Mere Missions

178 • M ere M issions : M oving F orward to M ultiply

communicating what that belief system is. It is the Kingdom of God. Paul the Apostle, through the Holy Spirit, wrote to the Corinthian Church, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5.17). It’s not enough to supplant the old system in an individual. It must be replaced by the Kingdom, i.e., the system of His rule and reign. If not, the situation of the individual may be worse that the original belief system. “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first” (Luke 11.24-26). That is exactly what Matthew Parris was stating in his last sentence. Removing the evangelism of the Gospel from Africa and just focusing on development, “. . . may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike (materialism), the witch Doctor (false religion), the mobile phone (pseudo relationships) and the machete (anarchy and violence).” Evil spirits will take over. The Kingdom of God, His rule and reign, is immediate (Mark 1.15; Luke 17.20-21), progressive (Matt. 13.31-32), and cataclysmic (Matt. 11.12). It is under no threat (Rev. 11.15). The Kingdom of God is inclusive and exclusive. Those who are in the Kingdom have God as their Father (inclusive). God is not the Father of all (exclusive). Paul the Apostle divides humanity into two classes: those “in Christ” and those “not in Christ.” God is peculiarly the Father of all who believe, irrespective of nationality, race, gender, age, or class. We are all created in the image of God, but we are not all sons and daughters therefore we are not all brothers and sisters: