Steve Lyston | The church and market demands

Regardless of the product, once there is a value and a need, there is going to be a demand placed on it. So, if there is a need within a nation for security and protection, or for gaining power, or for employment - regardless of the source, then a demand will be placed on solutions to those needs whether the solution comes from a positive source or not. So, for example, if a person does not believe in God, but they are sick and in need of healing, they are going to search for healing regardless of the source.

Recognise that the world sees everything as dollars and cents. So, making profit and maintaining power are the main, if not sole, goals. So, in order to maintain power, they are willing to do anything, including evil, as long as the opportunity presents itself.

THE MARKET-DRIVEN WORLD

We live in a world that is market-driven and competitive, and we either get ahead or fall behind. We fight for space in 'brand-name' or Ivy League schools; and we fight for upper-class honours versus lower-class honours to graduate. Meanwhile, some join civic organisations and clubs or even sleep with the boss to get ahead. We even have persons auctioning their virginity in order to get ahead.

The Church should not be naÔve, but instead create an environment to counteract the evil so that people will come to the Church. Jesus is the ultimate App creator, and He has an app for everything!

The absence of the power of God, which is the genuine and authentic source for healing and peace for mankind, results in the creation of counterfeits - yoga, witchcraft, idol worship, and so on - that propel the people into sin. So, a politician or business person would not employ a suit-wearing obeah man/witchcraft worker/diviner to advise him using the 'illegal' sources of witchcraft and divination if the churches were listening to the Holy Spirit in order to know what to tell them in their search for direction.

WHAT CREATES THE MARKET NEED?

If there are no opportunities for our youth in terms of employment, they are going to seek after them, and, if they can't find them, they are going to create them. And while they are searching, they are genuinely looking for power to protect and guide them because they are not seeing a genuine, authentic representation of God's power to attract them to Him and the kingdom and repel them from evil. So, we, as the Church, need to shut our mouths, because we have suppressed the healing power; we have quenched the power of the Holy Spirit; and we have rejected the existence and divine power of speaking in tongues, prophecy, the deliverance ministry, and the manifestation of the supernatural. Because of that, we have stopped feeding the poor, have stopped creating jobs, and have replaced the manifestation of God's power with PhDs, theology, and philosophies. As a result, we have allowed a market to be created where people are seeking alternatives. It is as if they are seeking the generic drug rather than the original and genuine article. Realise that a sermon without power is simply a bunch of words well put together - it doesn't work anymore because people need to see the power of God.

GET BACK TO THE ORIGINAL BRAND

We, as the representatives of God's kingdom, are called to empower, edify, and bring transformation. We are called to touch every aspect of society - bankers, politicians, the widow, and the youth. We are called to teach the world kingdom economic principles and the danger of making certain decisions without consulting God. We ought to establish training and empowerment centres within our communities. We are not called to simply occupy space and be irrelevant and ineffective. We are the ones to show people the way, and teach politicians the dangers of making certain covenants because God gives us insight, foresight, and illumination. It is no longer business as usual.