8 Simple (but not easy) Rules for Movement: Part 2 - Taking Spiritual Responsibility for Your Jerusalem

The second key to multiplication is to take responsibility for our place.

Most parents with young children have, more times than we would care to admit, stood at the threshold of their child’s room and stared in holy horror at the mess scattered in front of them. Who knew that one pint-sized tyke could independently spawn such a cataclysmic scene? A veritable plastic salad of Lego pieces, baby doll body parts, Jurassic Park creatures, and happy meal cast offs all tossed and strewn everywhere — everywhere but the empty toy box.

We’ve all witnessed the scene. And we’ve all been tempted to kick into the self-cleaning mode to swiftly solve the problem and avoid a toddler’s mortal wrath by appealing for his assistance.

But, as in most things in life, easy is seldomly prudent. A wise parent will unswervingly respond with a firm commandment that no child ever wants to hear. Ever. “Ok, Billy, it’s time to clean your room.”

Since creation, there’s a certain built-in responsibility within us to take ownership of the place we call home. From the earliest age, we all need to learn to clean up our mess and bring order from chaos.

This type of work was a part of the very fabric of God’s original design.

After creating a pristine garden filled with abundant splendor fashioned by an infinitely glorious God, Adam was given a task: He was instructed to cultivate the world God made. This was an astounding privilege, and one that should not be so quickly sidestepped.

God could have made a world complete, lacking nothing. The very word “cultivate” gives a sense of the work to which Adam was called. He was to take the very good world God made and enkindle its latent potential to make it better, more beautiful, more representative of the glory of God.

The same work is given to all those who follow in Adam’s line. We are all called to bring beauty from brokenness, order from chaos, and peace from anything that threatens shalom. And we must begin this work right where God has planted us.

The second key to multiplication, in both our individuals lives and in our churches, is to take responsibility for our place. Read More