THE SECOND-TIER MANDATE

 

© Morris E. Ruddick

 

“Go, make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19

 

As the world enters a time of increasing turbulence, it behooves His followers to get beyond the shortfalls of applying His mandates. Without a clear grasp of the model, embracing Jesus' central mandate will perpetually miss the mark of its fullness.

 

Understanding the model will require a deeper awareness of what God set in motion in creating man in the beginning; then later in establishing a chosen people. It calls for a far better grasp of the roots of Judaism.

 

God's word to the Jewish people defined their role to the world as the head and not the tail (Deut 28:13). Years later, it was punctuated by the prophetic word spoken by Isaiah as being a light to the nations. It is marked by the blessings and curses on which their mantle, as a people, pivots in following the Lord.

 

This word encapsulates more than the result of following His principles. It incorporates more than even the depth of the covenantal relationship of the Jewish people with God. It reflects the wonder of His Word; the overflow and multi-dimensional impact of the expression of His will. It is the irrefutable, prophetic nature accompanying the true proclamations of His heart. It is the magnitude of the reality, transcending generations, that is birthed from His mandates.

 

Embedded deeply within Jewish culture are the principles of Life and the keys to transform societies. Even among those referred to as “non-observing” Jews is a divine standard, passed down generations that results in them being described as “walking Torahs.” It is the consequence of a people whose identity is undeniably entwined with God, with a mantle of being entrusted with the oracles of God.

 

The Mandate of Discipling Nations

So it is, as those grafted into the vine, that we become partakers with them. With a role to be redefined with their full awakening and adherence to their call as a people, we will share with them the essential mandate to disciple nations.

 

Jesus made it clear that “not one jot nor tittle would pass from the Torah until heaven and earth pass away and all is fulfilled” (Matt 5:18). This connection is tied to why the wealth of the seas will be turned to the Jewish people (Isaiah 60); and bears on the principle, covenant and prophetic nature of the words marking them as the head and not the tail. It is the Kingdom tenet of “the remnant” which has been in play since God has had a people.

“So too, at the present time there is a remnant, a believing minority, chosen by grace.” Romans 11:5 AMP

 

The dynamic of the remnant is the truth in the parable of the mustard seed, of the smallest, most unlikely becoming the greatest. It is in the simple things that God confounds the wise. It is not by human power or might, but through the simplicity of the humble that God does the extraordinary. It governs the way the Lord chooses those by whom He executes His most strategic purposes. It is the distinction between the called and the chosen.

 

It is the dynamic revealed after Jesus judged the communities bearing the best the world had to offer at the time, in which most of his miracles had been done, when He prayed: “I thank You, Father, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes” (Matthew 11:26). It is the same focus He gave when saying that these are the humble ones whose angels always see the face of the Father (Matthew 18:10). This dynamic of the remnant is driven by a humble stewardship that typically functions among those serving in second-tier positions.

 

The Second-Tier Dynamic

The turbulence in the petroleum industry in the eighties resulted in a major shift in the roles among the major manufacturing-supply companies. Those that emerged as “first-tier” manufacturing-supply operations handled every service and equipment line needed from exploration through the production phases. They were able to provide shared-risk contracts that proved tempting to the integrated producers and lucrative to themselves. They represented the elite and they catered to the elite.

 

However, not to be confused with “second-rate,” the second-tier operations were also substantive players. However, they typically specialized in either the drilling or production side of the business, whereas first-tier operations “did it all.” Still, in more than a single case, the second-tier group provided innovation and flexibility normally unavailable with those of the first-tier. In some cases, their equipment and services were considered better.

 

This second-tier dynamic, demonstrated by the oilfield manufacturing-supply business, provides keen insight into the path before today's generation of kingdom facilitators and leaders. These will be the ones who retrieve God's original mandate of dominion so key to Jesus' Matthew 28 mandate to disciple nations.

 

The Mandate of the Second-Tier

The mandate of the second-tier embraces all the dynamics capturing the focus of the first-tier faction. However, the approach is different, since the first-tier model, driven by the gospel of salvation, is incomplete. The only gospel specifically named in the gospel accounts is the gospel of the Kingdom. Individual salvations are marvelous; yet have not served as the means to transforming society in a lost and dying world. Despite Nigeria being one of the most evangelized nations in the world, it remains one of the most lawless and poor. The gospel of salvation without the gospel of the Kingdom will only result in an unfinished task passed to the next generation.

 

The gospel of the Kingdom mirrors the model demonstrated by Abraham and outlined in Deuteronomy. It reflects the self-sustaining entrepreneurial community model, with God at the center that is the basis of transformation; of being the “city [community] set on a hill which cannot be hidden” (Matt 5:14).

 

When God's original mandate of dominion is viewed through the prism of the self-supporting God-centered community model, it reorders the priorities of Jesus' Matthew 28 mandate. While both seek a spiritual shift, the second-tier mandate is approached with a focus of discipling nations on the principles of Life as a foundational prelude to the focus of winning converts.

 

Spiritual Capital

That's what Jesus practiced with just a remnant of followers. What He imparted restored the original model, which He referred to as the Kingdom of God . The Kingdom is when man is exercising dominion, the original mandate, to rule over the work of God's hands. It employs the spiritual capital necessary to reorder the pathway of life through community, by actively engaging with God at the center of the model outlined in the Torah.

 

His followers were instructed to employ the keys to the Kingdom. These keys contain the spiritual capital needed to reverse the bondage that has held the world captive since the fall. These keys represent the strategy to God's plan of restoration. When coupled with the spiritual capital and authority God imparted through Moses, they release the order that God unleashed at creation.

 

With these keys; with this spiritual capital, Jesus told His followers to go and disciple nations.

 

Discipling nations is what the Jewish people have done over the centuries. This influence has shaped Western civilization with the principles of Life, which have become the foundations of the moral, economic, justice and governmental systems comprising Western society.

 

As such, Jesus outlined the pathway whereby the authority of God brings the change that becomes the government of God. Discipling nations retrieves the mandate needed to restore the full model. With a community focus, it targets the culture. It prepares and instructs and lays the basis on which God's Kingdom will emerge.

 

Preparing the Culture

One of the clearest biblical examples of societal transformation came from the story of Joseph. It was the Lord's wisdom to integrate Joseph into Egyptian society. Influencing a culture is always more effective when seeds are sown from within, rather than bringing change as an outsider. Joseph's approach redeemed the discordant impact his brothers had made on the communities around them.

 

Joseph emerged as a most unlikely candidate in Egyptian culture. Without the Lord, his best intentions would have never prospered. His start in Egypt was the most humble. His role was from a secular stance, from deep within a culture with sorcery at its root. Yet he bore the brand-mark of the second-tier, that as God's most unlikely, he had the spiritual capital to do the most incredible, as God's ambassador.

 

The apostle Paul wrote the Corinthians explaining that he came not with convincing words of wisdom, but with simplicity and the demonstration of the Spirit's power. He noted in that same sequence that there is a message of wisdom that does not conform to the wisdom of the world (1 Cor 2:6). Paul explained that the spiritually mature, those discerning and drawing their wisdom from God, will make clear judgments about the issues of life.

 

This truth is fundamental to transformation and Jesus' charge to disciple nations.

 

Embracing the Mandate

Paul's insight unveils both the goal and the sphere from which the mandate is to be embraced: spiritual maturity.

 

Still, Jesus clarified two major hurdles to executing the mandate: the religious elite who thought THEY had the answer; and the power-brokers of the world, with whom the religious elite curried favor. The same dynamic is in operation today. The balance of His guidance was to maintain the principles, while avoiding their elitism.

“Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of God ; but who ever does and teaches them, he shall be called great. Unless your righteousness exceeds the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of God .” Matt 5:19-20

 

Jesus addressed the practicalities of everyday life by bringing God to the center. Then by penetrating the veil to break the bondage of corruption; He released the captives from the darkness and destruction which held them. Then with only a remnant of followers, He prepared them to disciple nations with the charge:

“Announce that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matt 10:6-8

 

The mantle was extended to those Jesus referred to as “little ones;” ones with a humble heart willing to step forward to heed His call. He said it was not the will of the Father that one of these “little” or humble ones should perish. So it is that those who hunger and thirst for that “something more,” will trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the devil; and nothing shall harm them.

 

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. He came not to bring peace, but a sword and to release a band of second-tier followers who would change the course of their generation, the result of which would align things to release His Kingdom.

 

It is a pathway that will bypass the elite, first-tier order of things with a second-tier contingent operating with a unique grasp of the Father's heart and priorities. It will be out-of-the box in terms of “tradition” and function. Like Joseph the Patriarch, it will come from a remnant of second-tier facilitators who will emerge from unlikely beginnings to hold positions of influence with rulers and leaders.

 

It is the mandate based on the model that will expose people to the simple reality of God in operation in their everyday lives. It's the model in which God's people operate in community. Without this distinct evidence of the Kingdom in a culture or society, the change in individuals will fall short of transforming the culture; and will only recycle the task to the next generation.

 

When a culture is discipled on the principles of the Kingdom, the seedbed for both conversions and societal change will be the result. It's the spiritual capital held by a second-tier remnant. It's the mandate governing the journey down the narrow path that, as a people, carries the authority to usher in the change of all ages, within a generation.

"Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God." Isaiah 40:3

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Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God in the marketplace. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling;" "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;" and “The Heart of a King,” which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.

Mr. Ruddick is also the founder of the Global Equippers Entrepreneurial Program, which imparts hope and equips economic community builders where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world. To schedule a speaking engagement, sponsor a workshop, make a donation or to get more information on how you can help, contact Global Initiatives at 303.741.9000.

2010 Copyright Morris Ruddick - info@strategic-initiatives.org

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