3 Kingdom Strategies to Bring God to Our Culture

In today’s world, there is so much chaos and upheaval.

Viruses, political scandal, lies, fake news, and so many other issues are at work that it seems society is unraveling and disintegrating. The media’s report is so skewed that it is virtually impossible to know when truth is being reported or when it is an outright lie. In the midst of this, however, God is still ruling and reigning from His position and Throne. He is not nervous nor uncertain about the outcome. He knows and is sure that His purposes will prevail. This will happen through the church that He initiated into the world. Hebrews 10:12-13 lets us know that Jesus’ work on the cross and resurrection has set in motion the redeeming of all things back to Him and His purposes.

But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.

Every enemy that is resisting or contrary to the will of God in the earth will become the footstool of the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, it will be subdued under His authority and made to line up with His will. Notice that He is waiting for this to be brought into full manifestation. This implies that the church, which is the revelation of His body in the earth, is responsible for seeing these enemies brought under His rulership. We are here to subject all enemies under the power of His Lordship through the authority He has delegated to us.

Today, a great movement is occurring that is gaining tremendous momentum in connection to this. It is the whole idea of social reformation. In other words, the reclaiming of society that we have tended in years gone by to give away into the hands of the devil, which has led to our present circumstances. Because of our negligence, we now have much ground to make up and a time of recovery to enter. But I believe that the word of the Lord to us is the same as to David when he returned to Ziklag to find his encampment raided and everyone’s wives, children, and possessions taken captive by an enemy. In I Samuel 30:8, we find David asking the Lord if he should go after that which had been captured and had therefore brought such despair and trouble to his whole army and to himself. The word of the Lord came to him saying that he should pursue, for he would recover everything:

So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

I believe that as we pursue this whole concept of social reformation and invade what has been called the seven mountains of society, we will recover all without fail. We are not doing this out of our own power and might, but out of the supernatural power of God. We need to be faithful and diligent, and we need to be are aware that without the intervention of the Lord we will fail. We also know that if we are building what the Lord is building, we will be successful. Psalm 127:1 tells us that without the Lord’s help, it is vain to build and even to stay awake and watch.

Unless the Lord builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the Lord guards the city,

The watchman stays awake in vain.

When we build what God is building and watch what God is protecting, we will be successful and fruitful in our endeavors. We will see the plan of God materialize in planet Earth. We have a confidence that we are laboring together with Him.

In the midst of the seven mountain mandate being espoused, there has been much talk about the reforming, redeeming, and reclaiming of these mountains. The seven mountains of religion, family, business, government, arts and entertainment, media, and education are the molders of society and the influencers of culture. If we are to see the kingdom of God manifest in the earth in a practical and revealed way, these structures and spheres must be penetrated and invaded with reformers.

This idea was first presented by Bill Bright of Campus Crusade and Loren Cunningham of Youth with a Mission (YWAM) fame. A few decades later, Lance Wallnau picked up on this revelation and took it to its present levels of influence and understanding. The invasion of these mountains and the altering of culture as a result is the ultimate manifestation of the kingdom of God in the earth. When Jesus came to the planet, He came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God or the redemption of everything back to the sovereign rule of God. This was and is the agenda of our king—King Jesus. This job falls to the church that Jesus died to birth and form. It is the commissioned vehicle through which the Lord will invade these spheres that are referred to as mountains and begin to establish the rule of His government, kingdom, and authority in each. As this occurs, each of these mountains will begin to take on the splendor of our Lord, Savior, and King— Jesus. The Lord is busy impregnating His people with a passion and jealousy to see all that is rightfully His returned and restored to His rule.

We are awakening to the fact that everything in His creation is to be under His authority. We have always believed this, but we just thought that if we could hang on and wait for Him to come back, He would accomplish it all at His physical return. We have realized now that this isn’t true. He will finish the task at His return, but we have a role to play prior to that wonderful day. This finishing is different from the finishing that Jesus did on the cross when He uttered the words, “It is finished.” By speaking those words, Jesus declared that everything necessary to purchase back the creation of God had now been accomplished. This statement from the cross declared every legal mandate now in place for God’s will to be done in the earth. This includes the reformations of society and culture. We must realize, though, that the purchasing of something and the possessing of it are two very different things. Jesus paid the price for all things to be redeemed back to God at His death on the cross, but it is the job of the church to possess what Jesus has now purchased including people, the earth, and all its societies.

First Corinthians 15:22-26 tells us that the last enemy that will be defeated is death. We know that death will be completely and totally abolished at the resurrection of the dead:

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.

It doesn’t matter what eschatological view one holds—Jesus’ return is the moment when death is destroyed and the dead come forth from their graves. If Jesus is returning to destroy the “last enemy,” which is death, then that means every other enemy against the kingdom purposes of God in the earth is our responsibility. The cross of Jesus purchased our salvation to get us to heaven and bought the redemption of all of creation from the bondage it is in. We must not forfeit the greatness of the work of the cross and the resurrection by putting limits on its effect. Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection bought back legally all of the creation of God and its cultures and societies. It is the job of the church, God’s people, to put fully and completely into place the victories that His glorious cross has purchased. This is where the reformation of society occurs as the seven mountains and molders of society are penetrated. This is our job as His kingdom people.

The purpose of this book is to seek to describe what each mountain would potentially look like when it is reformed. The reason is three-fold. We must be able to communicate in an effective way if we are to create visions in the heart of God’s people. Without a passionate view of our purpose here on earth that establishes vision in our heart, we will never arise and go after it. Habakkuk 2:2 tells us that the vision must be written out in a plain way so that we can run with it:

Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision

And make it plain on tablets,

 That he may run who reads it.”

To run with a vision means that there is clarity so that without restraint we know what we are going after. We can run until we see the reality of it materialize. As a people, we must have this so that we can strive after the passion of God in the earth. When we begin to see what each individual mountain will look like reformed, we will have the vision that propels us on. It will be something that we will not only possess in our hearts, but it will possess us as well. When this occurs, we will be willing to lay down our lives for the fulfillment of God’s plan in the earth.

Second, prayer points are needed in which we, the people of God, may engage ourselves. If we are to reform these influencers of culture referred to as mountains, we must win the victories first in the spirit realm. There are definite spiritual forces and principalities that are presently ruling these spheres. These victories must be won in the Courts of Heaven. Only as we take these powers to the Courts of Heaven can they be dismantled and lose the right to function. Evil powers can only control the mountains of influence because they claim a legal right to do this. We will discuss how to revoke and annul these claims so that these mountains might be reclaimed for the glory and purposes of the Lord.

If we are to penetrate and reform these mountains, we must recognize what these forces are and deal with them through apostolic intercession and decrees from the Courts of Heaven. We must also know how to call into being things that may not presently exist out of the spiritual dimension (see Romans 4:17). We can only do this if we can first see what the mountain should look like in a reformed state. As we realize and recognize the intentions of the Lord in these mountains, intercessors can be empowered to take their stand with boldness until what we have seen becomes a reality.

The final reason is to empower the raising up of reformers. Every believer is called to one of these mountains. This is their kingdom purpose. Each believer in the body of Christ should be equipped and empowered for this call, which is their heavenly agenda. Again, without a clear view of what a mountain in a reformed state should look like, how can we know what kind of reformers are to be produced? It will take the right kind of reformer to create the right kind of mountain so we get the right effects in society. One of the greatest challenges facing the body of Christ is producing the reformers are necessary to see these mountains reclaimed. When vision is created—when intercessors are empowered and reformers are produced and commissioned into their function in these mountains—we will see a living demonstration of the kingdom of God in planet earth through reformation. My definition of reformation is the tangible expression of the kingdom of God in society. This is what we are going after, believing for, and pushing toward. By God’s grace, power, and His strategies unfolded, we will live to see the fullness of reformation of society realized in the earth. It is our Lord’s passion and should be ours as well. I hope this book helps in this noble and high pursuit that we are after in the name of our Lord Jesus. Let us not stop until the job is complete and finished.