The Gospel Has Power To Transform Societies | Matthew 16:18

by Dr. Sunny Bhaskaran

Welcome once again to Simply Jesus Church! My mentor Bishop George has come all the way from Zambia to speak with us today about the power of the gospel to transform societies. We all know the gospel has the power to transform hearts and lives, but its power does not stop there. Bishop George will walk us through these observations of Zambia’s transformation and Yakima’s potential to transform:

  • The Lord is at Work in Two Nations
  • Soviet Opposition in Zambia
  • Transformed Youth Transform Society
  • Zambia Today
  • A Vision for Yakima
  • The Challenge of Secularism
  • Final Exhortation: Toward Unity

The Lord in Two Nations

Bishop George was born and bred in Zambia. He came stateside and lived in Kirkland for a time, where he attended Northwest University. He returned to Zambia before moving again, to Los Angeles, California, where he continued his education at Fuller Theological Seminary and Pepperdine University. This has given him the opportunity to see the Lord at work to transform two different nations.

Bishop George and I have partnered with each other for many years; he has mentored me through countless ups and downs. He began coming to Yakima in 2008 from Lusaka, Zambia, which is 10,000 miles away in Central Africa. Zambia is a nation that was once a stronghold of disbelief – it was nearly carried away in the communist, socialist mindset, which says there is no God.

Remarkably, today Zambia is the only country to have a democratic constitution that declares itself to be a Christian nation. This does not mean that everyone in Zambia is a Christian, but that the citizens of the country have agreed to be guided by the principles of God as they are found in the Bible. Bishop George has seen this completely transform society.

Soviet Opposition in Zambia

For those who may be unaware, Bishop George tells us that at one point, the Soviet Union was determined that the whole continent of Africa would be taken by the communist regime. Their doctrine claimed that religion was nothing more than an opiate to numb the minds of the masses. They did not believe in God or want religion to prevail. In fact, they thought removing the concept of God would lead to a better, more progressive society.

Bishop George notes that this is in direct opposition to what Jesus says in Matthew 16:18. Jesus states very clearly that He will build His church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. This means we should not be surprised to see forces that are antagonistic to righteousness and to the principles of God rising up to wage war against the church. But we have this assurance from God – He is building in the midst of all this. And He does this where the powers of darkness will not prevail. Hallelujah and Amen!

Bishop George recalls that when he came to the Lord in 1976, it was he and his peers whom the Soviet Union were targeting. He was in his 20s, and his generation represented the young, educated minds that were hungry for what the future would hold. It is generally the younger people who realize that the transformation of their life should translate into the transformation of their environment and society. It is they who will do something with the doctrines they adopt.

Transformed Youth Transform Society

Recognizing the power his generation had to transform society, it was the youth that Bishop George and his fellow Christians began targeting as well. They went into schools and wherever else young people were to share Jesus with them. They fervently believed that the church should be stronger in demonstrating the power of God, not only to win souls for heaven, but also to change society for the better. After all, the Lord teaches that we are not to be numbed into inactivity by the suffering around us, rather, we are to make a difference in the lives of others.

Bishop George is reminded that this is what Jesus Himself did. Jesus was only 30 years old when He began his ministry and made that bold proclamation that He would build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail! As much as we would like to convert masses of people, it only takes one person who is transformed and believes in the power of God’s presence to transform society. This is one of the most important lessons we learned while laying the groundwork for Simply Jesus Church. Jesus had with Him only twelve disciples, and one of them failed Him. Yet they changed the world.

In the same way, Jesus transformed Bishop George’s nation. A young man of his generation came to the Lord while in prison. When this individual was released from prison, he was elected president. He presented a proposal to the people: so far, the nation had experimented with scientific socialism to push God out of society, and it was clearly not taking them in the right direction. What if they brought God into the picture and lived by His principles instead? In an amazing turnout, 85% of the population went to the polls to vote. The end result was that, in the preamble, the Zambian constitution today declares that they will be guided by Christian principles.

Zambia Today

Today, Zambia is considered the second safest country in Africa; it has been spared from the unrest that plagues many of its neighbors. Bishop George notes that among the eight nations that surround Zambia, seven of them have had civil wars, while Zambia, in the middle, has not been affected by such turmoil. He knows this is evidence of God’s principles and power at work in people’s lives.

Bishop George knows that if he were to ask someone on the streets of Zambia if they are a Christian, it is likely they will respond “Yes!” However, he recognizes the need to probe deeper. It is trendy to be a Christian in Zambia today, but that response doesn’t necessarily mean they believe in God the way they should. Still, he sees it as a powerful sign that God is being demonstrated publicly by government officials, civic leaders, church leaders, and those in education.

Bishop George is blessed to be able to go to any school in Zambia and preach the gospel. He has witnessed firsthand that a transformation of society means God invades every part of society. He sees how individuals in every career who have devoted themselves to the Lord are serving God sincerely. Society has come to a level where the church is holding networking breakfasts for corporate leaders. Their church hosted 185 industry professionals at 7 a.m. at a hotel, asking ‘how do you positively influence a nation in the name of the Lord?’ CEOs of banks were asking this, as well as politicians who run their own businesses. The church and society have become intertwined.

A Vision for Yakima

Both Bishop George and I agree that Yakima is ripe for the same kind of harvest that Zambia has experienced. The Bible says Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so the same power that was present then is present now in Zambia, and it is present today in Yakima. It’s up to us how we perceive and grasp that. Just recently we’ve seen Simply Jesus and other churches in the valley come together to pray. This is the beginning of a united front which acknowledges the power of the gospel to transform society for the better.

This needs to go beyond the four walls of the church and onto the streets of Yakima – not in an obnoxious way, where we are trying to cram doctrine down the throats of others. Rather, we want the people in Yakima to observe in us what they would desire for themselves. We want them to witness the power of God to transform hearts and societies.

My vision for this city is for everyone to call on the name of the Lord and be saved. I want to see resistance to the gospel fall away. I have seen what the gospel can do to a nation – I have been to Zambia and seen these prayer meetings that Bishop George speaks about. So I asked him what the greatest challenge was for his country during their period of transformation.

The Challenge of Secularism

Bishop George answered that, as the educated realized the relevancy of the gospel and began integrating it into business and civic leadership, a resistance developed. There were people who took issue with religion being imposed onto society and argued for a neutrality to be upheld. The rebuttal of the Christians was this: in the same way, the resistance was requesting for secularism to be imposed on society. Who has decided that secularism is the plumb line or standard that a nation should aspire to?

In fact, God did not create us to be secular in our thinking. He created us to honor Him in everything. And when we operate from here, this creates a motivation for people to work. If you are in the corporate environment, you are now working in the fear of God, which means you treat your employees fairly and justly. If you are in government, you know you are accountable to God as you are leading others. This causes you to factor in principles that will strengthen society.

The Apostle Paul said that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. This means that they are not like the natural weapons used in this world. Our weapons are of God’s divine power, so when we are in the realm of God, we can get to the very foundation of who we are as a society. These weapons allow us to impact everything we do and better our nation.

As I listened to Bishop George speak of these things, I was reminded of Matthew 11:23, where Jesus speaks of the destruction of a city called Sodom centuries ago. He said the entire city would have remained until this day if mighty works were done. It was not the sin of the city that destroyed it. It was not what the people were talking about that destroyed the city. It was their lack of mighty works. That baffles me – if only the gospel had been rightly shared in Sodom, as it was in Zambia, that city could have transformed as well, and moved beyond its secularism into mighty works.

Final Exhortation – Toward Unity

Bishop George’s final exhortation to Yakima is a call toward unity. In the Psalms it says how good and pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to dwell together in unity. At the end of that Psalm, God commands a blessing. Bishop George is encouraged by the church leaders who have come together to pray for the city of Yakima – this, he says, is the secret of disarming the enemy who works to divide. If we are not united, how will we influence those outside of the church?

This is not about erasing church names or denominational titles. What Bishop George speaks of is a unity of the heart alongside our brothers and sisters. It is an asking of God to command that blessing on what we are doing together in Yakima.

I am so grateful for Bishop George’s encouragement, both in his testimony for how the Lord is at work in Zambia, and his hope for Yakima to partake in this kind of unity. I want to close by reminding Yakima that Christianity is not an opiate that dulls the people. Rather, when we live as God intended and lead lives of worship to Him, it will transform society. He gives us wisdom beyond our experience, beyond our education, and beyond our own abilities.

We know God’s heart for this city. We know it is up to us to bring what God desires to completion here, and that we can only do this in unity. Yakima, you are blessed and you will prosper. Remember, the gospel has the power to transform not only the heart, but the entire nation. Amen.

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