Nurturing God’s System

 Tena tātou katoa e te iwi mīhana… (Greetings to all the people in mission),

The whakataukī (Māori proverb) that best introduces this special edition post is: “Manaaki whenua, manaaki tangata, haere whakamua.” [Care for the land, care for people, go forward.]. There is an assumption of unity and harmony in this proverb. Caring for the land is caring for the people and vice versa. Such caring involves honouring and nurturing the spiritual as well as the physical so that the weave of life is maintained as we flourish together.

In the beginning God created a system. It came to be known as the heavens and the earth, the sum total of all that is in the time and space they occupy. And all that occupied time and space was declared “good”.

God’s ownership is indelibly stamped on the creation. It is from God and it remains in God, drawing from the light of life that holds all things together (cf. John 1:1-5, Colossians 1:15-20). Pulsating with God’s glory. “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display God’s craftsmanship” (Psalm 19:1). The seraphim serving at the lofty throne call out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with the Lord’s glory!” (Isaiah 6:3).

Within this system, with its glorious God-shaped diversity, God formed a species uniquely with God’s own image. We know this species as human, and to this species was given a great and fearful responsibility, to administrate the biodiversity in which it was placed so that it and they would flourish.

Their desire… set off a chain reaction in the system that is palpable down the ages—impacting everything within the system like an electromagnetic pulse sweeping the globe shorting out everything in its path.

Readers of the sacred text know well the point of rising action in this narrative—humans ignored the instructions and chose to build things their own way. A malevolent force enters the plot and the good becomes corrupted. As a consequence of their choices, humans are ousted from their happy place, their return barred. Their desire to create their own rules and determine their own good and bad, set off a chain reaction in the system that is palpable down the ages—impacting everything within the system like an electromagnetic pulse sweeping the globe, shorting out everything in its path. They find a flint rock and make a spark. Humans have been trying to relight the corrupted system on their own ever since.

Since I am writing to a Jesus-following audience, we all know that the climax of our story eventually comes through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the rightful King and Creator of the system. He is the owner and through Him alone can the light of life illuminate His good creation once more. It groans for it (Romans 8:20ff). From the point of His resurrection, the corruption is undone with every heart that believes in Him, with every mind that surrenders to His loving instruction, every will that gives way in allegiance, every spirit that is enlivened afresh by the Spirit of the Creator, every person who lives in obedience to His life-giving rule. The system receives a small cardioversion each time a person responds to Jesus and is born anew by His Holy Spirit. A little less corruption affecting the system. A sign of full renewal to come.

We are all captives of the corruption of the system.

We are all, right now, commonly experiencing the blight of a corrupted system. A microbe has brought the world to a standstill. Full restoration of creation is clearly not yet. We continue to reap the whirlwind of our collective human determinations.

Those with a high view of humanity will argue that we can still rid ourselves of the corruption, if only. If only we were more tolerant of difference. If only there was better education. If only there were better living standards. If only we had fairly distributed wealth. If only the powerful were not so self-serving. If only we allowed enough time for science and technology to solve the problems. If only we were not so… ignorant.

Those with a low view of humanity also think that we can still rid ourselves of the corruption, if only. If only the masses let their betters control their affairs. If only the right rules were in place to stop the moral decay. If only we could extract more from the system. If only consideration of others were enforced. If only people stayed in their lane and conformed to expectations. If only people would be gainfully employed. If only we were not so… rebellious.

Somewhere along that spectrum you may recognise yourself. Or perhaps, if not, you feel you are a victim, imprisoned by the actions of others with little ability to do much about it. But, here’s the thing—we ALL are. This side of eternity, we are all captives of the corruption of the system. Try as we might to make this world a better place for ourselves, our families, community, nation and world, one little thing, as tiny as a virus, can disrupt it all.

We carry responsibility to influence God’s good creation right here right now.

Yet, the light remains. It cannot be dimmed. It is a light not made from our ever-more technological sparks. It is a Divine light of hope promising that the system will be cleansed. All will be made new. In the meantime, we with that light within us, live in a now/not-yet reality. The ultimate cleansing will come, but we also carry responsibility to influence God’s good creation right here right now. Because, you see, our mandate to administrate this biodiverse globe spinning in space-time was never rescinded. Followers of Christ now have the power to fulfil our responsibility to help the system flourish—and we along with it. The Holy Spirit of the Living God, the light of life, enables us to lovingly seek and do good in the earth even as we wait for the perfect to be unveiled, the glory of God within creation to be revealed.

We wait, but it is not a passive waiting. The world is not destined for destruction, but renewal. As children of the Creator of the system in which we live, with a mandate to nurture, we witness to the coming reality by our investment in persistent present renewal. We should tremble in fear by the fact that those who cause destruction on the earth will be destroyed (Revelation 11:18). The inference here is that those who fear God’s name will not participate in earth-destruction. It is counter to the Spirit of the Creator—the Spirit of shalom harmony, of right relationships within the system whole. We are guardians of this good.

Declaration without demonstration is nothing more than fake news.

The objective of the mission of God is to foster loving unity or harmony under Christ. It is from and for harmony that the Father lovingly sent the Son and it is how the Son sends us (John 17:18-25). Our core purpose as Christ-followers in the world is to announce the reality of shalom-harmony and invite others to enter it, through the Holy Spirit-enabled process of reconciliation in Christ—a restoring of right relationships between humanity and God, humanity and each other, humanity and the biodiverse system in which we live. But wait, there’s more. We must also evidence this new reality through our lives and actions. Declaration without demonstration is nothing more than fake news (James 2:26).

This is a whole-of-life missions perspective. Our responsibility to lovingly care for God’s good system, to negate the corruption, to help it flourish, is central to our commission as Christ’s representatives on the earth. It is core to the Christ-follower’s curriculum as a disciple. Everyone who would seek good in the system can find its fulfilment and their satisfaction here in this lived reality. Because in the end, God will reboot the system and you will want to be restored with it. So, in this way, let us together #stayonmission.

Whakapaingia te Atua, to tatou kaiunga ki te ao whanui (May we be blessed as God sends us into the wider world),

Jay