Watch this short, inspiring and spirit-stirring clip of Pastor Kong Hee of City Harvest Church addressing his congregation in vision casting for the Kingdom.
Category Jesus and the Marketplace Series
Extending the Influence of The Church
I am convinced that the Church should be the most powerful institution or organisation in this world.
Potentially, the Church has phenomenal power and influence at her disposal with as God the CEO.
However, I think today we see that the Church do not seem to command such a position which is rightfully ours.
Instead of the Church influencing the world, the contrary seems more apparent where the world has influenced the Church.
This is sad.
Reclaiming our position
In influencing our world, the Church needs to start by gaining a foothold in every one of these territories- government, education, business, media, arts & entertainment which is commonly known as the marketplace.
The marketplace is the very heart of the nation. And in order to win a nation towards discipling a nation, we need to engage our marketplace.
According to a survey done in the US, it reveals that up to 90% of believers felt that they weren’t trained for their calling in the workplace through their local church. I think it is safe to say that most churches in Singapore do face a similar predicament.
Generally, the Church is operating more like a cruise liner instead of a battleship. And there are a couple of reasons for our lack of influence according to Os Hillman. They are:
- Not engaged in culture
- Evangelism not carried out in mainstream key networks of influence
- Lack of social and economic capital to influence
- Flawed eschatology- “If its only going to get worse, why bother?”
The gospel of the kingdom
Another key reason of our lack of influence with our world is that we preach and live out a gospel of salvation.
A gospel of salvation is incomplete. What we need to preach and live out is the gospel of His Kingdom as salvation is just the first part, but not the end goal of a Christian. Living out the gospel of the kingdom will impact our will, intent and purpose, manifesting a culture and society reflecting Jesus’ nature, values and morals.
As a kingdom is the governing impact of a king’s will over a territory or domain, his influence over a people, and a government led by a king. Therefore, a Christian after being saved needs to continue to live under the sovereign rulership of Jesus in his/her life where he/she is- with friends, or with the family and in the marketplace.
This is where local churches comes in to disciple and equip its members to discovering and fulfill their calling; releasing each one into ministry towards fulfilling the Great Commission.
Consequently, this will produce an extended Church that reaches out and influences the world, and not a nuclear Church where God’s power and influence is confined within the walls of the Church.
The Church In The Workplace
Listen to Lance Wallnau as he shares insights on how the Church can (and should) make a relevant impact in our world to touch lives for His redemptive purpose.
It’s a less than 3 minutes clip that would change the way you see the Church.
Our Work Is Our Ministry
Is work simply just work for you?
Do you view your work or job as not-so-spiritual in comparison to church-related activities?
Our work is a ministry
If we think for second that our jobs in the marketplace are insignificant in comparison to what we do in church, then we are horribly wrong.
From Scripture, we can see that God expects us to approach and handle our work in a sacred manner; as an act of worship unto Him. Therefore, sloppy and laziness at work is indefinitely not what God expects His people to be associated with.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24
Given that we spend an average of 160,000 hours at work in our life-time, this provides us with a large window of opportunity to impact and touch lives around us.
With our work or jobs, this divinely provides us an “entry vehicle” into the marketplace (mission field) to sow and reap the harvest. Therefore, our work is given to us for His purpose- using our gifts/talents to serve Him and others around us.
Shining at work
Personally as I understand this biblical truth and His purpose more, I started to pray more at work. Every morning I ask that the Holy Spirit to empower and use me for His redemptive purpose towards fulfilling His Great Commission.
I see that the onus is on us to shine for Him with our work. And this is not an easy feat as we have a higher standard to reach. As His followers, we not only need to perform our jobs professionally with excellence, but also set an example of living an upright life.
With such a high calling, I am convinced that you and I need to pray more to rely on Him carrying out our roles and responsibilities at work.
Living Out Her Faith in Politics
Continuing on our “Jesus in the Marketplace” Series, US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice is President Bush’s national security adviser since 2001. She has been called “the most powerful woman in the world” and “Bush’s secret weapon.” This is her story of how her faith impacts her life and work .
Unlike most evangelicals in politics, Rice has not been outspoken about her views on abortion. She supports parental notification and a ban on late-term abortions but questions the role of government in the larger abortion debate.
Though she has neither affirmed nor denounced gay marriage, she has cautioned Americans to debate the issue with sensitivity because “real human beings” are involved.
“I worry a lot about the government and the church … about trying to legislate morality,” she says. “I worry a lot that what we have done [as evangelicals] is to sound judgmental and exclusive in the way that we talk to people about the role of our faith. Whatever the issue—homosexuality or abortion or whatever—this tendency to speak in such loud and judgmental tones has really hurt the message that we’re trying to deliver.”
“In fact, what’s very interesting to me is that if you think about the way that Christ tried to meet those who did not believe, it was quite opposite. He didn’t shout at them. He tried to meet them where they were.”
Read the full article here>>>
Christianity through Arts and Creativity
In this second installment of “Jesus and the marketplace” series, Makota Fujimura is a Christian artist who paints Christ-centred arts. He lives and works in New York City, and is an elder in a Presbyterian Church.
There are no crosses in Makoto Fujimura’s paintings. No images of Jesus gazing into the distance, or serene scenes of churches in a snow-cloaked wood.
. . . After the 2001 terrorist strikes on the World Trade Centre, three blocks from Fujimura’s home, his work explored the power of fire to both destroy and purify, themes drawn from the Christian Gospels and Dante’s “The Divine Comedy.”
“I am a Christian,” says Fujimura, 46, who founded the non-profit International Arts Movement to help bridge the gap between the religious and art communities. “I am also an artist and creative, and what I do is driven by my faith experience.
“But I am also a human being living in the 21st century, struggling with a lot of brokenness _ my own, as well as the world’s. I don’t want to use the term ‘Christian’ to shield me away from the suffering or evil that I see, or to escape in some nice ghetto where everyone thinks the same.”
By making a name for himself in the secular art world, Fujimura has become a role model for creatively wired evangelicals. They believe that their churches have forsaken the visual arts for too long – and that a renaissance has begun.
Read the full article here>>>
Reclaiming the World for Jesus
Evidently as we observe over the years that the Church has lost its influence in the world.
It is a far cry from how the early Church started as depicted in the book of Acts. Since then, the Church has slowly retreated from our original place of influence.
But now, it seems that God is moving His Church to fill that void to reclaim our God-given authority in being the head and not the tail in this world with the power of the Holy Spirit.
We need to engage our culture that ultimately shapes and influences our values and lives towards the Truth, the Way and the Life.
Watch the 5min video clip from www.reclaim7mountains.com below:
Personally, I think that engaging our marketplace especially in the arena of business or economics makes perfect (and biblical) sense.
Our global marketplace is the missions field and our jobs are the means to engage with people and our culture with the ultimate goal of making the gospel available to the lost with our lives.
Business through the eyes of faith
Business is, after all, an institutionalisation of God’s intention for us to work and to serve each other. It is a legal structuring of work where we express dominion over creation and provide us the opportunities to plan, organise, lead, follow and develop skills in a number of areas- all mirroring godly qualities.
With the fact that some business people do not place moral principles very high in their decision criteria, Christians, therefore, have this particular opportunity to be salt and light to the business world, and thereby demonstrate what it means to be ethical and moral, but yet still experiencing success.
So the challenge is on us Christians who are in the marketplace of business to view our work as a ministry in impacting lives, and not merely as a job to earn a living.
The mandate is clear that we need to win the souls of every spiritual sphere, corner and territory in this world for Christ.
Christianity: The Need for Relevance
I believe the world that we live in needs to know how Christianity is indefinitely more than just another religion. Especially for those of us who profess Christ as Lord and Saviour, the onus is on us to accurately represent Christ in a way that is relevant and anew in this 21st century.
It is safe to say that majority of the unchurched view God as outdated, unexciting and boring. How do they formed such impressions?
The answer: The Church.
This surely is ironic and sad since the Church should actually be the truth bearers and for a fact, Jesus is certainly not outdated, unexciting and boring.
We are in the world, but not of the world
I think the problem starts when we Christians become too religious and focus on the do’s and don’ts. The deeds or the outward behaviour becomes the standard rather than the being.
As such, for many Christians, this world is something to stay away from. Everything in society—with all its sciences, philosophies and pop culture—is seen as the work of the devil; something profane and must be totally rejected. Since this world is not our home, we should have no ownership of material assets. As much as possible, we should not have any unnecessary contact with anything “secular.”
However, Jesus says to us, “We are in the world, but not of the world.”
So how can we live in the world, and not be of the world? How are we to be the head in the world, and not be the tail in the world? How are we to function in the world, have a relationship with it, and all the while not be influenced by it?
Understanding the “world”
Is the Bible confused concerning the world, blowing hot and cold at the same time? Hence, knowing the whole counsel of God ’s Word is very important. When the Scripture uses the word “world,” it could mean one of three things:
- The world is God’s created order (or masterpiece) for His own enjoyment– The Bible says that though the world is fallen, God still loves it. In fact, He loved it so much that He sent His Son to reconcile all things in the world back to Him (Col. 1:20). So this world, which God loves and Jesus saves, is not totally evil. But nevertheless, it suffers the effects of sin and the way sinners have treated it. Acts 3:21 says that the plan of God now or in this age is to restore all things to its original purpose and intention.
- The world also implies physical lands or nations- Jesus says that “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14). To Christ, used in this context, the world refers to countries and physical territories on planet Earth.
- The world is the realm of wickedness and prideful rebellion against God- In this wicked realm, Satan is its prince and god (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). This sinful realm constantly opposes God and persecutes the godly. It is this “world” of pride and rebellion that a believer must not conform his mind to (Rom. 12:2).
Evidently, there is an urgent need for us to change how we think and communicate the reality of Christ to the world. The gospel needs to be re-presented (with its biblical principles intacted), not just represented.
Being relevant and engaging the world
Personally, I believe that God wants the world to envy us (just as how it was depicted in the Old Testatment) and say to us: “We must have your way of life!” Yet, how many among the unchurched are actually jealous of Christians today?
Why aren’t the unbelievers rushing to church every weekend, or knocking on our doors saying, “Help me, I have to get into the kingdom of God! I want to be like you—happy, successful and creative!” Or have we presented Christianity in a way that is flaky, boring and ugly? Have we presented the kingdom of God to be so backward and irrelevant that the world doesn’t want any part of us?
Let us decide to be relevant to our society. We shouldn’t be afraid to engage a world that God has created and always loved. We should not be fearful to engage culture by being as creative, as colorful, and as progressive as we could possibly be for the glory of God.
We mustn’t shun the sciences and arts out there in the marketplace. Rather, we should work hard and excel in the arena of life God has planted us in. As we do that, we will become the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Ultimately, we will be able to bring many into the kingdom of God !
Soccer-Pro Scores for Jesus in EPL
Proudly presenting the first story for “Jesus and the Marketplace” series that will hopefully inspire and empower us, Christ-followers to live our faith relevantly and powerfully in our marketplace. Here’s Linvoy Primus’ testimony told by Jeremy Wilson for The Guardian.
Primus was 27 when he found his faith and is convinced that the correlation between that event and a dramatic improvement in his football career is no coincidence. The likes of Sol Campbell, Glen Johnson and Lauren have joined Portsmouth over the past year but he remains an automatic choice in a team who have been in the Premiership’s top six all season. Among Pompey supporters he is the club’s most popular player.
“I know that, win, lose or draw, life will still carry on,” he said. “I do my job properly and to the best of my ability because God wouldn’t want me to misuse the gift he has given me.”
His faith initially made him the subject of dressing-room banter but he never hid his beliefs and praying has now become routine for a growing group of Portsmouth players before matches. “The people who have found the Lord at this club have had their lives changed – Kanu, LuaLua, Sean Davis, Andy O’Brien, Benjani,” he said. “We are not scared to say we pray together before games. We’ve got the laundry room at the club – there’s two washing machines behind us and about 45 minutes before a game we link our arms and just pray that we can glorify God.”
Read Linvoy Primus’ full story here>>>
The Church and The Marketplace
I think it is not wrong to say that in today’s age of globalisation, the Church is presented with a greater opportunity to fulfill the Great Commission in winning the nations for Jesus by engaging our global marketplace.
The marketplace is the battlefield for souls. Therefore, the Church of Jesus has the onus to position herself in a way that is seen not only in touch with the marketplace, but an asset to society rather than a white elephant.
As a country, the US not only creates jobs for the world’s economy, but their influence also impacts the social values of the world and stretches beyond the economic value. This can be observed how their MTV pop culture and Hollywood movies shapes the way our kids behave, and their Mac’s and Starbucks changes the way we eat.
The US has, indeed done well in achieving control and influence over the nations of the world even without waging in any war over the years.
Singapore’s emergence as a powerhouse
Taking the cue from our own country, it is a fact that Singapore cannot spread her presence or territory by waging wars in order to conquer more land from our neighbouring countries. That would be an out-of-date and a crazy strategy.
However, with the aid of our cash-rich soveriegn wealth fund (SWF) empires of Temasek Holdings and the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Singapore of late has discreetly gained global prominence and influence with its investments in Merril Lynch, UBS, CitiGroup, British’s Barclays.
Few people would realise how much these two vehicles (Temasek & GIC) have ploughed into Australia since 1995, buying many sensitive and prestigious assets such as Optus, Myer Melbourne and large parts of the old State Electricity Commission of Victoria.
With established strongholds in the marketplace, one is able to positively influence the people, culture, economy and the governments of nations.
The Church engaging the marketplace
Similarly, the Church of Jesus Christ- not referring to any organisation or church building but the Body of believers- should not just see extending the kingdom of God by means of geographical missions, but having a paradigm shift of doing missions through our global marketplace which would eventually transit towards geographical expansion.
Therefore, there’s a need for the Church to unite; tapping on our unique and diverse God-given talents to ride the waves of globalisation in adopting a similar strategy that engages the marketplace in order to spread God’s presence and influence.
The Church cannot forfeit her rightful place and role in the marketplace where she must be able to extend her influence beyond the walls of the church or it will be seen as irrelevant.
For too long the Church has been confined and conforming to the world, it is time that the Church demonstrates the power and presence of God in engaging and transforming the world. If this isolation continues, the Church will eventually lose her God-given authority and inheritence as the head and becomes the tail.
The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.
The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.
Deuteronomy 28:12-14
To do just that, the Church needs to establish a stronghold in the marketplace. Through winning the marketplace, she wins the nation.
And in my opinion, that’s how the Great Commission can be relevantly and effectively accomplished; nation by nation with the presence and influence of God through the marketplace.
Andrew: Inside & Insights 