We have been considering a worldview held by far too many Christians which I call, "Short-termism." It is a demoralizing, neutralizing mentality that affects every area of the Christian's life -- both public and private. In our previous three blogs, we set forth basic truths that will enable us to break free from its captivity. Thus far we have shown that if we are to follow the Lord's counsel through the prophet Jeremiah to a victorious future orientation, then: (1) We Must Begin Honoring and Interceding for the Spiritual Gatekeepers of Our Generation; (2) We Must Reconnect with Our Godly History in Order to Position Ourselves with Our Destiny; (3) Establish Economic Viability by Building Strong Multigenerational Businesses; (4). Developing Family Stability for the Purpose of Multi-generational Transfer!

In this final article we will focus on two more of the vital practices that we must deploy if we are to see Short-termism corrected, and that is:

Taking Social Responsibility by Seeking the Peace of the City

“Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you . . . for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer. 29:7).  The word for “welfare” or “peace” is the Hebrew word shalom. Shalom is heavy-weight word designed to bear a world of weight. It means order, health, safety, harmony, well-being, happiness, wholeness, and completeness.

Pastor Philip Ryken said, “God hereby commands Christians to do anything and everything to further the public good. A notable example is John Calvin, whose gospel ministry did so much good for the city of Geneva, Switzerland, not just spiritually, but medically, socially, economically, and educationally. Calvin said, “God has filled my mind with the zeal to spread his Kingdom and to further the public good.”And Calvin did further the public good. He started schools and hospitals, reached out to the poor, and promoted the sound practice of business. He even helped clean up the city streets by designing an urban sewer system.”

Praying for the “shalom” of the city is a prayer for health and soundness; for safety and security; and for stability and prosperity. Shalom means freedom from the fear of violence -- safety on the streets; it means protection from outside threat, justice for the poor and reconciliation among the races; economic progress; integrity in public office; justice in the courts; good education and fair housing. It means public spaces that are open and green.  It means anything and everything that makes the city a better place to live.

King Jesus calls His people to the task of serving. God's people have failed to realize that whoever serves the people also has the allegiance of the people. When people are needy, lonely, hungry, hurting, desperate, they seek for someone or something that will help them resolve their difficulties and meet their needs. Early in our nation’s history it was the Church that operated the hospitals, the orphanages, the rescue missions; that served as the welfare arm of the community; that founded the schools and conducted almost the entire educational process.

Dudley Hall was so right when he said, “We will not be content to just give food, clothes, and shelter. We will work to get the deceptive yoke of poverty off their necks. We have the answer GOD has taught us that He rules in the area of resources; His kingdom runs by His authority and cannot be usurped by any other authority. We are to remove the yoke by bringing impoverished people to understand that God matures us by giving us responsibilities for handling our stuff. It is true in any society with any culture."

Until the people of God assume their duties as a servant to the poor, the homeless, the broken, the aged, the unborn, the unwed mothers, the abused, the handicapped, the needy, the nuts, and the nobodies, they will not experience the blessings of God, nor the respect of men. Instead they will live as “ghetto type Christians” waiting for evacuation by Christ, rather than working for emancipation of Satan's, sin's and society's enslaved  via a whole gospel type ministry.

Recovering Spiritual Integrity by Becoming a Prophetic People who Live the Truth and Speak the Truth!

Jeremiah 5:30-31, “An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?  

In Jeremiah 28, a prophet named Hananiah was prophesying what the people of God wanted to hear and not what God had actually said. He was one of several generations of prophets and priests who had lost their spiritual integrity and where predicting peace and prosperity. 

Need I remind you that one of the greatest needs of the Church of the living Christ today is to be a people of spiritual integrity who walk the talk or practice what they preach. Need I remind you that the for the most part, the Church has lost its authority to speak into peoples and nations because their prophets, priests and pastors have, as far as public image is concerned, lost their integrity.

Christians need to be counter-cultural, not simply by speaking out against social ills and sins, or just by voting or participating in the political process, but even more significant by living counter-culturally. (Culture is a society's customs, religion or belief system externalized. It is the hidden, but ever present norms that society in general lives by.)

A counter-cultural Christian's relationships must reveal submission not rebellion, service not demands, sincerity not hypocrisy, sacrifice not selfishness, others not self, compassion not hostility, liberty not license, obedience not self-will, and authenticity not deception.

A counter-cultural Christian's character must reveal love not hate, joy not panic, peace not stress, patience not anxiety, kindness not rudeness, goodness not corruption, faithfulness not disloyalty, gentleness not cruelty, and self-control not lack of discipline.

A counter-cultural Christian's thoughts must be true not false, noble not common, right not improper, pure not corrupt, lovely not obnoxious, admirable not contemptible, excellent not mediocre, and praiseworthy not unsuitable.

Recovering prophetic integrity also means that we need to stop crying that the end is near every time another earthquake occurs, or a negative word is spoken about Israel, or another radical Islamic terrorists strikes, or the economy heads south, etc.

The end of the world was taken quite seriously by Europe in the late fifteenth century as a somber, terrifying prediction based solidly on the divine wisdom of biblical prophecy and the felt experience of daily life. In the words of Joseph Grünpeck, the official historian to the Hapsburg emperor Frederick III, “When you perceive the miserable corruption of the whole of Christendom, of all praiseworthy customs, rules and laws, the wretchedness of all classes, the many pestilences, the changes in this epoch and all the strange happenings, you know that the End of the World is near. And the waters of affliction will flow over the whole of Christendom.”

As history attests, it was the end of the world, the end of a stagnant, sterile, short-term worldview that left people without any future hope. But a mere 25 years later, history took a dramatic change in direction. Through a single act, Martin Luther reclaimed the Bible, the gospel, and culture and impacted the whole world when he confronted a corrupt church.

What if the end that so many see on the horizon is the end of “short-termism”; of prophecies of despair and doom and gloom and the beginning of the rising of a new generation, born of reformation and spiritual renewal who view the gospel as the power of God, history as the story of God’s redemptive act; and the future as being one whose prospects are as bright as the promises of God; of a confidence in a King who declares, “Upon this Rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it! A church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to deter its triumphant march from victory unto victory. I love the old hymn “Stand Up for Jesus”: -- especially the verse that says, “from victory unto victory, His army shall He lead, till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed!"