03/26/11
Greetings,
I hope this letter finds everyone doing well. We’ll begin this week with the fact that the body of Christ is the extension of God’s kingdom into the earth. We are all members of this same kingdom. God does not have a Baptist kingdom, a Lutheran kingdom, and a Charismatic kingdom. He has His kingdom, and when we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior we begin to participate in it. The kingdom of God is the dimension wherein God is king. Look at what Jesus says regarding kingdoms in general.
“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:” (Matthew 12:25)
What is desolation? The Greek word translated desolation is eremoo which means to lay waste or to come to nought. To come to nought means to come to nothing. This means that division brings a kingdom that was originally wonderful and properly ordered to nothing. Division is a destructive force. Arguments and discord are destructive forces. We are the kingdom of God and we are divided against ourselves. As a result, we fight against the purposes and plans of God and bring the extension of His kingdom in the earth to desolation.
There is a table in the book The Bridger Generation by Thom S Rainer (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Homan Publishers, 1997). Some of you may be familiar with this information but for those that aren’t, this is the situation at hand.
· Builders (born 1927-1945): 65% Bible-based believers
· Boomers (born 1946-1964): 35% Bible-based believers
· Busters (born 1965-1983): 16% Bible-based believers
· Bridgers (or Millenials, born 1984 or later): 4% Bible based believers
These numbers are not moving in a positive direction. In fact, some have projected that this nation is on the verge of losing an entire generation to the agenda of the enemy. This sounds to me like something coming to nothing. This sounds to me like desolation.
I want to simply address things in a straightforward manner in this letter. Many times we have backwards thinking. Backwards thinking is entertaining a thought process that takes us backwards. For instance if I own a company and I want to increase productivity I must do something proactive. If I do nothing, I can expect that nothing will change. Doing nothing encourages the activity that is already taking place because human nature perceives that if nothing is being addressed, nothing needs to be changed. We are creatures of habit.
Let’s say that I as the same business owner decide to take action. My great idea is to put all of my workers in separate buildings and ensure that they have no communication with one another. This is backwards thinking. This will decrease productivity and increase cost. It will stifle all operations. By stifling operations, this activity will take the business backwards, not forwards.
If we are under the assumption that denominations work, we have backwards thinking. If we are under the assumption all churches can serve God separately and expect Him to change society, we have backwards thinking. These concepts don’t work because if they did, they would be working. I know this sounds absolutely ridiculous but it needs to be said. If the systems of “advancing God’s kingdom” that are in place worked, then the statistics of society would reflect that. When statistics do not reflect that, we can only conclude on one thing. What we are doing is not working.
Backwards thinking argues that it will work later. Backwards thinking argues that eventually, if we just keep doing the same thing we’ve always done, the results will change. Backwards thinking argues that unity is impossible, and because it is too hard, there must be other alternatives. As for me, I reject backwards thinking. There is only one problem—what about everyone else?
How do you tell someone that thinks backwards that they need to shift the “gear box” in their brain? Sometimes when I think about the body of Christ I think about NASCAR. These are a collection of the most finely tuned and powerful cars in the world. What a race they run! However, if NASCAR was the body of Christ we could expect that some of the cars would start the race in reverse. Those driving in reverse represent those with backwards thinking. Throughout the race there would be constant chaos and devastating accidents. Even the cars that are trying to go forward would be getting knocked off the road by the cars going in reverse. This represents the dichotomy in the body of Christ between those that are trying to move forward in the midst of those with backwards thinking.
How frustrating if every time we went to watch NASCAR, we saw the same phenomenon? The race would start, some of the cars would go backwards, and everyone would end up in a wreck. Let’s take a look at what Jesus says one more time.
“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:” (Matthew 12:25)
I have a question for you. Is Satan responsible for bringing the kingdom of God into desolation? Some may answer with a resounding YES! They may say that our difficulties are his fault entirely. Here’s a second question: since when was Satan more powerful than God? Desolation comes when a kingdom divides against itself. Think about the NASCAR example. When all that happens is a crash and pile up at the beginning of every race, it’s easy to get disillusioned about the entertainment value of tuning into NASCAR. I’d argue that their ratings would eventually drop to all-time lows. Even a box car derby that has all the cars going in one direction and getting somewhere would be more effective at bringing in ratings. We are so busy getting nowhere, that we are entranced by the limited effectiveness of Satan’s box car derby when it steals our fire.
As long as we are divided, Satan’s box car derby will be more effective. Of course, our backwards thinking enforces our division and we in essence have been digging our own proverbial grave. It’s time to get a grip. When we do God has awesome things in store, leading up to entire geographies that will manifest the kingdom of heaven on earth before the return of Jesus. Let’s lay down our backwards thinking and get with the program. It’s time to unify the church—plain and simple.
Discussion
1. What leads to desolation in a kingdom?
2. What is backwards thinking?
3. What are some examples of backwards thinking in the church today?
4. How has your thinking about unity in the church been backwards?
5. Is Satan to blame for all of our problems as the church?
