At a Glance
What is the purpose of the Church? We know that God wants us to share our faith, help people grow in Christ, and help plant new churches, but is there more that the Body of Christ is called to?
Today on Ideas Have Consequences, we explore this question. God has a great purpose for the Church that includes, but goes beyond evangelism, to reflecting His glory in every area of society and discipling nations from the inside out.
What You'll Hear
Chapter 1: The Prince of Peace (1:59)
- Scott talks about how in Advent Christ is talked about as the Prince of peace whose kingdom and peace will never stop increasing
As the Church, we are involved in this process, not passively, but actively
This is the goal of the Church
Satan is working to undermine the peace and spread of God’s Kingdom, but he cannot stop it, and one day Jesus will return and once and for all win the battle.
Scott likens it to the Battle of Midway in World War II, where there was only one possible outcome of the war after the Japanese decisively lost their fleet at Midway, but that the violence and bloodshed continued until the victory was finally achieved.
In the same way, Jesus won the war on the cross, and our victory is guaranteed, even though there is still evil and pain in the world.
Chapter 2: The Inside-Out Discipleship Process (14:24)
Nations are discipled from the inside-out, by the transformation of its people into new creations.
God primarily works on the individual and family level to enact broader change in culture and in nations.
In the last 50 years false ideology has made its way into education to corrupt families and children until it has a firm hold of the culture and the people.
We are called to reflect God’s glory to the people around us and to our nations.
Chapter 3: The 5-step Process of Discipling a Nation (23:09)
Step 1: God regenerates us spiritually. Without God’s regeneration of our hearts, change is impossible.
Step 2: God doesn’t just change our heart, but our whole worldview through our regenerated minds.
Step 3: this change in worldview changes not only the way we view the world, but the way we act and live in all areas from our lives, from our families to our job.
Step 4: This change impacts those around us, as they see the new and transformed lives we live.
Step 5: This change leads to more change and discipleship, which ripples out to change the very fabric of the whole nation.
Chapter 4: The Outside-In Worldly Process (24:47)
In contrast to the Gospel’s inside-out process, the only way the world can try to change hearts is from the outside-in.
Throughout history various people try to impose their own worldviews on others through violence and coercion, but this always ends up falling apart.
When people try to impose their worldview through an outside-in perspective, they eventually have to resort to enslaving people.
Chapter 5: Step 1- Come Back to Life (33:26)
We are dead without Christ, and so change is impossible unless we are brought back to life through him.
Coming to life in Christ is the only way change can happen, and serves as a beachhead not just to personal change, but to societal and national change as well.
We need not just born again hearts, but born again minds.
We need to become the people who God made us to be, patterned in the image of Jesus, so that we can impact the world around us.
One thing the Evangelical world gets wrong is it’s focus on only getting a ticket to heaven.
Going to heaven is great, but that’s not the goal of the Church. Our goal is to bring heaven here, by discipling nations and building the Kingdom of God (this is not primarily a political goal, but a cultural one, though it does influence politics).
Chapter 7: The Importance of Family and Education (48:33)
God designed family to be the basic unit he works with.
Because God made family so central, Satan targets it in particular, to either redefine it away from God or break it and make it dysfunctional.
Many people are starting to realize just how important education is for their family and are taking steps to make sure their kids in particular are properly educated.
The foundation of our worldviews are often formed in our early years, and so it is essential that we carefully guard education and make sure that we teach a Biblical worldview.
Change often takes a generation or two to really take place.
Using the link above, you can read the transcript, listen along, and adjust the speed of the podcast while you listen.
Our first call in terms of bringing reconciliation or transformation to the world is the people closest to us. -Dwight Vogt (48:37)
Go Deeper
Our Strategy
What is God’s ultimate aim in creation? Is it to see people from every nation come to a saving faith in Christ? Is it to see new churches planted? Is it to see the hungry fed? These are all important, but they are not God’s ultimate aim. They should be viewed as essential “means,” not ends.
God’s ultimate aim is that the knowledge of His glory would fill the earth as the waters cover the seas (Hab. 2:14). To be sure, this ultimate purpose won’t be fully realized until Christ returns. But until then, on the basis of His finished work on the cross, Jesus calls us to pray and to work, in His strength, to advance His Kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Not only does God have a comprehensive plan for creation; He has a strategy to advance it. It is an inside-out process of transformation with five specific, sequential steps.
Don’t Let Schooling Stand in the Way of Education by Darrow Miller
With alarming speed, our public schools have dropped any pretense of religious neutrality. As a result, our children are adrift in a sea of relativism. Many are abandoning Christianity, and those who don’t are left with an enfeebled faith that matters only one day a week.
Genuine educational reform will require more than a new curriculum. It will demand an entirely different philosophy of education.
Darrow Miller and a group of outside-the box educational revolutionaries will help you re-discover a compellingly biblical approach. Begin your journey of educational rediscovery in the pages of this book.
As the Family Goes, So Goes the Nation by Darrow Miller
Healthy families produce healthy nations. Healthy families are those united by a solid spiritual foundation in Christ. Today, the prevailing culture has redefined marriage and family, and its habits of thought and practice dominate, even in the Church. Christian parents need a biblical vision of wholeness and joy in marriage and family life and a practical plan for applying the wisdom and power of God’s Word to their lives.
As the Family Goes, So Goes the Nation is a primer of principles and practices that illuminates God’s pathway for righteous marriages, parenting, and family life. God’s way is the way of beauty, truth, and goodness, the way of celebration, blessing, and healing love in our homes and in our nations. God established the family as the bedrock of society to reveal the kingdom of Christ here on earth. Discover HIS way and and walk in it!
School versus Education by Darrow Miller
Education impacts everyone. We are all shaped by the various forces around us, and one of the strongest shaping forces, especially in Western Culture, is the education system. We spend our most formative years of our lives inside the education system, and the things it teaches us and the worldview that it gives us fundamentally shape who we are.
This is why it so important we are not just schooled but educated. Our whole lives we are being educated, constantly growing, learning, and expanding our worldview. Schooling can often by a barrier to being educated, either by giving us a wrong education or by not educating us at all.
In the article above, Darrow Miller discusses the difference between schooling and education, and how important education is, and how schooling and education are often in conflict with one another.
Quotes
So Jesus is on the throne, All authority, all rule has been given to him, that’s what he said to his disciples when he rose from the grave, and that’s where he is today. And of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end. -Scott Allen (6:09)
And I think it’s really important to underscore that right now, that the advancement of God’s Kingdom, the discipling of nations, at the end of the day, it’s a partnership between us and God, yes. In other words, we have a role to play in this. We’re not just passive couch potatoes. At the same time, this is God’s work, and there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves at the very beginning of the process. We are utterly reliant on the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about a change. -Scott Allen (13:30)
There is no such thing as neutrality in these institutions in the way that we do things. It’s always going to be shaped by one worldview, one system of belief or worship, or another. And then the question just is for us as Christians, are we okay to just sit back and let that system of worship or that system of belief be one that’s Satanic and demonic and deadly? -Scott Allen (17:58)
I think the biblical worldview, it treats people obviously as they are, which is image bearers of God. And that means something, it means that people have a sense of freedom to make choices and until people make free choices to change, you’re not going to see any change. -Scott Allen (28:09)
You think of the areas of society, and how no one’s gifted in every area of society, or even interested in every area of society. You have politics, but then you also have arts, you have dance, and you have teaching preschool, and you have cooking. In every area of society, we’re all gifted in our own unique ways, in different ones of those, and in specific ways. So that’s why we need that cumulative effort on all of us, but also into the areas that God has placed us. -Luke Allen (42:56)
I may not be able to change everything out there in the nation or in the world, but I’m going to put a flag down for God and His Kingdom in my home, and we’re going to serve the Lord here. -Scott Allen (48:04)
Our first call in terms of bringing reconciliation or transformation of the world is the people closest to us. -Dwight Vogt (48:37)
If you want to have power over a nation, the first thing you need to attack is the family. -Luke Allen (50:14)
Additional Resources
These are things additional resources mentioned during the podcast.
The Monday Church
The Church is not a building or a Sunday-morning activity; it is the Body of Christ on mission in every sphere of society, every day of the week. Monday Church explores the greatest tool God has given you to impact the world: your work. God intends for your daily work to be for the service of man, the blessing of the nations, and the glory of God.
Monday Church provides a biblical framework for each of us to establish a meaningful, integrated understanding of our life and work. Whatever your work or vocation, God calls you to a new way of living – fully in His presence and for His glory.
This course was built to practically help people live out their Christian convictions in many different areas of their lives. In particular, we built a going deeper section for educators.
RenewaNation
Our goal at RenewaNation is to develop students to be:
a committed follower of Jesus Christ with a strong biblical worldview
a responsible citizen who appreciates America’s Christian heritage and works to strengthen that influence on government and in every sphere of culture
a person of principle and character that adds value to those around them
able to confidently and lovingly defend and share their Christian faith
able to continue their education if they choose to do so and become a productive citizen that improves society through God’s calling on their life
Chrysalis International
Chrysalis International is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational institute founded in 2000 by Dr. Elizabeth Youmans. It disciples those believers who are called to break the cycle of ignorance and the poverty of ideas in the Church by teaching the knowledge and application of the biblical principles of education and government to transform the culture for Christ.
Chrysalis International is an equipping ministry based on relationships that nurture the transforming truths of God’s Word through teaching and learning. The ministry focus is multi-generational and provides books, Christian education vision conferences, and various teacher training courses based on a nation-building model that lays Christ and His Word as the foundation for renewing the mind, building a biblical, Christian worldview, and inspiring fresh vision to the sphere of education.
