Tag: influence

Top-down strategy

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 3 – Dancing in the Kingdom– Chapter 18 – Entering the Dance

Top-down strategy

[Bible references: Numbers 22-24; Deuteronomy 8; Psalm 27; Nehemiah 1-2; 1 Timothy 4:3; stories of King David and Solomon (2 Samuel; 1 Kings 1-11)]

The top-down strategy tries to reach individuals by affecting the culture. Even if people don’t respond to the cultural change, God can be glorified by the display of his kingdom values in society.

James Hunter examined how culture changes and saw the mixed results of the bottom-up approach. He saw that some small groups of people (e.g., gays, Jews) have had a relatively large impact on the culture while larger groups (e.g., evangelicals) are losing their impact on the culture. Hunter discovered that cultures usually are changed from the top-down, most influenced by elites who are somewhat outside the center of influence but having a network of connections to other elites and who can withstand the resistance from the centers of influence.

Culture is about how societies define reality—what is good, bad, right, wrong, real, unreal, important, unimportant, and so on. This capacity is not evenly distributed in a society but is concentrated in certain institutions and among certain leadership groups and that cultural change is most enduring when it penetrates the structure of our imagination, frameworks of knowledge and discussion, the perception of everyday reality.[1]

Very few Christians are in a position to exercise a top-down strategy. The few people who do have such influence are typically subject to the temptations that come with such power, and all too often succumb to sin and become disqualified or become abusive in the exercise of such power.

[1] Hunter, James Davison. To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. Oxford University Press 2010

Observe

Read Nehemiah 1-2. What factors were involved in Nehemiah’s influence on King Artaxerxes?

Bottom-up strategy

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 3 – Dancing in the Kingdom– Chapter 18 – Entering the Dance

Bottom-up strategy

[Bible references: Romans 5:1-11; 10:11-15; 1 Corinthians 13; 2 Corinthians 8:1-14; 1 John 4:21]

There are two strands of strategy that can be seen in attempts of Christians to influence culture. In the bottom-up type of strategy, Christians reach out to individuals, with the thought that “transformed people transform cultures.”

“Discipled leaders transform cultures through their own transformed lives” [1]

But the evidence shows mixed results. For example, in America, as late as 2015, 89 percent of the people believed in God, but in government, academia, popular entertainment, were in process of becoming increasingly materialistic and secular. On the other hand, we see that Jews, who have never comprised more than 3.5 percent of the population, have had very strong contributions to many areas such as science, literature, music, and film.[2]

“The share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God, while still remarkably high by comparison with other advanced industrial countries, has declined modestly, from approximately 92% to 89%, since Pew Research Center conducted its first Landscape Study in 2007” [3]

We should keep in mind that historical records are not good at showing how the quiet contributions of individual Christians have made a difference in lives of other individuals who were not in positions of power, nor how such combined contributions may have impacted parts of society until such changes affect those in power. That does not mean that bottom-up transformation is without merit.

We certainly should not forget the importance of conventional methods of evangelism and missions which focus on outreach to individuals at all levels of society. After all, the change we most want to see are the hearts of individuals changed in direct response to the gospel message. In that regard, we are more concerned about heart transformations than the cultural transformation that should result from heart transformations.

Another bottom-up strategy in that regard is for a local church to “preach” to the culture around it by simply living as a Christian community, drawing individuals who respond to seeing how the Christian life can be lived out.

[1] Poore, Preston. “Transforming Culture through a Transformed Life” Preston Poore and Associates, 31 May 2020 prestonpoore.com/transforming-culture-through-a-transformed-life

[2] Hollinger, David. Science Jews, and Secular Culture Princeton University Press, 1996

[3] Pew Research Center. “U.S. Public Becoming Less Religious”3 Nov 2015 www.pewforum.org/2015/11/03/u-s-public-becoming-less-religious

Observe

Read Romans 5:1-11. How can the Christian life impact those who see it?

Our provision

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 3 – Dancing in the Kingdom– Chapter 14 – Remembering our creation

Our Provision

[Bible References: Genesis 1:29; Genesis 2:8-9; Psalm 3:5; 55:4-22; 1 Timothy 6:17-19; Hebrews 1:3; 1 Peter 4:7-11]

In all of this, as his image-bearers we are to remember that we need God’s provision to do our work. He is the creator of life and reproduction; sun, moon, earth, and stars; light and darkness; intelligence and wisdom; love, joy, and peace. He is the one who always goes before us and watches over us as a father watches his children.

Within all of these possibilities, we can work with God to fill the earth with his glory and influence people towards him. Our Cultural Mandate can be linked to the Great Commission and the task of evangelization, where we can use the full range of our abilities to point people to the God who is able to redeem us all.[1]

Unfortunately, just as we can engage in obedient culture making, we can also turn from God and engage in disobedient culture making,[2] turning ourselves and others away from God. Because of our rebellion against God, our cultural tasks can take on a different dimension.

[1] Manahan, Ronald E. “A Re-examination of the Cultural Mandate: An analysis and Evaluation of the Dominion Materials” Docsbay Grace Theological Seminary dissertation May 1982 docsbay.net/A-Re-Examination-Of-The-Cultural-Mandate

[2] Koyzis, David T. “What the Cultural Mandate is Not”  First Things www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2011/11/what-the-cultural-mandate-is-not

Reflect

If we base the possibilities of what we can do only our own strength and abilities, we will be limited. What stewardship project should you be considering based on what you can do with God’s help?

Observe

Read Psalm 3:5; 55:22. If we are confident that God will supply all our needs, how should we handle our possessions?

Kingdom of God

Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents

Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 2 – The Kingdom Revealed – Chapter 12 – Launching the church

Kingdom of God

[Bible references: Matthew 4:12-23; 5:43-48; 6:31-34; 13:1-9; Mark 1:15; 4:1-33; Luke 4:17-22; 17:20-21; 18:16-18; 1 John 5:3-5; Romans 14:17]

“The primary idea of the Kingdom of God in Scripture is that of the rule of God established and acknowledged in the hearts of sinners by the powerful regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit, insuring them of the inestimable blessings of salvation, — a rule that is realized in principle on earth, but will not reach its culmination until the visible and glorious return of Jesus Christ.”[1]

The Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Heaven) is broadly wherever the rule of God is in the universe[2] or spiritually in the hearts of those who do His will. Although the Kingdom of God has arrived already, it has not yet arrived in its fulness. That won’t happen until Christ returns. There are some who make the Kingdom of God synonymous with the institutional church, however, the church itself belongs to the Kingdom. When Christians do anything under the authority of God, then they are making manifest the Kingdom of God[3]. Believers belong to the Kingdom when they receive God as their ruler, and they belong to the church in the separateness from the world in devotion to God and in their union with one another. As a church they are called to be God’s instrument in bringing in the Kingdom.

The Kingdom then is not defined by any physical location, nor does it have physical boundaries, rather it exists wherever God’s rule is in heaven or in earth. At the beginning of his ministry Jesus declared that the Kingdom has come near and then he described it in terms of healing the sick, loving enemies as well as neighbors, righteousness, freedom for prisoners, giving sight to the blind, and setting the oppressed free, that it must be received as a child, that it requires repentance to receive it, that it’s like a seed on the ground that falls on various kinds of soil.

[1] Louis Berkoff. Systematic Theology William B. Eerdmans 1974 (Kindle Locations 14321-14324)

[2] Bible Study Tools “Kingdom of God” Biblestudytools www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/explore-the-bible/what-is-meant-by-the-kingdom-of-god-10-things-to-know.html

[3] Christianity.com “What is the Kingdom of God? Understanding its Meaning” Christianity.com www.christianity.com/wiki/god/what-is-the-kingdom-of-god-understanding-it-s-meaning.html

Observe

Read Luke 17:20-21. Where do you see the Kingdom of God?