May 08, 2010
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The
Great Commission
– We all subscribe to the goal of
preaching the gospel to all men and making disciples of all nations
(Mark
28:19, Gen 12-2-3). We stress evangelism and missions and we see the
Lord
moving throughout the earth, on one hand; and wonder why we're not
personally
more effective, on the other. I want to suggest that the version of the
gospel
we preach is even better than we realize; we’re not yet preaching the
whole
thing. Personal
Freedom
– One of the trademarks of knowing Jesus is freedom.
When we get saved we can feel the weight of sin come off our lives.
Guilt,
oppression, and condemnation no longer strangle our identity in Christ.
Christianity isn’t about the legalism of religion. It’s all about
liberty and
freedom. So
if the Son sets you free, you will
be free indeed. John
8:36 NIV "The
Spirit of the
Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the
poor. He
has sent me to proclaim freedom for the
prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed, 19
to proclaim the year of
the Lord's favor." Luke 4:18-19 NIV But
whenever a person
turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty. 2 Cor 3:16-17 NASV Creation
itself will be
liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the
glorious freedom of the children of God.
Rom 8:21
NIV I
run in the path of your
commands, for you have set
my heart free.
Ps 119:32 NIV In
the beginning of our Christian walk, we learn to
“lay down our life.” The things we thought we wanted before we got
saved not
longer hold any real satisfaction – we lay those things down. But, when
we
begin to see the Kingdom and see that we might have a role in what God
is
doing, we experience a breakthrough and we discover ministry. It’s fun;
it’s
working with the father; it’s miraculous; it changes the lives of
others
through their salvation and healing. What a joy! After
some level of maturity, we discover that we can
find the will of God in our personal desires. After we learn to lay
down our life,
we
learn to pick it up again! The reason my
Father loves
me is that I lay down my life — only to
take it up again. No one takes
it from me, but I lay it down of my own
accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up
again.
John 10:17-18 NIV Taking
up our life in Christ means that we put our mind
and will in gear and set our heart on doing the things that He designed
us to
do. There was a time when we all thought that was going into the
ministry
(full-time church ministry). Now we realize 98% of us are really called
to the
marketplace… which is really even more fun (I’ve done both!). We take
all the same
gifts and anointing we learned in church and apply them in one of the
other
mountains where our real calling resides. Why? Marketplace ministry is
how we
“make disciples of all men” and “bless the nations.” At
the macro level
– We just described freedom in a personal
sense. Now, let’s switch to the macro level and talk about the great
commission. There are many historic examples of the connection between
personal
freedom, free markets, revival and cultural change. The Declaration of
Independence and the U.S. Constitution are Bible-based attempts to
facilitate
personal freedom through democracy in the political mountain. That
freedom
ushered in the industrial revolution and greatly enhanced freedom on
several
levels in the 1800’s… spiritual revivals, personal opportunities for
freedom,
reduction of poverty, and cultural improvement were the result.
Spiritual
freedom and free markets worked together to build the Kingdom. The
church
played her role in equipping the saints, and Kings in the marketplace
played
their role in growing a nation into her spiritual destiny of being a
light in
the world. Since
World War Two, revival and free markets are changing
Asia, China, India, and Africa at amazing rates. The church has played
a role
in places like Africa and South Korea. Free markets have played a
leading role
in China where missions have not been permitted to the same degree.
Even in the
absence of missions, the growth of Christianity in China has been
amazing. Note:
I used to like to see people get water-baptized first and filled with
the
Spirit second. God frequently violated my order in both scripture and
practice.
I wanted people saved first and then healed, but the Holy Spirit
doesn’t seem
to play by my rules. Unsaved people were getting healed all the time. I
would
like to see a nice, neat missions program in China, but the Holy Spirit
is
changing a nation with free markets without crusades. Instead of big
name
ministries, the Holy Spirit is using closet-sized home groups often led
by
women! Paradigm
change
– Can you see the connection between freedom in Christ
and free markets? Why don’t we just admit that free people usually
choose the
liberty that comes from the Spirit of the Lord? People around the world
have to
be ensnared by the enemy to maintain poverty, religious or political
bondage,
jobs they hate, oppression of women, class systems, and pre-arranged
marriages.
When people look on the internet, news media, TV, Facebook, email and
talk to
their friends on cell phones to see the freedom we have in Jesus… they
choose life!
Millions in China would never think of turning away from free markets
to go
back to the oppression of communism. Can you see the hand of God in
marketplace
ministry and free markets? While
church and political leaders have been wringing
their hands about materialism and greed, the nations are being blessed
in the
marketplace. While capitalism is cursed, the poor are finding jobs in
free
markets and being set free from poverty. Where one denomination would
criticize
the social gospel, the Lord has bypassed both systems and worked
through the
marketplace to build the Kingdom. None of this may fit in our box… so
why don’t
we just get out of the box… and into the marketplace? Will
the real gospel please stand up
– We get saved through
Jesus’ work on the cross; we are baptized in His name, we are filled
with the
Holy Spirit, and we are equipped in the church through the work of
pastoral
ministries… apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Then
we go to
church every Sunday and live happily ever after… right? Wrong! You
see the rest of the gospel is that we are each
called to play a role in building the Kingdom through the marketplace.
Our
vocations and businesses have a ministry ingredient that operates
through the
desires of our heart. We’re called to a place of wealth and abundance
through
the value we bring to the lives of others in the marketplace. We love
what we
do because we're walking in the desires of our hearts. Our joy, our
anointing,
our fruit, and our abundance give loud testimony to our life in Christ. Give
yourself permission to pursue the desire of your
heart. If you find something you like to do, you’ll never work another
day for
the rest of your life. Jesus sets you free. PS: I just finished The 5 Big Lies About American Business and started In Defense of Global Capitalism. Good stuff!
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