The seed principle in Kingdom advancement

by George Bakalov

Another business publication I read recently was analyzing investments in small cap companies. The analysis argued that investing in small cap companies may be much better (albeit riskier) than the traditional large cap companies that most people feel safer with. In one of the case studies, if you had invested $1,000 in this particular small cap company 45 years ago, you would have $8,000,000 today. Without oversimplifying, the main key to investing in small cap companies appears to be:

1) knowing the company and understanding the industry involved

2) sticking with the stock through the ups and downs of the market

In Luke 16:8, Jesus states the following: "And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light."

What was Jesus saying? The steward was unjust. Obviously, he didn't win the master's admiration based on his morals and neither did Jesus commend the morality of this man. If you need moral examples, there are many other characters in the Bible you can learn from. Apparently something else was at stake here.

The reason we in the Church have not been able to understand such parables is because of the shroud of religious thinking that has covered our eyes for a long time. Not anymore! The wisdom of God is being unlocked once again to a generation seeking to advance His Kingdom like never before.

Jesus was making a point. In this parable he wasn't talking about morality, peace, love or even miracles. What Jesus was stressing here is that the Kingdom of God needs SHREWD, wise people who will be able to advance and expand the Kingdom in this generation.

The master of this steward was impressed with the qualities of his steward. He realized what an asset this man was to his business, observing the way he performed under pressure. The steward demonstrated shrewdness because he understood relationships and the fact the money (mammon) is only a tool for achieving a greater, long-term goal. The steward was a man who invested wisely in his future. Upon finding out what's been going on behind the scenes, the master commends the steward, instead of getting angrier. The master proved that he was ALSO looking at the big picture of his own future and most probably forgave the steward for his former unjust dealings. He may have even gained back a loyal and obviously very entrepreneurial manager.

What is Jesus' take on this story (which is possibly a true story according to some commentators of Luke 16)? Jesus makes a shocking statement: "the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." The same can be said of the Church today. Even though we're starting to make some slow progress, we're still a long way from the force we could have been in the earth after 2,000 years of Church history. You can also look at the last 500 years of post-reformation history or even the last 100 years of Pentecostalism, which we celebrated earlier this year. It’s true there are many encouraging reports of Kingdom advancement in certain parts of the world. However, the worldwide Body of Christ, or at least the portion that walks in reformation/revival truths and places high premium on the Great Commission—supposedly the most progressive part of the Church—is still not the powerful world changing force it could be.

For textual clarity, I'll call this segment of the Body of Christ “the Kingdom Advancing Church.” Now, that doesn't actually mean that all modern pro-Charismatic churches are consciously advancing the Kingdom. I think we can safely include in the Kingdom Advancing segment of the Church all those churches, movements, groups and even denominations that are the result of past authentic moves of God in the earth whose main thrust was advancing the Kingdom. The Pentecostal revival, the Charismatic and Latter Rain movements and others have all contributed, each in their own way to make this present Kingdom Advancing segment of the Church what it is.

Amazingly enough, many ministries which came out of such authentic moves of God have presently been unable to translate for this generation the true meaning of the legacy of their revival origins. Often times they fail to:

a) appreciate it in light of Kingdom advancement (the big picture) and,

b) replicate it with wisdom in this generation (by extracting the principles and the truths of the past moves of God and repackaging them and making them relevant to this generation).

Even some of the leaders of whole denominations and movements are sometimes ignorant of the true Kingdom-advancing thrust and purpose of the moves that gave birth to it all. Still, such leaders, movements and churches, by the sheer power of practicing and preaching proven Kingdom principles that the movement restored to the Church, have been able to bear fruit, albeit not in the full measure and sometimes flawed in nature.

The missing element here is WISDOM.

It's amazing how the Church lacks the WISDOM to extract Kingdom principles even from the Bible. We have many biblically well informed and educated leaders and Christians in the Church today. Still, education is not enough when it comes to advancing the Kingdom. The Church needs wisdom, the type of entrepreneurial wisdom Jesus spoke of in Luke 16:8. Wisdom goes beyond knowing the Scriptures, which is knowledge. Wisdom has to do with the way we combine, add and subtract the knowledge we've accumulated in such a that it produces results which benefit humanity. Factual knowledge in and of itself doesn't change much of anything. Entrepreneurship is the art of solving non-mathematical equations, which involve values such as historical data, state of the economy, market realities, socio-political dynamics, managerial skills and strategic partnerships. The math is only needed for the bottom line. However, much "transcendental-in-nature” calculus is going on in an entrepreneur’s head before and after they launch their new enterprise.

Wisdom (not just knowledge) is needed in every area of life, not just in the area of pastoring a church and studying the Bible.

Notice, it was Jesus who said the children of this world are wiser than the children of light. Obviously, becoming born again in and of itself doesn't make us educated, entrepreneurial or even wise. That's why there's a whole book on wisdom in the Bible. Wisdom has to be sought. Wisdom is the principal thing (Prov. 4:7). Solomon sought wisdom and he was given wisdom.

There are two very important truths we must grasp in our quest for wisdom.

1) Wisdom is given to individuals, not to groups of people and organizations

There is not ONE instance in the Bible or in Church history where God gave wisdom to a group of people—it just doesn't work that way with God. There's no such thing as "group wisdom." The same is true for with authority. It's really the Kingdom principle of stewardship. God gives wisdom to specific individuals for the common benefit of all covenant people. He can then hold accountable a specific individual for his obedience or disobedience. Luke 16 is as much about accountability as it is about wisdom. Often times the reason power, wealth and fame corrupt people is because they refuse to be accountable to anyone. But God is looking for individuals who will go through the process to qualify for his wisdom and who will also ask for his wisdom.

People groups can choose to be wise and hearken to the words of someone who received wisdom from God, but there's no such thing as "group wisdom."

For instance, Paul the apostle, when faced with relational problems in the Corinthian church asked the question, "Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? (1 Cor. 6:5)

Paul expected the church to recognize specific wise men, who would have the wisdom to bring justice and solve grievances, thus restoring the harmony of the community.

Interestingly enough, Jesus refers to the sending of apostles and prophets to certain people groups as an act of the wisdom of God, “Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute.” (Luke 11:49)

Apparently, there is no such thing as "one size fits all" or "one apostle fits all" technology in the Kingdom. Even Paul recognized he wasn't an apostle to all, or at least not territorially. I want to submit to you that this is the reason some nations and some regions of the earth have not seen Kingdom advancement despite the enormous amount of resources and effort being poured into these regions. Serbia, Turkey and Greece are three that come to mind, but there are of course many other examples. There are also Western European nations who have been well "reached" with the conventional missionary arsenal of crusades, literature and service, ultimately not producing the expected results.

The key to such regions are "sent ones,” not necessarily big money or big names. We must pray for God to raise (and support when he does raise) apostles who are sent to specific regions, not just to do the old thing of "supporting missions” (and all the while not knowing what’s going on). True apostles, who have been territorially assigned to a specific region or a group of people have an "organic" pipeline of wisdom coming to them. These keys for territorial breakthrough will most likely come to the church (a group, community) through such pipelines of wisdom, which God establishes with those whom He has assigned, anointed, appointed and empowered to bring Kingdom advancement to the benefit of all of His people.

2) Wisdom distribution and divine order

The other kind of balancing truth to what I just mentioned before is that God never gives ALL of his wisdom to a single individual alone. That's why Paul the apostle states in 1 Cor. 13:9, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.”

When it comes to any Kingdom enterprise, it's important to understand the principle of leadership. God will raise specific individuals (a man or a woman) to be the principal visionary of God's Kingdom enterprise. But if this visionary is truly a wise person, he or she will know the following:

a) Throughout history God has never done anything significant in the earth WITHOUT a specific chosen man or a woman and,

b) Throughout history God has never done anything significant ONLY THROUGH a single man or a woman He has raised.

In other words, we must realize there's a certain divine order when it comes to wisdom distribution and stewardship of authority. And if God's chosen Kingdom leaders are one of the true wise men and women Paul is speaking of in 1 Cor. 6:5, they would also know that in God's economy of wisdom distribution, He has most probably assigned other wise and anointed men and women to also become part of the execution of the apostolic mandate. Truly wise apostles and prophets will know that "we know in part and we prophecy in part."

The lack of understanding of this powerful Kingdom principle is the reason why many movements go bad when the patriarch of the movement fails to establish the proper government of the enterprise God entrusted him or her with. That's why apostles have to be not only great generals and builders, but first and foremost, they have to be successful spiritual patriarchs. Notice I didn't say fathers. Patriarch in translation means "a ruling father." Due to the great number of people coming from dysfunctional families, the Church is full of people who suffer from various "chronic" diseases, rejection topping the list. The rejection syndrome is plaguing strategic leaders just as much as it's destroying the lives of millions of ordinary believers. Thankfully, the ministry of healing and deliverance has been gaining more and more prominence in the Church in the last decade, which is now resulting in more and more people being restored emotionally and spiritually. This of course increases the chances of God raising more strategic, high-impact leaders who can carry the weights and the pressures of Kingdom service.

Thus we understand that there could be an element of carnal seeking of spiritual fathers and mothers for the sake of SELF. The truth is that we need far more than soulish comfort and "spiritual adoption." We need some spiritual patriarchs, who know not only how to raise sons and daughters, but will do so with the purpose of training them how to rule on the earth with and under the lordship of Christ.

Such sons and daughters become the natural extension of extraordinary Kingdom leaders. In maturity, they can share in the execution of the apostolic mandate on all levels, most importantly on a governmental level. More Kingdom enterprises have failed due to the "hireling" syndrome than anything else. Extraordinary visionaries could never accomplish what God has called them to do if they are surrounded by self-seeking hirelings. The success of God's Kingdom enterprise is not measured only by the quantity of the achievement (which comes through visionary leadership), but is also measured by the quality of our apostolic works. By quality I refer to the level of Christlikeness seen in the churches, companies and even whole cities and nations we are called to raise in the earth. The ultimate purpose of God is not dominion in and of itself. The ultimate purpose of God is Christlikeness, which of course can't be established without walking in dominion, whether on personal or societal level.

BACK TO INVESTING

Slowly but surely, I've worked my way up to this point, where I'm about to share insights regarding Kingdom advancement as seen from my battle position.

For 12 years our ministry was based in Sofia, which is Bulgaria's capital. I founded a local church, which in the early 90’s was one of the fastest growing churches in the nation. Our church grew from membership of zero to 1,000 in about 4 years. The church started as an "organic" Kingdom enterprise out of my own conversion to Christ in 1989. It was a totally "grass-roots" thing without any input or support from an outside source, both spiritually and financially. Over 90% of our people were our own fruit, i.e. brand-new believers, not a transplant from other churches. Later on we partnered with different ministries from Western Europe and the United States. But thankfully, the church and the network grew organically without any outside funding.

Today our ministry, even though not growing at the same pace, is still a trend-setter in its own right and one of the leading churches and networks in Bulgaria. Numerically, our vertical network of churches brings together around 2,000 people. Indirectly and in more of a horizontal fashion, we influence on a regular basis up to 10,000 believers through our media products and conferences.

If you knew the spiritual situation in Europe, you would agree that these are good results. They’re not remarkable and spectacular as the results we're seeing in some mega-churches in Hungary, Russia and the Ukraine, but nevertheless they are good results for Eastern Europe and the Balkans in particular.

Four years ago my wife and I left our base church in Bulgaria, installing brand new leadership to lead. The primary reason for this move was my conviction that God was calling us to access apostolically 15 nations in the next 15 years. Instead of capitalizing on our momentum locally and committing to build a mega-church (as I had always intended), we left the known in order to reach for the unknown. I'm still the overseeing apostle of our national apostolic network and I still directly develop 5 of the 12 departments of the work. Through the use of video and audio conferencing and other means of technology, I directly oversee projects and monitor the work closely. My frequent travel and presence on-site allows everyone to feel two things: 1) they are part of a global operation and 2)as a leader I am committed to walking with them through the process.

The vision of our church in Sofia is to become one of the leading apostolic centers in the world in the 21st century. We plan on achieving this by raising Kingdom believers who transform the city and the nation in the power of the dominion mandate of Gen 1:28. Paul said of the Thessalonians that they had become an example to the whole region (1 Thes. 1:7)/ Developing a growing Kingdom community (a local church), buying land and building a facility for our meetings are only part of the process and a fragment of the big picture God has given us. We're in for transforming a nation. It involves long-term planning and commitment to a purpose.

Then, in the middle of it all, the Lord spoke to me and said, "I will give you access into 15 nations in 15 years" and as a result we raised up new leadership and moved to the United States, where our family lives now, and from where I travel to the different nations God has commissioned me to.

WHAT IS APOSTOLIC ACCESS? HOW WAS IT DONE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT?

Thankfully, we have the model of Paul the apostle. He was busy accessing new regions, making apostolic connections and raising up churches and communities. Yes, he was preaching, teaching and authoring, but if he didn't build a net of covenant relationships, there wasn't going to be a "net" to contain and demonstrate the good things God was releasing through Paul via the pipeline of wisdom.

The old pattern of accessing nations was based on an "outside-in" strategy. Big name evangelists would come in and "hit" on a country through large scale campaigns. I'm not downplaying the importance of public gatherings. However, I can boldly argue with facts and figures that such approaches can only be useful if teamed with wisdom and in coordination with the territorial leadership, which is a steward of a comprehensive divine strategy for national transformation.

The apostolic paradigm we see in the Acts of the apostles is the biblical "inside-out" principle, which we see already in the first chapters of Genesis. God, through the dominion mandate, started the whole process of subduing the earth by giving one couple stewardship over one garden. Legally, they were entitled to the whole Earth, but started with a single garden at first (and I'm sure it was a big garden, not a funny 1-acre lot in a bad part of town).

When I saw this inside-out approach of the apostle Paul, I realized this would not be easily understood—it's not a spectacular and flamboyant style of ministry.

But again, here it was in the Bible.

Paul gathered an apostolic team around himself. The team was diverse in every way: racially, educationally, culturally and age-wise. But they all recognized Paul's visionary leadership and responded by being faithful and by following the dreamer from Tarsus. Paul applied the Kingdom seed principle of Kingdom advancement. While he traveled and preached to the masses, they were never his primary target. Paul didn't INVEST in the masses. He EXPOSED the masses to the message of the Kingdom, but invested his best in specific individuals and specific churches.

Why?

Because he understood how the seed principle applied to Kingdom advancement.

Mark 4:31-32 says, “It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth. But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.”

If you had invested $1,000 in George Soros' businesses in 1969, you would be the proud owner of $6,000,000 dollars today.

Jesus said that the children of this world are wiser than the children of light.

How are we going to grow and advance the Kingdom of God in the earth?

While most people are impressed and fascinated with spectacular events, mega-churches and polished pulpit performances, I want to submit to you that if the Kingdom of God is going to advance in the earth, it will happen when God's extraordinary leaders and visionaries discover the "investment opportunities" God is sending their way and begin to wisely "invest" in God's chosen Kingdom leaders. Some will be assigned to the gathering and leading of Kingdom communities (traditionally known as "pastoring a church"). Others will lead whole corporations. Yet others will be lawmakers. Some will be educators and academic leaders in their generation. God has given talents to each and every believer.

If we invested in actually raising up whole and effective Kingdom people, we would see a dramatic shift in how the Church is positioned in the earth. Even though this is a proven economic principle and the "children of this world" are using it to become millionaires and billionaires, the Church refuses to face the truth.

Unfortunately, this is due largely to the fact that the present religious system in the developed economies, such as the United States, has established a religious-socioeconomic system, which places a high premium on pulpit performance, organizational management skills and personality charisma, rather than on character, wisdom for building and anointing for Kingdom service. We have forsaken the foundation upon which our apostolic mandate should be built upon and have disproportionately focused on the outward elements.

Psa. 11:3 says, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Wouldn't it be great if the Church was faithful to God in the foundational matters and then also excelled in the so-called outward features of ministry?

The Pauline principle of "accessing" nations by identifying, raising and developing Kingdom people is very similar to the economic principle which made Soros and other investors into legendary, iconic figures in our world.

I've chosen not to wait until I'm in my 60's to start raising up others. Today, even though still a small beginning, our international apostolic network has gained foothold already in 6 different nations. By identifying, developing and activating strategic leaders and churches, we're setting the stage to see major Kingdom advancements in the nations where God commissions us to go.

There are challenges. The beginnings are slow. Building people and churches from the inside-out is a tedious process, which takes a lot of patience. It takes education, restoring people through healing and deliverance, making everyone disciples. Starting from scratch is not the most popular methodology in ministry today and yet that's the very reason we have so many recycled believers in our churches and such a small rate of new believers coming into the Kingdom on a regular basis. The enemy is attacking us in various ways. The religious systems are against "non-authorized" leaders who boldly access territories previously controlled by tradition and mediocrity.

“But we remind ourselves, as the apostle Paul said, that our work in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58).

As Kingdom people, we're setting up the stage for the greatest take over that's ever happened in world history:

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” (Dan 2.44)