In my book Eden Inc. I make the case that the Eden narrative sets the precedent for a global enterprise mandate.  That the mandate in Gen 1:26 is to extend the rule (or Kingdom) of God to the ends of the earth.  I believe the means for the completion of this mandate is enterprise.  Within this construct, the Garden of Eden is not some primordial jungle but rather a functioning agricultural enterprise that was given to Adam and Eve to accomplish a global mission.

 “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:26-28 NIV: emphasis mine)

 Genesis is a rich book when it comes to developing a theology of enterprise.  We find the mandate, means, mission construct mentioned above, but we also see the introduction of satanic influence into God’s system, the resulting fall, and the introduction of a diabolical alternative to God’s intention for enterprise. 

As we have discussed, God’s original intention for enterprise (insert “business” if you like) was for it to be an engine for His global purposes.  God was in a very real sense the ultimate entrepreneur, and he brings man in as a partner (a regent) in his operation.  This partnership was a covenant relationship that involved Adam having a daily consultation with God.  God would consult with man who would then implement God’s purposes in the Earth.  Out of this relationship of love, trust, reliance, and obedience blessing flowed into Eden and was supposed to flow into the entire Earth.  This relationship was shattered by the introduction of sin and a new order or world system.  These two competing systems are paralleled in the two trees of the garden. 

The Tree of Life is analogous of covenant relationship with God (more on this later), and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Tree of Knowledge for brevity sake) is about the attempted misappropriation of divine prerogatives.   The eating of its fruit represents the inauguration of the kingdom of darkness.

 [The serpent said] “…when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5 NIV)

That tree was for God alone, and was off limits to man.  It is the “me” tree, it is about controlling your own reality, destiny and outcomes.  Conversely, The Tree of Life represents listening, trusting, and obeying.   The Tree of Knowledge is about independence, being in charge or being _____  enough (Fill in the blank.).

Branches of the Tree of Knowledge are:

• Intellectualism: being smart enough to control destiny
• Perfectionism: being good enough, beautiful enough or perfect enough…
• Witchcraft: using secret knowledge to manipulate outcomes (I couldn’t think of a phrase with enough in it).
• Machiavellianism: Trying to be powerful enough to control destiny.
• Materialism: Being rich enough…
• Vain Religion: Being pious enough…

We are constantly confronted with temptations to live our lives out of the Tree of Knowledge.  The world system pulls on us like gravity on a swimmer: To be passive is to be sucked under.  Go through the list above and think about the pull that these things exert our lives.  I know that they pull on me.  Just think of the blizzard of advertising we are each exposed to: you note that these themes predominate.

 When I reflect on the times in my life when I was trying to go it alone (or simply slipped into going it alone), I have flashbacks of the fear, anguish, worry and strife associated with those times.  If I had to do word association I would come up with PRESSURE.  When I think about the times in my life when I have been walking in reliance upon God, the word that comes to mind is PEACE. 

An Understanding of the Two Trees Applied to Finances

One of the most common ways that this worldly system manifests itself is in the temptation of riches.  This is even evident in the terminology we use.  We say things like, “He is independently wealthy,” or “I want financial independence.”  The sentiments represented by these statements stem from the world system based on the attempted misappropriation of divine prerogatives.  The desire for riches is always condemned in scripture.

“People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:9,10 NIV

“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income…” Ecclesiastes 5:10 NIV

“You cannot serve both God and money.” Matthew 6:24 NIV

While the scriptures summarily condemn a wealth motivation, those who desire blessing are commended.  Examples are Jabez and Jacob.

“Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.1 Chronicles 4:9,10 NIV [emphasis mine].

“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Gen 32:24-26 NIV.

To the casual onlooker, blessing and wealth may appear to be essentially the same thing but, there is a marked difference in the motivation behind the two.  The concept of riches as we have seen is rooted in independence from God.  The concept of blessing is rooted in covenant relationship.  For much of my life I thought that if I could just get rich enough I would be able to rest:  I could stop worrying and striving to get by, make ends meet, and support my family.  I have discovered this kind of thinking is a vain delusion.  God does desire for us to be able to rest, but that rest is the rest of relationship and not the rest of riches!

I have always been inspired by the stories of European Jewish families that escaped the Nazi holocaust with little more than their lives: The Third Reich froze their accounts, stole their art, and looted their businesses.  Yet many of these families rebuilt their wealth in one generation.  Part of the explanation for this is that these families were experts at building human capital, the other part is that though people can steal your goods they cannot steal your blessing.  Riches are temporal, but blessing is eternal.

I wish that every Christian family had a strategy to see their passive income surpass their regular expenses.  I am just saying that this strategy should be informed and motivated by a desire for covenant blessing and not financial independence. 

The principles of covenant blessing are Sunday school simple, yet in their simplicity they somehow elude us:

• The blood of Christ has established a new and living way into Relationship with God.
• Agree with God and be blessed
• Listen to God’s voice and obey.
• We are blessed to make us a blessing
• God is absolutely unique and everything is ultimately about God.

It is as simple as repent, agree, trust, worship, listen, and obey.  It seems to me that many of the Old Testament laws are meant to encourage these basic things.  This seems true of the laws governing Old Testament economics: the Sabbath, the Jubilee, tithes and offerings.  These laws would seem to have the effect of putting Israel at severe economic disadvantage to their neighbors (competitors). 

• You must work one fewer day than your competitors.
• You must tithe 10% of your income rather than reinvest it for growth.
• You cannot accumulate real property much beyond one generation.
• You cannot charge interest to your brethren.

These laws basically give Israel a handicap in all the areas that economists call the factors of production: Land, Labor and Capital.  I believe that this is rooted in a supernatural paradigm of covenant blessing that essentially says, “yes these things are handicaps, and they do put us at a competitive disadvantage naturally speaking, but we trust in God and have a covenant with Him and this fact nets us an overwhelming competitive advantage.

Applying this Understanding to the Extension of the Kingdom

Much is being written about Kingdom Business and Business as Misisons these days, and I am excited about this.  Nevertheless, we need to make sure that our businesses are realy of the right kingdom.  I believe this two trees paradigm is essential to getting our motivations right.  As I talk to people that are a part of the Kingdom business movement, I realize that we have some work to do in this area. 

From a spiritual warfare perspective we need to make sure we are not ignorant of the enemy’s devices.  Missiologists are concerned with animistic syncretism and witchcraft in African, Asian and Latin American Churches, and they should be.  Yet, North Americans should be just as concerned about the rampant syncretism in our churches.  We have mixed biblical truth with our own brand of materialism and this is just as idolatrous. 

It is interesting that in animist, totemistic and polytheistic belief systems there are deities and powers associated with the branches of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  In these religions you find false god’s of knowledge, pleasure, materialism, etc.  I believe this stems from man’s fallen desire to place his trust in substitutes to a simple relationship with God.

Finally, I think getting this right is key to the Church being able to overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

Jason is a contributing editor with Momentum Magazine.  He serves as a missionary with Calvary International and works as a strategist with the Regent Center for Entrepreneurship in Virginia Beach.  He has written a book on business as mission titled Eden Inc.

The story of broadband in Africa is basically one of low connectivity, high prices and monopoly.  Until now the only options for connectivity have been expensive satellite, and the SAT3/WASC/SAFE monopoly (SAT3/SAFE for short).  Essentially, SAT3 connects Portugal to West Africa and on to South Africa where it connects to SAFE and then Asia.  Some of the current reductions in price are due to a loosening of the SAT3 monopoly over the last year.  SAT3 and SAFE have a capacity of 120Gbps and 130Gbps respectively.  When other cables come online Africa’s connectivity will be measured not in gigabits but terabits. 

Some Projects to Watch:

SEACOM – To link RSA, Madagascar, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, India and Europe.  Expected to be online in 2009.

GLO 1 – To link Nigeria and other West African Investors to Portugal. Expected to be online the by the end of 2009.

EASSy – To link South Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti and the Sudan.  Projected to be online in 2010.

The kind of connectivity we are describing here is essential to economic development on the continent.  It appears that the Sub-Saharan regions with the most connectivity will be West Africa, South Africa and East Africa.  This should open up a host of economic and educational opportunities.  Sectors to watch will be ICT, Business Process Outsourcing, professional and technical services, medicine, finance, education and transportation.

The Kingdom impact of greater connectivity for Africa is largely dependent on our vision and the initiative that we take now.  The benefits of economic development seem obvious.  It seems like there will be BAM opportunities in the sectors mentioned.  Additionally, this kind of progress will move people around, and these people movements will create opportunities for the Gospel.  There could be dramatic shifts in personnel location and training dynamics with all kinds of strategy implications for each. 

Jason is a contributing editor with Momentum Magazine.  He serves as a missionary with Calvary International and works as a strategist with the Regent Center for Entrepreneurship in Virginia Beach.  He has written a book on business as mission titled Eden Inc.

A review of world impacting movements will reveal that every movement (and the sub organizations within movements) consists of systems, strategies, and structures.  These three elements are universal and make up the overall logic of the movement.  The goal of missions movements is to complete the great commission.  Therefore, every missions movement should have systems, strategies and structures:

• that enable it to overcome all four barriers to world evangelization, and…
• that are aligned with the call of Christ to complete the great commission.  

This being the case, we should anticipate what some of those systems, strategies and structures (hereafter simply “structures”) might be. 

When we think of missions the structures that leap to mind are those of mission agencies. This is natural; nevertheless, I propose that some of the structures we need are actually businesses.  For example, we need for-profit wineskins that function as market systems.  These for-profit structures should be inherently missional and transformational but they should also serve as systems of finance that will fund themselves, while also creating additional revenue to fund other Kingdom efforts that are operationally essential but lack market viability. 

These other efforts are needed structures that exist within the will and purposes of God, but are not market viable.  They are what economists call a market failure: something (goods or services) that the market will not allocate efficiently (Justly, morally, etc.).  These market failures are the domain of governmental and non-governmental organizations (not-for-profit organizations), and are most often cost centers.  Examples of governmental public goods that we don’t want to see distributed on a market basis are bridge maintenance, policing and firefighting services.  These are in the realm of non-profit governmental structures.

Funding Flows

The chart above illustrates this reality for the great commission.  There are some kingdom systems that need to be not-for-profit (NFP).  The primary examples are proclamation systems, prayer and prophetic systems and hand-out systems.  There are clear biblical examples limiting the market distribution of these things.  Some examples are:

 The young prophet of Judah in 1Kings 13 – the background for this story is that Jeroboam was supporting corrupt mercenary prophets and priests who were would offer their “spiritual services” at a price.  The young man of God from Judah is commanded to go and prophecy judgment on these practices, but he is commanded not to eat any of Jeroboam’s bread, or in other words partake of the very thing that he is prophesying against.  He is ultimately tricked by a corrupt prophet to do this very thing, comes under judgment and is slain by a lion.

 Jesus and the money changers Mark 11 – The court of the gentiles is filled with corrupt moneychangers who take advantage (gouging) of gentiles and pilgrims who want to worship at the temple.  Jesus overthrows their tables and drives them out, proclaiming, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Jesus’ sending of the 12  in Matthew 10 – With regards to ministry of preaching, healing, deliverance, etc. Jesus says, “Freely you have received, freely give.” He tells them to live by the generosity of those who receive the ministry.

Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8 – Simon tries to cut a deal with Peter for distribution rights on the impartation of the Holy Spirit and Peter answers, “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!”

There are other structures that can exist as either for-profit (FP) or not-for-profit wineskins, or as a blended model.  For example, training and equipping is typically done within a non-profit wine skin.  Nevertheless, there may be kinds of training (business or technical training, consulting, coaching) that could be done in a for-profit wineskin.  Discipleship training is better done in a non-profit setting: every believer should be equipped for ministry regardless of their ability to pay.  Primary schools are an example of a training structures that are also a hand-up system.  In the US we believe that primary education is a public good therefore we have free public education.  There are also, non-profit religious and non-religious schools, and for profit businesses that provide a primary education.

Thus far we have spoken primarily about organizations, but some of these systems can be organic, that is relational, non-hierarchical, ad-hoc in structure.  This is especially true of the not-for-profit wineskins that have proclamation functions.[1]  I am thinking in particular of the success of church planting movements. I have created the following quadrant diagram to illustrate this.  

Structure Quadrants

I recently attended a Friday morning discipleship meeting that is a good example of a “C” quadrant wineskin.  This meeting is a simple meeting of 6-12 local businessmen who get together and encourage each other in their walk with the Lord.  They usually read through a book together and one of the men volunteers each week to lead the discussion on that week’s chapter.  This group’s structure is well suited for its purposes.  They have little logistical complexity, an almost non-existent cost structure (no need for a revenue model), and low demands for leadership and subject matter experience.

I am fond of saying that forming a non-profit organization is like “creating another hungry mouth to feed.”  This is especially true of those that have logistical complexity, correspondingly high leadership demands and a cost intensive structure.  I think that a good rule of thumb is that a structures should only adopt a D quadrant structure when needed.  If the market can appropriately and efficiently provide a solution then let it. Adopt the simplest and most organic structure possible in meeting your objectives. 

An exciting area that needs more exploration is the potential for symbiotic relationships between for-profit enterprise systems and not-for-profit missional systems.  I think this is especially possible when one or the other has a relatively low level of complexity.  In other words, a pairing of a logistically intense business model with an organic model of church planting is attractive.  In contrast, the combination of a logistically intense business model with a traditional and also logistically intense church planting model would have the effect of pulling the whole thing apart (and the people involved).

Jason is a contributing editor with Momentum Magazine.  He serves as a missionary with Calvary International and works as a strategist with the Regent Center for Entrepreneurship in Virginia Beach.  He has written a book on business as mission titled Eden Inc.

The government of Mauritius has launched on a bold plan to establish themselves as a “Cyber Island” by making ICT the 5^th pillar of their economy alongside the pillars of Sugar, Textiles, Tourism and Financial Services. Their hope is to establish this island nation as a strategic regional hub for ICT, BPO, and other information technology enabled services, thus attracting foreign direct investment for this and related sectors.

They are not blowing smoke. It appears that they are well on their way to making this vision a reality. They have IP protection legislation and have liberalized telecommunications. This is a bold move when so many African governments are reluctant to relinquish state owned cash cows. They have started a computer in every household initiative. Their ICT sector is growing at over 25% annually, and the marketplace is already populated with hundreds of firms including several major ICT players.

An opportunity that seems especially attractive to me is BPO and call center services for the Francophone world. Mauritius has a wonderfully bilingual workforce (French/English). With the high cost of employment in European Francophone countries, BPO in Mauritius is very attractive. I think this may be a situation where enterprising minds could find BAM and other Kingdom opportunities. JP lists them as having 6 peoples in the least reached category.

Jason is a contributing editor with Momentum Magazine. He serves as a missionary with Calvary International and works as a strategist with the Regent Center for Entrepreneurship in Virginia Beach. He has written a book on business as mission titled Eden Inc.

]]> http://www.momentum-mag.org/2008/07/mauritius-and-the-ict-pillar/feed http://www.momentum-mag.org/2008/06/every-part-doing-its-work http://www.momentum-mag.org/2008/06/every-part-doing-its-work#comments Mon, 30 Jun 2008 20:26:36 +0000 Jason Benedict http://www.momentum-mag.org/?p=546

“The redemptive genius of God is seen not so much in that He gathers His Church on Sunday but that He scatters it on Monday.”

– Dr. David Moore drawing from Jerry Cook.

Last week I had the privilege of being the guest lecturer in a doctoral class in a local seminary. I was there to speak about trends in world evangelization, but as is often the case, I got off the immediate subject and the class ended up in a discussion of transformation. I think the question that led us down this other path was, “How does a society go from full churches to single digit evangelicalism in one generation?” Well that led to a discussion of how such a negative trend could take place, and then onto a discussion of how believers can be activated to move the trend line in the opposite direction, and actually take ground.

I suggested that throughout the Bible and history, that when the institutions of society go haywire, we see God raising up prophets to speak truth to those institutions, and I went on to suggest that church should prepare believers to take on a prophetic role in life so that believers can prophesy (with words where necessary) to the institutions of society that they interact with (see A Transformation Paradigm, Momentum Magazine). I said, “Too often churches get sidetracked into trying to draw people into the activities of the church rather than empowering them to be effective Monday through Saturday.”

Well there were quite a few pastors in the class, so even though I thought I heard the sound of the ice cracking under my feet, I ventured further. I said that, “Too often pastors believe that Sunday morning 10AM is where it’s at.” Well this elicited quite a few questions, but I didn’t see anyone taking up stones, so I was encouraged (this was a wonderful group of people) and we went on to have a great class and a stimulating discussion of ways that a church can focus outwardly (Church Expanding) verses inwardly (Church Contracting).

	Church Contracting	Church Expanding
Resources and Energies	Inwardly focused	Externally focused
Corporate Gatherings	The main event	A Huddle (as in American Football). An opportunity for the Lord to call the play.
Appeal to Members	Attend the meetings get involved in church	Engage society get involved in community
Perception of non-clergy roles	Second class.	Other vocations dignified every believer seen as called of God.
Model Member	Works hard to support the ministries of the church.	Does the ministry of the church in the world (salt and light)
Perception of the World	Big Bad Wolf: Adversarial role	A harvest field
Message to the World	Shame on you!	Truth in Love
Strategic Stance	Defensive – try to hold ground	Missional – try to take ground

Ephesians chapter four gives what I consider to be one of the most apt descriptions of discipleship in the New Testament. It states that five fold servants (or four fold if you prefer) should use their gifts to equip God’s people to do the work of ministry.

I would like to suggest that the primary purpose of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers is to equip God’s people to be effective in their ministry to a lost world Monday through Saturday. Our primary metrics for effectiveness in these roles should be derived from scriptures like Ephesians four. Not merely from things like church attendance or the level of involvement that parishioners have in church programs.

I remember hearing the story of a pastor flying home from a conference. During the flight the lady in the seat next to him found out he was a pastor, so as they circled the city in preparation to landing, she asked, “Where is your church? Can we see it from here?” He thought for a minute, and then pointed to the smokestack of a factory and said, “Let me tell you about Bob, he came to the Lord three years ago,” and then he pointed to the hospital and said, “Let me tell you about Jane,” and then to the shipyards, and to the school, and to a farm on the edge of town, and so forth until the plane began its decent. You see this pastor understood where the action is really at.

I suppose I am writing about this because, I am concerned about the problem of a disengaged church, and I dream of a global church that is equipped along the lines of Ephesians four, with “each part doing its work.” This is of particular importance to those of us who are endeavoring to see the Kingdom extended and the Church planted among every kindred, nation, tongue and tribe. Important because it will have a direct bearing on the replicability and resilience of the churches planted.

We have all been troubled by situations around the world where the church has had significant numerical growth but natural and moral evil still abounds. Could this be because we have majored on missionary methods that focus on quantitative vs. qualitative measures of success? It appears that this approach can leave us with a mere Christian glaze on a worldly ham. I believe that a transformational model of mission will actually contribute positively to the resilience and longevity of Christian movements. I hope to pursue this vein in future blogs.

Jason is a contributing editor with Momentum Magazine. He serves as a missionary with Calvary International and works as a strategist with the Regent Center for Entrepreneurship in Virginia Beach. He has written a book on business as mission titled Eden Inc.

Previous Articles in Momentum:

The Four Barriers

A Transformation Paradigm  

What form should these ministries take? We need to think “outside of the box,” to use a quaint buzzphrase. They do not need to be pastors or street-corner evangelists.

We need to think about how the Gospel is to be translated and contextualized into every culture: how we need to practically apply what the Good News of the Kingdom means in every sociopolitical segment within a culture—to employers and employees, to governors and the governed, to slaves and servants, to criminals and the imprisoned, etc. The “Good News” is not just the announcement that you should give your heart to Jesus. That is only the beginning. The “Good News” is that the Kingdom is near, and the Kingdom will bring the beginning of joy and the end of sorrow.

These 100 local ministries, then, could also be thought of as 100 local “sociocultural translators” or “implementers.” They are witnesses who incarnate the Gospel, who give it face and presence in the culture, who begin to live out what it means to be a Kazakh who follows Christ, or a Han Chinese who follows Christ, or a Fulani who follows Christ, etc. If you are a follower of Christ, what does discipleship enhance in your culture? what does it get rid of? what does it change slightly? what does it change deeply? I have seen believers in Christ who pray fervently to Jesus—in the Muslim way, on their knees, faces bowing to the ground, hands outstretched.

So if you are one of the 100, and your vision is to impact 1,000 people with the Good News, one way that you might do so is through a business. It doesn’t have to be a church or a cell group—if your business impacts, for example, 250 people, each of whom in turn affect an additional 4 people (family or extended family?), then you would be affecting 1,000 people. What kind of message can you pass on through your words and deeds as a small business owner? through your integrity, through how you help your community, through your employment practices?

And further, how can a pioneering team help a small business get started, and model Christian integrity?
I bring up this example for a specific reason: I am happy to welcome Jason Benedict as our first additional contributing editor to this site. Jason has brought us great articles in the past and will be taking on a role as a regular writer for Momentum, focusing primarily on issues related to missionary training and business as missions. He presently works at Regent University, and has a passion for the unreached. I’ll let him introduce himself more fully in his first posting. I will say here only that I am excitedly looking forward to the additional perspectives on business and tentmaking that are so vital to a vision for transforming nations.

Welcome aboard, Jason!

Preaching (including biblical interpretation), prayer and evangelism held such an important role in the life of the reformers that the good news was confined to the hereafter. When Protestant training institutions were conceived they confined their training to the important subject matter: preaching, prayer and evangelism. Almost 500 years after the Reformation, I received theological training at a Protestant training institution and the subject matter was confined basically to preaching, prayer and evangelism (with some emphasis on pastoral care). Similarly, when I began a theological training institution in Africa, I structured the curriculum around various facets of preaching, prayer and evangelism. The exigency of these three disciplines was virtually unchallenged in my life until I began reaching out to the urban poor in Africa.

In the face of rank human suffering and need, I realized an important part of the picture was missing. I am not alone in this experience: many classically trained Christian workers have been awakened to the need for a holistic model of mission. For the purposes of this article, I would like to call this holistic model a transformational model. Similarly, I would like to refer to the paradigm typified by preaching, prayer and evangelism as the proclamational model. This is not to say that the proclamational model lacks validity—simply that it is incomplete.

A larger question in this discussion is, does the word of God have anything to say on themes other than preaching, prayer and evangelism? A survey of Christian devotional materials might give you the impression that God has restricted his commentary to these subjects. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Bible has five times as many verses addressing the topics of money and possessions than the subjects of prayer and evangelism, combined. This is not to say that in God’s economy prayer and evangelism are of lesser importance—simply that the scriptures have a great deal to say about other aspects of life. A prime example is Deuteronomy 23:12-13:

“Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement. For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.”

I have never seen this verse in a devotional work, but the truth contained in these passages is of tremendous importance. 6,000 children will die somewhere in the world today due to inadequate sanitation. I love this verse because it speaks of the practical nature of a loving God. The word Gospel means good news: to the mother losing a child from chronic dysentery this verse contains good news.
This is not to dilute the reality that our greatest human need is reconciliation to God through the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ. However, I contend the Good News does not end with the born-again experience. In fact, I believe we need look no further than the earthly ministry of Christ to find a transformational model of mission.

Theologians agree that Luke 4:16-19 was almost like an inaugural address announcing the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It is as if He is expounding on the Gospel of the Kingdom using the Isaiah scroll. Therefore, I would like to examine the text of Isaiah 61 in search of a model for transformation. My commentary is thematic and confined to brackets.

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor [alleviation of poverty]. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted [wholeness], to proclaim freedom for the captives [liberty and liberation] and release from darkness for the prisoners, [illumination, cf Luke 4 “recovery of sight]

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor [reference to Jubilee]and the day of vengeance of our God, [Justice] to comfort all who mourn [comfort and wholeness],

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— [provision] to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. [Hope] They will be called oaks of righteousness, [righteousness, resilience vs. vulnerability] a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. [God glorified]

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. [Urban renewal & community development]

5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. [Job creation and upward mobility for God’s people, diversification of assets]

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, [access to markets and capital] and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, [empowerment] and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, [ownership of assets] and everlasting joy will be theirs.

8 “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. [Justice, reduction of corruption] In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations [Favor, opportunity, access to markets] and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.”

10 I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. [Restoration of relationship with God] For he has clothed me with garments of salvation [salvation] and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations. [God’s glory to the ends of the earth]

The themes are summarized here are as follows:

• Restored Relationship with God
  • Salvation
  • Righteousness
  • Priesthood
• Economic Lift
  • Poverty alleviation
  • Provision
  • Ownership of assets
  • Urban renewal (and community development)
• Hope
  • Comfort
  • Wholeness
• Empowerment
  • Illumination (knowledge)
  • Freedom
  • Resilience
  • Influence, favor and access (markets, capital, etc.)
• Justice
  • Jubilee
  • Reduction in crime and corruption
• The Glory of God

This is a very holistic gospel! Bryant Meyers (Walking with the Poor, 1999) talks about the nature of poverty and describes it as a matrix of the following factors:

• Spiritual Poverty (broken relationship with God and others)
• Material Poverty (lack of assets)
• Physical Weakness (poor health and inadequate nutrition)
• Vulnerability (no reserves, vulnerability to disasters and misfortune)
• Isolation (lack of access to infrastructure, capital and markets)
• Powerlessness (disenfranchisement)

It is amazing how Isaiah 61 addresses these same themes. I suggest this passage is descriptive of a biblical model of transformation. If these verses are descriptive, we must ask are there any prescriptive truths in scripture for transformation. The verse that jumps to mind is:

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2 NIV).

This essentially says that in order to carry out the will of God we must have our minds renewed: we need a transformed mindset that corresponds with biblical truth. We could restate it this way. To carry out and demonstrate the will of God for transformation as described in Isaiah 61 we must first be transformed ourselves by renewing our minds.

This would imply that our minds must be transformed by biblical truth not only with regards to redemption, justification, sanctification, propitiation, etc, but also with regards to the other themes of Isaiah 61: justice, empowerment, economic development, etc.

Typically, renewing of the mind has been seen as a discipleship issue, and properly so. If we propose discipleship along the lines of a transformational model, then the question of methodology remains. Do we find any biblical clues to this process?

Certainly, a review of the books of Moses will reveal that God encouraged the development of institutions that were responsible to carry out certain roles within society. These institutions were to obey and propagate biblical truth: Government, Priesthood, Family, etc. Whenever, these institutions would err from the truth God would raise up prophets to bring correction. These prophets were God’s emissaries called to bring truth to bear on the situation.

I would propose that likewise we need emissaries today who can speak to, teach, and coach the institutions of society in transformational truth. In Figure 1 (below) society is represented by a construct of ideas, norms, material culture, ideals and technologies.

Figure 1

According to this construct any impact you have on discipling individuals and the institutions they comprise will have a direct impact on society and that will have a positive (+) or negative (-) effect on development. To use biblical terminology for development we would speak in terms of blessing.

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse- the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.” Deut 11:26-28 NIV

Research indicates that the best efforts in transformational development always involve empowerment and strong community ownership. This grass roots facet is integral to sustainability of development. Therefore there is a need to influence the institutions of society through training leaders (a kind of top down approach) and a need to ensure that implementation of transformational strategies is owned by communities (a grass roots approach).

If the key to transformation is ideological change, then there is a need to systematically train emissaries that can bring biblical truth to the various institutions of society. This being the case we should look for strategies that will allow us to do this for each of the institutions of society: Government, Education, Business, Media, etc.

Let’s take the case of business and the marketplace. We need strategies that will empower Christian entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses that will bring economic development, blessing and transformation to society. This means that these entrepreneurs would need to be discipled in truth relating to the themes of Isaiah 61.

Isaiah 61 Theme: Discipleship (formation & competency)

Restored Relationship with God: How to walk with God as salt and light in the marketplace. Contextualized evangelism strategies for the marketplace.

In conclusion, Protestant churches have all but omitted the transformational model of mission from theology and practice for the better part of the last five centuries. There are a few shining exceptions to this norm: the Moravian movement, William Carey, and a few others. Now is the time for us to take inspiration from witnesses like these and from God’s word and begin to take a fuller gospel to the least and the last.