Right message;
wrong prop!
In Philippians 1, Paul lays out a 7-point strategic plan that
effectively applies to all born again Christ followers. Don't read these with a
religious mindset, but with the mindset of understanding what is the business
of The Kingdom of God in the earth today. You/we are to be ‘poster
children’ of this strategy at work in the earth. As you read, envision how
your poster, your life, currently
appears from Heaven’s perspective...
1. Fellowship
in The Gospel (verse 5): This is broad-based. As the Body of
Christ grows, there should be greater opportunities for like-minded fellowship.
However, growth attracts resistance and also spawns divisions. Just as the U.S.
economy specializes in sub-dividing markets in order to maximize profits, the
Church worldwide now specializes in sub-dividing itself. These divisions open fissures
in which strife and contentions fester and grow. Consider how many times Jesus
prayed for unity during His High Priestly prayer. (John 17)
2. Partner in Grace (verse 7): This is specific targeting of those with whom you will partner (writ large, not simply marriage or life partners) in this Kingdom walk.
2. Partner in Grace (verse 7): This is specific targeting of those with whom you will partner (writ large, not simply marriage or life partners) in this Kingdom walk.
3. Abound in Love in Knowledge/Discernment. (verse 9):
This is the work of Christ in an through us, not our fleshly efforts.
4. Display Right Fruits (verse 11): Would a poster
display fruits or evidence contrary to the targets context in which it is being
displayed? Imagine someone in a big, colorful, audio-visual poster who is
surrounded with a plethora of things that are totally irrelevant to, and
outright contrary the subject or topic of the poster!
5. Further The Gospel. (verse 12) This objective
seems to pivot the focus on the penultimate and ultimate objectives that
follow. How??
6. Be Fearless (verse 14), both living and sharing
The Good News by faith, not in/by the flesh. Our experience and mindset
accumulated from practicing the previous five objectives should enable us to
move into ‘high gear’, fearlessly pursuing The Kingdom’s ultimate
objective, which is to...
7. Personally Preach/Magnify Christ. (verse 18) Only
as He is magnified and becomes known to and by more people is His effectual
power applied to situations in our lives, and to the many intractable problems
across our world. This is the ultimate strategic objective to
which all others contribute.
Each objective seems to point back to the cumulative previous
ones, and is reinforced by them to move up to the succeeding,
higher objective. This is how The Kingdom of God works in earth’s current
dispensation. Remember, your life is a poster, which makes you a ‘poster
child’. Ok, so how does the current version of your poster look? Which results
(fruits) are displayed in your current poster? The best part of this story is
that our posters are not
still pictures, but living images that continually morph. By faith and
obedience, we get to change what is displayed. :o)
