Transformation begins with you!

Are you tired of living an ordinary life? You were created to do great things! But how do you begin? God loves you and has a unique blueprint for your life - but it's up to you to find it and live it out.......

This is part of a caption from Ed Silvoso's book Transformation. I was flipping through the book and got caught up with 'The Five Paradigms' for sustainable transformation. It's such interesting reading! The Five Paradigms are:

1. The great commission is about discipling nations, not just people.
2. The marketplace (the heart of the nation) has already been redeemed by Jesus and now needs to be reclaimed by His followers.
3. Labor is the premier expression of worship on Earth, and every believer is a minister.
4. Our primary call is not to build the Church but to take the kingdom of God where the kingdom of darkness is still entrenched in order for Jesus to build His Church.
5. The premier social indicator that transformation has taken place is the elimination of systemic poverty.

But what is systemic poverty?
Systemic poverty is something that most people are born into and their fate is dictated and controlled by it. It needs to be eliminated because it reflects a scheme that is diabolical in design and evil in its implementation. It deprives the masses of people of their daily bread by stealing the fruit of their labor and keeping them in social misery.
In other words; it is an all-encompassing socio-economic structure that keeps people deprived. It exists because of an institutionalised attitude that legitimizes its twin evil premises that
1. Some people deserve more opportunity than others
2. There is not much that can or should be done about this prevailing social injustice - similar to how slavery was justified in the past. Because this evil is systemic, it will not be eradicated by simply taking care of individuals at the macro level or providing massive aid at the macro level. It must be uprooted.

There are four kinds of poverty:

1. Spiritual poverty: afflicts those who do not know that God is their father.
2. Relational poverty: encompasses those whose focus is on themselves at the expense of the community they are a part of.
3. Motivational poverty: is a state of hopelessness that engulfs those who have no adequate way or means (or the confidence) to tackle tomorrows challenges.
4. Material poverty: impacts those who lack the basic necessities to sustain themselves

The flip side of these four dimensions of poverty is spiritual, relational, motivational and material wealth.