At our last Advanced Camp I shared a few things as 'food for thought' for the campers. Each suggest was selected not as any particular endorsement or agreement, just something to think about and consider. Ultimately the goal was to give the men something to wrestle with as an exercise in critical thinking. One of those sections was a sermon I first heard many years ago from a fellow named Kris Vallatton. Kris can be a controversial person depending on your circle...which made his work just perfect for this exercise.Since then, several folks have asked for the text of that segment - so it's provided here as a point of reference and as a point of discussion. What do you think of what this man is saying? Does it ring true? Does it sound off? In the end our purpose is to stretch those faith muscles in association with the brain muscles and continue to give our allies good reasons to put passivity behind them forever.
Seven Pillars
...There are seven pillars of society:
Justice
The law is a facilitator of justice.
The law only has purpose in bringing about and sustaining justice.
When a society looses its grip on justice, the law begins to serve itself and taking on a life of its own.
This creates a culture where peace officers become law enforcement officers and justice courts become magistrates of the law.
Judges and juries are now charged with determining if someone broke the law, rather than if someone performed an injustice.
Peace
Peace is the foundation of government.
The purpose of all government is to facilitate peace.
When peace is removed from government, the government begins to serve itself. The goal of its officials becomes staying in power rather than extending the borders of peace.
Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of wholeness.
Love
Love is the purpose of fatherhood.
Fathers are facilitators of love.
When fathers loose love, fathers become bosses and families become his subjects.
Caring and compassion are replaced with sexual perversion and abandonment.
Happiness is no longer the fruit of loving relationships, but instead becomes the purpose of them. The thought, "I'm not happy" becomes the purpose of my actions.
Honor
Honor is the element in society that allows people to be empowered rather than controlled.
Honor is the responsibility of sons. They exemplify respect that results in order.
When honor is served instead of serving, it causes leaders to demand honor even when it is incongruent with their character.
This results in a culture of control that is manifest through fear.
Truth
Truth is more than honesty. It is the embodiment of reality.
The fruit of truth is life and the word of God is the facilitator of truth.
Teachers are the stewards of truth.
When truth is absent from a culture, the Bible begins to served instead of serving.
This consequently leads to people learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth.
Resulting in rules of religion being exchanged for the realities of relationship.
Righteousness
Righteousness is more than an accumulation of good character choices.
Righteousness is the visible expression of the habitation of an invisible yet holy God.
Righteousness is the personification of the very nature of God being manifest in His creatures resulting in his likeness emanating through his people.
When divinity is absent from a culture, Godliness is reduced to goodness which is attained through discipline instead of a pure heart.
Wisdom
Wisdom is the ability to rightly apply knowledge in a way that builds for the future that which is envisioned by the creator so that the divine ecosystem of heaven yields life.
Rulers are the stewards of wisdom.
They are to lead in a way that creates an environment that draws out and facilitates the destiny of people both individually and corporately.
When the definition of wisdom is reduced to the gathering and recalling of information it results in futility.
So how's that strike you?