Rebuilding Block 1: A Vision For The Future

I have found that to suggest and use the phrase “rebuilding a Christian civilization” causes no small degree of consternation in secularists, religionists, and even sincere believers of Jesus Christ. The general populace has been so thoroughly indoctrinated by Babylonian education and media with popular myths like “separation of church and state”, “civic neutrality” or “theocracy” that to conceive of a civic government honoring God and implementing His precepts specifically given for civic rulership is incomprehensible. A recent conversation with a well-meaning, Christian political activist underscores this very dynamic. While discussing current political philosophy with regards to elections I suggested that Scripture might have a template for us to follow in order to select better candidates for office; after all, if the Bible is a revealed book from God outlining His thoughts for all of life then it should not be a fantastic leap to think that a voting precept might be tucked inside of its pages. My statement sounded incredulous to this activist who by their own admission fervently maintained that the Bible was their sole authority in life. Their incredulity was rooted in the thought that I was trying to establish a “theocracy” (as defined by secularists) and that was unacceptable. If this is the response of evangelical Christians to a simple step in restoring America to her Christian roots, then the reader can understand why the Church has been ineffective for years concerning the direction of government and the culture. We have no vision for what we are longing for, in fact, we are double-minded. We say Jesus is Lord of ALL, but really have no idea how that might look or be expressed in civic government.

Before we even start the process of rebuilding the nation the Church must again recapture a vision for our communities, nation, and the future as God intended it. The definition of vision can be simply stated as, “A preferable picture of the future”. God alone, is the only One who can see the “end from the beginning”. It is that vision that will provided the initial direction, passion, and conviction to work in this area of rebuilding according to Divine design. It is this lack of vision that has caused the Church to be ineffective, disconnected, and divided over the mandate to influence and engage civic leaders and institutions. I absolutely love how the Message Bible unpacks Proverbs 28:18,

“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.”
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Rebuilding starts with an unveiling. The eyes of God’s people must be enlightened by His Word to again see the mandates and possibilities of their participation in the civic arena. Communities and nations are judged similarly to individuals. Corporate sanctification as well as individual sanctification are themes easily identified in the Scriptures. A vision must be sounded to call the Church back to a part of her call overlooked in the Great Commission,

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28:18-20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Much could be said with regard to how this vision should be rekindled. I am convinced that one of the primary ways is to reach pastors and begin to inform them of the issues, inspire them to their full calling, invest in them the training, and help them initiate their leadership in rebuilding. Pastors are the conduit and lynchpin, in my opinion, to activate the incredible potential in Christ’s Church. Pastors can paint the picture of God’s heart in this regard and in painting this picture the words of the prophet will ring true,

“Then the LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.”
Habakkuk 2:2-3 NKJV

I have always been amazed at how modern Christian leadership training always emphasizes “vision” with regards to church growth, outreach and building, despite passages indicating that the “last days” will feature apostasy and “falling away”. Yet, when it comes to the culture and reforming it, there is little vision offered and those passages of Scripture which address the crumbling nature of the world’s system are emphasized to underscore the futility of engaging it. In my analysis, there is an apparent lack of consistency with regard to hermeneutic when applying church growth principles to contemporary churches juxtaposed to the application of Kingdom principles to the culture. What I mean is, there is incredibly optimism with regards to organizational growth of a church, but incredibly pessimism when it comes to reforming a culture. It’s hard to recruit an army for a battle that you ultimately believe cannot be won. Perhaps that is why we spend in American Christianity untold billions in warehouses for us to worship in while precious little is spent to train, educate, activate, and underwrite the Body of Christ to be salt and light in the culture. There’s an old saying, “Vision will attract provision”. The opposite is true as well, no vision will dry up resources. The Church is full of potential in reforming the culture, but lacks the resources to execute it because there is little vision being cast to solicit any optimism in that regard.

Why exactly, do we find ourselves engaging in political discussion and elections? Is it simply to lower our taxes? Is it to simply create a better economic climate? Is it to get favors or benevolence from a government treasury? Why are we soliciting the energy of God’s people into this arena? Those questions, and many others, are what “vision” answers. Evangelicals stay home from elections because there is no vision. Bible-believing Christians refuse to stay engaged in public policy debates because there is no vision. Pastors do not see the need to lead their people down this path because there has been no apostolic vision to challenge them concerning the state of their communities and country. The whole discussion surrounding the rebuilding of a Christian civilization starts at the place of vision.

The original settlers which came to America did so because they had a vision. No one crowds on to a small ship and sails across the tumultuous North Atlantic on a whim or a guess. No one endures the hardship of months in a pitching ship with little food and sanitation provisions because they were going to “try something and see if it works”. Of course not, there was a burning vision to go to a new land and implement a new kind of culture and community. Our founding relatives used words and phrases like, “to advance the Christian religion”, or, “A city shining on a hill”, to describe what they were seeing and attempting. This was all or nothing commitment and it was birthed out of a vision.

A new vision needs to be articulated across this country that solicits the imagination of the Church to arise and recapture God’s purposes for this great nation. There needs to be thousands of prophetic voices thundering from God’s pulpits the vision of His Lordship and rule. A picture needs to be painted of what can happen when a Church begins to once again burn with zeal for His glory. This isn’t wishful thinking, but a Bible-centered vision which can be accomplished through the power of the Holy Spirit. God-willing, I would like to be one of those thousands who can help ignite this vision in every city, town, and village across this great nation. I believe it’s possible, because God is more than able. If you don’t have a vision for reformation yet, it is not too late.