Kingdom Governance Begins Within

In recent years, due in large part to badly run public administrations and private organisations, the concept of governance has become more and more prevalent and more and more misunderstood. There is much confusion as to what governance actually is. If you Google the word, you will see just what I mean – different types of governance will conjure up different images in people’s minds – global governance, political governance, corporate governance, nonprofit governance, regulatory governance, participatory governance – the list goes on.

Governance

The word governance comes from the Greek word ‘kubernaein‘ which simply means ‘to steer’. At its most basic, governance can be seen as the structures and decision-making processes that ensures the conduct of affairs of something or someone – in other words, the structures that steer. I propose then that governance can be found on a macro level in areas such as global governance or political governance or corporate governance or on a micro level such as community governance or church governance or family governance or even, I would posture, individual governance.

Whilst it entails how each individual body regulates itself, it will lend credence to how that body operates within the larger society – why? Because if I steer myself well, I will steer my family better, leading to me being able to steer the church well, the community well and so on and so on … it begins with self.

I pause here to note that I have also heard the words Government and governance used synonymously. They certainly have two different meanings. Government speaks of the leaders of a particular sphere of influence who employ and embody the principles of governance (whether good or bad). Governance, as we know, are the structures set in place by such leaders to ensure rulership or leadership.

Principles of Governance

It is generally accepted that regardless of what type of governance one speaks of, there are principles that seem to embody what good governance should look like – these are feel good concepts such as accountability, transparency, ethics, effectiveness, independence and inclusivity. I say ‘feel good’ because they do just that – they leave us with a sense of ‘all is well’. They can’t however be completely attainable – there is no seven step process, if you like, for attaining full accountability or transparency or independence. We can kind of get a sense of when something maybe feels right – it is why we can think that all is well when we read a company’s Annual Report or consider the outcome of an audit but only when someone with inside information blows the whistle, can we know that something was very rotten in the state of Denmark. But I digress …. In Christian circles, the words kingdom governance have been on the rise – I’ve heard it used in many a sermon, in talks, in prayer meetings and in fellowship discussions and yet, I have never actually seen anyone define it. As Christians, do we understand what it is we are asking God for when we pray for God to bring Kingdom Governance?

Kingdom

Kingdom is an interesting word and one that has spurred much debate amongst Christians over the years. It comes from the Hebrew word ‘mam-lakah’ which means dominion or sovereign rule or royal power. In essence Kingdom is meant to ensure rulership over the earth. All you need to do is look at the teachings of Jesus, to know that this is so. Jesus spoke always of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven (according to the Gospel of Matthew). From His very first public statements, Jesus spoke of the ‘Kingdom of God being near’ (Matthew 4:17) and throughout the New Testament we hear of God’s people being a ‘royal priesthood, a holy nation’ (1 Peter 2:9) and of God’s children being His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) on earth. Kingdom is very important and I dare say, probably one of the most important priorities of a Christian. The message of Matthew 6:33 is clear – we are to seek first His Kingdom. In the Lord’s Prayer at Matthew 6:10 where Jesus instructs His disciples to pray, ‘Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ .. to my mind, this requires that we seek the manifest presence of God on earth, to seek the influence of heaven on earth, to see God’s impact in our lives and in the lives of those around us.

King

As a quick aside, a Kingdom requires that there be a King. John 17:1 and Revelation 19:16 tells us that Jesus is Lord. Full stop. We don’t make Him Lord, He is Lord. All of creation answers to His name and all of humanity will one day bow down to Him. However, we do make a choice as to whether we give Him Lordship over our lives, whether we submit to Him and crown Him as King of all that we do and are. (Selah)

Kingdom Governance 

If governance requires that proper structures be put in place to steer, and kingdom requires that we seek the influence of heaven on earth then surely kingdom governance requires that we bring the governance of heaven, the structures of heaven, God’s reality – into our world.

Principles of Kingdom Governance

If we give thought to the Throne Room, the very heart of heaven itself, it is surrounded by seven spirits – the seven spirits of God. These are discussed in Revelation 4:5 which tells us that from the throne, the seven lamps burn and these are the seven spirits of God. This is better articulated in Isaiah 11: 1 to 3.

“Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear…”

This piece of scripture foretells of the life of Jesus and tells us that when Jesus walks the earth, He will do so with the seven spirits resting on Him. Now don’t misunderstand what I am saying – I am not saying that there are seven Holy Spirits, I am saying that the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in seven attributes of what I believe to be the Seven Principles of Kingdom Governance.

Jesus led not by what His eyes saw nor by what His ears heard. He led by the spirits of the Holy Spirit guiding, comforting and helping Him and when He was leaving to go back to His Father; He tried to explain this to His disciples. In John 16:7 He tried to get them to understand just how important the Holy Spirit would be in their lives and in ours.

What does it mean to be led not by what we see nor by what we hear? It means that as we yield to Him, the seven spirits of God will rest upon us.

The spirit of Wisdom is the element of discernment. Wisdom helps us to navigate what to do and how to do it. It is not a worldly wisdom that I am talking about but a wisdom that can only come from God, from seeking Him out for every area of our lives or situation that we face or every decision that we need to make.

The spirit of Understanding requires us to humble ourselves so as to serve others and to serve God. It tells us that God’s wisdom is available to us but only through the spirit of Understanding will we know what God is saying. It is supernatural revelation, secret insights into Him and His will for the earth. It is His understanding that brings light to a situation.

The spirit of Counsel talks about allowing God to counsel us or allowing God to use people in our lives to do so. It speaks of His personal instructions, His direction, His helping us to make good choices in every situation and every decision. It allows us to walk in His will.

The spirit of Power is the ability to see God’s will come to pass. It is God giving us the strength, the power, the might to do what is good and right, despite every objection and every opposition.

Knowledge like Wisdom can be gained through human experience and learning but the spirit of Knowledge is not a worldly kind of Knowledge. The spirit of Knowledge is coupled with the spirit of the Fear of the Lord and the book of Proverbs tells us that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge. So the two spirits operate together – with the Fear of the Lord, it is possible to rise above mechanical knowledge and allow God to reveal answers that we could not have gained in the natural.

The Fear of the Lord leads us to righteousness as the foundation of God’s Kingdom and His governance is founded on righteousness and justice.

Above all these is the Holy Spirit: the Counselor, the Guide, the Advocate, the Comforter – everything that we seek to achieve, we do so by and with the promptings of the Holy Spirit – every thought, every action, every decision.

It is only with the mind of Christ that we can succeed to achieve good governance so by extension then it is only those who seek the mind of Christ who could conceivably achieve it to the point of them no longer being mere ‘feel good’ concepts. We lull ourselves into a false sense of security if we think otherwise.

You see the feel-good concepts of accountability, transparency, ethics, effectiveness, independence and inclusivity all ensure and require that good governance is achieved for the sake of others – for the President, for the Ministers, for the Board of Directors, for the Management, for the Shareholders, for the investors, for the community, for the congregation – at every turn someone is looking and we better make sure that what they see is good governance.

However, the Principles of Kingdom Governance ensure that it is not about others but about us. We pursue righteousness because of who we are in Christ and because of who He is in us and so accountability, transparency, ethics, effectiveness, independence and inclusivity are not the principles that we seek to achieve; they become the by-products of who we are, of Kingdom living.

Self

Kingdom Governance begins with us – as Sons and Daughters, as members of a royal family – we are mandated to walk in transformation of thought, of heart, of mind and of spirit so as to ensure that the earth looks like heaven, that the earth is governed by the same principles that govern heaven. We are mandated to ‘steer’ well beginning at the micro level and working our way up to the macro level. This is not just proper and good governance but it is, without a doubt, perfect governance.

As we pray for God to bring Kingdom Governance, let us understand that God will only bring that which was bequeathed to us at the beginning of time.

So the question really is this: are you willing to be transformed to such an extent that you are able to carry what needs to be brought?

Zarina Prasadh is a Director of the Africa School of Governance