Transformation from the Bottom Up

Before the problem of growing welfare budgets can be resolved, society will have to be restored to a place where people like Alex and Jack can be supported by their community. That transformation cannot be led from the top by the government. Society can only be restored from the bottom up, as people change the way they live.

I have looked around to see who is going to lead this change, and house churches are the only game in town. We are experts in loving one another and loving our neighbours. That is our distinctive. We know how to build bodies of people in which different members support each other (1 Cor 12). We have the vision, the commitment and the empowering of the Holy Spirit to change society from the bottom up. That is why I am involved and have written a book about Being Church. Jesus is not just interested in reforming the church, his ultimate objective is to use a renewed church to transform society.

The early church proved that it can be done. They did not attempt to reform Caesars taxation policy. They got on the job at the local level. They provided support for widows. The took care of abandoned babies. They built communities where dysfunctional people could be cared for. That approach transformed their society from the bottom up and led to the collapse of the Roman Empire.

The good thing about the bottom up approach is that we do not need anyone’s permission to implement. It does not need government permission. It does not need government funding. Resource Management Act approval is not required. All it needs is a dozen people deciding to live differently and starting to do it. The transformation may not happen quickly. It may take a couple of hundred years. On the other hand things could multiply and transformation of society could come quickly.

The one obstacle is lack of leadership. Most people will only make these changes, if they have pioneering leaders with a different vision to follow. Unless people with leadership skills and experience capture the vision and show the way, nothing will happen.

Transformation of society from the bottom up is the only real solution to the problems of welfare that people worried about. Anything else is just whacking the barometer in attempt to change the weather.