Last month I spent a few days in the Netherlands. The purpose of my time there was to meet with Dr. Mark Beliles who has written a very insightful book on “Christ’s Strategy for Discipling Nations.’ It was a very invigorating couple of days discussing what the Key Performance Indicators would look like in a ‘discipled nation.’ What are the critical indicators that Christ’s Kingdom is coming? Some of the conclusions are below. More is deeply discussed in Dr. Beliles book.
While in the Netherlands I stayed very near the birth place of a great cultural architect.
What an inspirational leader he was.
Abraham Kuyper is an unknown nation builder from the Netherlands. A preacher who became Prime Minister in the Middle of 19th Century. The backdrop of his thinking was Marxism and theological liberalism. His radical conversion which came after theological training led to his desire to bring the Dutch church back to biblical foundations. He held a number of positions in society, from a journalist who became editor for 2 newspapers to an educator and classroom teacher, a political activist, a member of parliament and finally, prime minister of the Netherlands. He believed in something called ‘ sphere sovereignty’, bringing the lordship of Christ into every area of the modern nations of Europe.
The spheres he emphasised were: Individual, family, church government, civil government and societal government. Individuals were responsible for bringing the kingdom principles into whatever sphere they found themselves in. Kuyper fought for free schools in the Netherlands, opened a university, founding it on the lordship of Christ. As Prime Minister-he introduced many social reforms, securing the rights of the poor, minorities and workers. His influence internationally in mediating peace between nations was significant. He propagated generational thinking saying ‘ the question is not what influence we have now, but what power we will exercise in half a century’
As we explore Jesus’s command to ‘Disciple Nations,’ we realise this command has not been rescinded. So in our going ‘let’s disciple.’