The Fall and Rise of Humpty Dumpty!

One of the most commonly asked questions to me as I travel is, "What is the Holy Spirit doing in the 21st Century?" My answer is quick and simple. I find all over the world the same thing. God is shifting the church and people in the church from church concentric to community concentric. The ethos or culture of the church in the book of Acts was always community centered. The church was in a city to enhance the city or bring it up to fill its potential. Through the years the church began to disconnect from the community, becoming a world unto itself. That's what I call church concentric. However, in the 1990's, we began to see a significant shift as God began to turn the church inside out! After all, salt can't flavor what it doesn't touch. Community concentric requires the church to contribute to and cooperate with other spheres of influence God has placed in the community. I called this concept "Humpty Dumpty."
Here we have Humpty Dumpty, or the community. Notice the five mutually exclusive spheres of influence in the community designed to serve the community. Every real community has education, church, government, business and media/entertainment spheres of influence. The strategic alliance of these entities is essential to a community to 'be all that it can be'. Each of these entities has a unique purpose and contribution to make to our communities. However, none of these entities exist for themselves . . . they exist for community enhancement and the betterment of the community.
Now let's explore what each of these spheres of influence contribute to the community. I'll use the analogy of the body to illustrate this.

The church contributes the essential character core values necessary for all of the community to operate by. Values such as respecting others, doing what you say you will do, authenticity, diversity, honesty, integrity, morals, etc. Without these values, the community will have Enron's, Monica Lewinsky's, jails, agenda-driven education, etc. Without the contribution of values and spiritual awareness, the community underachieves. Realizing its full potential will be impossible.

Education is crucial to any community or society. Without education, people drink brown water and get sick. Education enables better health, wealth, and stealth. Education is part of man filling the earth and subduing it. Education allows the focus and awareness necessary to make the people in the community better. All over the world, wherever education is lacking, the community underachieves.

Government is the skeleton of any community, society or country. Romans 13:1 says government is of God. The government provides the skeleton of chains of command and leadership in a community. Government sets up the boundaries by which a community operates. It collects taxes that bring infrastructure to a community. Government protects a community from those who would bring calamity and hurt to a community.

Media/entertainment represents the senses of a community. Media operates much like the nerves in a body. Media reports what is going on in a community. Media gives us feedback. Media facilitates communication and community awareness. Media is an outlet for the arts, sports, news and other essential information necessary to the well-being of any community. Without essential core values, the media becomes the maker of news, rather than its vital role as the reporter of news.

Business is everything else in the body. In every community, business and people employed by business were designed to have an enormous role in the creation of wealth in a community. The ability to create goods and services, make a profit, provide employment, pay taxes to the community and tithes to the church, pay school tuitions, etc. make business absolutely essential in community transformation and enhancement.

There is a bumper sticker in America that says . . ."Humpty Dumpty was pushed." That certainly plays to the victim mentality that currently pervades our culture but I don't think that's the case with Humpty. What comes before the fall? The Bible says pride comes before the fall. So now we have the 5 different spheres of the community whose rolls are very different, each thinking they are right and the others are wrong. Can you hear each one screaming "I'm right . . . you're wrong!" The truth is each is right . . . partially. However, the truth also is that none alone can bring community to fullness, completeness and purpose.
When a sphere of influence thinks it is the sphere of influence, everyone loses. The church was never designed to exist by itself. It needs the other entities to bring their contribution also. The heart is for the body, not the body for the heart. The same is true with the other entities.
Community spheres of influence were meant to complete one another not to compete with one another. The church trying to be the government is trouble. The government trying to be the church is trouble. Education needs essential church core values or it will underachieve. Also, the church could use education?s contribution in church. Get the picture? The key to real, tangible and lasting community transformation is discovering what all these spheres can do together for the community while honoring and including each sphere's contribution!
Did you ever wonder why all he king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty together again? Perhaps it is because they didn't ask the King!
My soon-to-be completed book called "Intelligent Fire: the Next Step in Real, Tangible and Lasting Community Transformation" is about putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. Actually, that's the mission of NATIONStrategy. Healthy communities come from healthy spheres of influence working together in strategic alliances and mutual collaborations for the betterment of the community. Ultimately you and your family benefit. As Jer. 23:9 says, "In your community's welfare you will have welfare."


I hope you can see the value of NATIONStrategy. We're attempting to help put the pieces of families, neighborhoods, communities and nations back together again. We facilitate the strategic alliance of church, business, government, education and media/entertainment for the sake of the community and the benefit of the community. These alliances are 'trans-secular' and 'trans-sacred'. The community is a cause higher than the boundaries of both the secular and sacred. Actually, the community is both secular and sacred or what the Bible calls kings and priests. That's normal!
Our mission is unleashing the potential of communities through the strategic alliance of church, business, government, education and media/entertainment to the benefit of all in the community.
Our vision is envisioning and empowering today's leaders and influencers in church to be tomorrow's leaders and influencers in the community.
Our strategy to fulfill our mission and vision is communicating a specific set of core values that encourage and empower churches to partner with other churches and community spheres of influence for the betterment of the community.
Simply stated, our assignment is to revelate the vision, values and strategies to put Humpty Dumpty back together again!

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