Tim talks about 10 spheres of influence in society. Economy, Medical, Science, Arts, Business, Media, Education, Family, Government, and Church (or missions organization!).
"Two influence these spheres, two things have to happen.
1. Believers have to be empowered to minister in their sphere of society. There needs to be a clear understanding that the mission field is not just "way over there" but it is right here where we are working and spending most of our time. We must tear down the old division between what is secular and what is sacred, and change our perspective on the need for people to become "full time missionaries" by leaving their jobs.
2. The second thing that has to happen is that Christians need to allow God to show them how they can transform society by applying biblical values within their sphere of society. For example, Christian education is not Christian just because Christians are teachers.
Let me explain another paradigm shift that I believe has to take place if we are going to be effective in our ministry..."
Let me explain another paradigm shift that I believe has to take place if we are going to be effective in our ministry..."
((Tim has two diagrams at this point, that I don't know how to put on the blog! Essentially, the first one is a group of "spheres" encircling one large sphere. The small spheres are the 9 spheres of influence, with the tenth sphere being Church/YWAM being the focal point in the middle!))
"In the first diagram, I have taken 10 spheres of society and put them in a diagram with the church in the center. The reason I put the church or YWAM in the center is because I used to think the church of YWAM was the key to transforming society.
When we think the church or YWAM is the key to transforming society we will end up calling people from other spheres into our church services and programs. Pastors or YWAM leaders can see a good musician and call them to the church or base because they see leading worship as their calling. Or an educator can be called to church to fill the role of teaching Sunday School classes. When the paradigm has the church or YWAM as the center we become focused only on the growth of our organization and the effectiveness of our programs."
((The second diagram has "Christians in the City" as the center focal point, and the 10 spheres of influence as the small spheres encircling))
"However if you look at this next diagram you will see almost the same picture but the church has been taken out of the center and instead I have put "Christians in the city" - or, local Christians - there, which in reality is the church. It is only the building that I have taken out of the center because the organization has been taken out of the center of our thinking.
YWAM can be as guilty as the local church for putting ourselves in the center. If we make this change in our thinking we open up possibilities for YWAM to be more involved with non YWAMers who are in the marketplace."
So, there you have it! This paradigm shift is happening in our thinking, and I think even a step further than this, we are hoping as YWAM, that YWAMers will be linked in the marketplace through what we call Business as Missions, which would be a business functioning as a normal business, but its focus to be to influence and connect with people in either a mercy ministry way, or an evangelistic way, rather than focused on profit.
Please continue to pray for both of us as we pray about this and other ideas that we have to do what God's calling us to do and to be able to truly connect with our neighbors in San Francisco and share God's truth with them in a real-life way.
