a civilisation: “they said, come, let us build a city…” That is, Babylon is a place of definition of human life or human existence.

• Babylon represents an attempt to build life that is not defined by God’s architecture but one defined by man’s perspective and one driven by human ambition: “…let us build a city…”

• Babylon is founded upon the principle of human pride and not one of serving God: “…so that we may make a name for ourselves…”

• Babylon represents an attempt to save and preserve life without God’s means of redemption: “…so that we may not be scattered…”

• Babylon represents a system of life driven by the issue of meeting human needs without complying with God’s standards and designs: “…so that we may not be scattered…”

• Babylon represents a place of clash of perspective, values and direction; a place of lack of consensus, integration and consolidation. A place of supremacy of personal opinion at the expense of corporate agreement: “…the Lord confused their language…they could not understand each other”.

• Babylon represents a place of disintegration of human life and decay: “…because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth”.

When you look at these principles, you begin to realise that “Babylon” can be found inside a family, a community or a society, a nation or even inside global institutions that are attempting to design global human life. The one key characteristic of Babylon is the issue of human effort to build life coupled with a progressive decay of life. Even though they wanted to build a city so that they would not be scattered, they were eventually scattered. The word “scatter” in Hebrew means: ‘to dash in pieces’. The word therefore defines a process of disintegration of life and things failing to remain solid. This particular characteristic is very much a reality today. Numerous efforts designed to build life are somehow not producing the intended results. Life is collapsing all over the world simply because men have refused to come to a point of confluence regarding a consolidated approach to building life. We have numerous global gatherings, parliamentary deliberations, financial investments and education systems that are somehow not producing stable life. Just as these men who were building this city or civilisation, nations remain divided by their own self interests and cannot understand one another’s language (i.e. motivations, pursuits, objectives etc.).

The sad thing is that the “scattering” is also taking place right within the church. Churches continue to hold “dynamic services” and yet life, marriages and families are disintegrating. There must be something “Babylonian” still about the values and operations of our churches.

It is therefore prophetically significant that God is bringing His church to positions of integration and confluence. He is removing the dividing wall of hostility and is producing one new man. He is calling us to a position of “the unity of the faith” (Eph 2:14-17, Eph 4:13). We are God’s city (Heb 12:22, Heb 11:10, Rev 21:2) built according to God’s design (1 Cor 3:10).

Let my people go (cont…)

Revelation 18:4

4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:

"Come out of her, my people,

so that you will not share in her sins,

so that you will not receive any of her plagues;

NIV

The initial position of the Gospel is not to give us religion and membership to a local assembly. It is not to only remove us from idolatrous positions and false gods. It is also to take us out of deficient positions of human existence. There must be “a coming out”, an exodus that begins to take place without which the Gospel can not find full expression in the earth. When we see God correctly, we see life correctly. That is, a sight of God is not a theological experience but produces a real life process and wisdom to construct correct life. As the word says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). The word “wisdom” here is defined as: “practical skill of life”.

Colossians 1:13

13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, NIV

The Gospel proclaims an exodus from a deficient system of life built by men in their ignorance of the correct order of life. This does not mean that God wants us to literally leave our nation-states and build a separate Geo-Political State. Such a thought is not reflected in the scriptures instead the scriptures talk about being salt and light of the world (Matt 5:13-14), and this represents principles of interface, impact and influence. What we have to depart from is not “Geo-Political States” but erroneous systems and positions of human existence. For example, in this day of greed and materialism, in this day of Capitalistic ideology (that masquerades in the church as “individualistic blessing”), we are called to a system of community and shared life. The role of leaders here is to see these positions and principles in the scripture, develop doctrine around them, proclaim and build them so that the church can walk in these realities.

God wants to see the Exodus

Hebrews 11:28

28 By faith he (i.e. Moses) kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

NIV

The “Passover” was a system God gave to His people. This system would help facilitate the exodus of Israel out of that oppressive empire.

Christ, our Passover Lamb

1 Corinthians 5:7-8

7 Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

NIV

If the keeping of the Passover helped Israel come out of Egypt then Christ (our Passover Lamb) can help us come out of this world system’s definitions of life, in order to fully establish the kingdom of God (a system of life) in the earth.

Passover is not an event in our annual religious calendar. As a matter of fact, the Word of God tells us not to observe special religious days:

Galatians 4:9-11

9 But now that you know God-or rather are known by God-how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

NIV

These religious festivals were a shadow of Christ (Col 2:16&17). The Passover is not a date in April or a religious event, Passover is a principle of exit. Passover says, “People are coming out of the system”. Passover is a principle of rebelling against a false order of life in order to build the kingdom of God. We have taken it and made it into a religious-ceremonial celebration. As a principle of exit, Passover is a State of Existence. We institute Passover not simply by holding a gathering but by living by a different set of values and building different systems of life. Now this is not to say that we must not acknowledge God’s salvation in our lives and the sacrifice of Christ but the way we do this is certainly not by following practices of Catholicism. If at all we choose to gather in April, we should rather talk about the nature of our exit from worldly systems of life in order to glorify Christ in the earth. Such gatherings would be consistent with the whole principle of Passover. It would not help to be compromised by sin, materialism, greed and general worldliness and then celebrate Passover every year in April.

God wants to see the Exodus

1 Peter 1:18

18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, NIV

The initial position of the Gospel is not to give us religion and membership to a local assembly. It is not to only remove us from idolatrous positions and false gods. It is not to remove us simply from false religions and take us into Christianity. Neither is it to simply make us “spiritual beings”. Of critical importance is for the Gospel to take us out of deficient positions of human existence. This fulfils our sight of God (Jer 22:16) and our spirituality in Christ (1 Cor 3:1&3).

Any gospel that proclaims God, establishing only systems of (a) worship, (b) personal spiritual redemption and (c) fellowship, leaving people without a political, social & economic framework within which they can exist in the earth and develop their citizenship – is essentially insufficient and inherently faulty. This understanding is only possible when we begin to realise that the Kingdom of God is not simply a theological system or position but it’s a complete system of belief, with its own values, culture and ideological positions on the nature and arrangement of human life.

There must be “a coming out”, an exodus that begins to take place without which the Gospel can not find full expression in the earth.

What the Lord declares in 1 Pet 1:18 is that we have to come out of traditionally and generationally established systems of human existence. There must be a values-based, perspective-based and culturally-based exodus that begins to take place. The cultural exodus here is not one where we adopt “foreign lifestyle” as some Missionaries did when they proclaimed the gospel to Africa. The Gospel is not a suite and a tie. The Gospel is a proclamation of a system of values by which man can live and be correct before God (what the Word calls “righteousness”). There must be a coming out of (not only false religions) but also from false political, social and economic positions. The big question we need to ask is, how does the Church come out of the clutches of Capitalism? How does the Church come out of the clutches of Liberalism? What new socio-economic platforms does God want us to build in order to fully establish the kingdom of God in the earth? These are Passover-like questions that will usher us into newness in God, so we can be able to represent the Kingdom before the nations of the world.

Hebrews 4:1-2

1 Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. 2 For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. NIV

Let us initiate the first demand of the Gospel, which is the issue of coming out of erroneous positions of life.

To be continued…