Banning Liebscher opens his book, “Rooted” with this claim:
“Deep inside every follower of Jesus is a desire to have a visible, lasting impact in the world.[1]
Is this true? There are two parts to this. First, is that what everyone really wants, and second is it what we should want. Your first reaction might be to say “Well actually, no that’s not my desire. I really just want to survive at times and if we move beyond that, I want to be faithful, live a godly life, love my family and serve Jesus well.” The claim of “lasting impact” seems to be an overreach. But maybe Liebscher might be inclined to push back on that pointing out that he had stated “deep down”. In other words, surviving and being faithful might be the best you can hope for at the moment but deep down, that longing is there, just waiting to be awakened. However, it also seems to go against the ethos promoted by Count Nikolaus Von Zinzendorf, the 18th century Moravian leader.
“Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten”
Again, perhaps there is a way of reconciling the two approaches. After, all, preaching the Gospel will have an impact, even if you personally are forgotten. To make a decision though, we need to dig into what Leibscher means by his claim. He goes on to say:
This desire was born in us when we believed the gospel. We who have tasted “the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16) not only want to see that power at work in our lives, but we want to see it working through us, bringing the life and hope of Jesus to a broken world. This desire for lasting impact is not our idea; it is God’s. In John 15, Jesus announced that He chose and appointed us to bear fruit: I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing….You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. (verses 5, 16, NIV) If you are a follower of Jesus, then your calling and destiny are to be fruitful. Fruit is not a bunch of spiritual or religious activities like going to church, reading your Bible, keeping the Ten Commandments, or even preaching the gospel. Fruit means that when people taste your life, you taste like Jesus. If you are fully grafted into Jesus, the vine, then He says your life should produce tangible results that make people say, “Now that is Christlike.”[2]
At first glance this looks like something we might possibly agree with. Yes, we do want to see the power of the Gospel at work in the lives of people around us, yes we are meant to be fruitful. However, Leibscher goes on to say:
“Abundant, enduring fruitfulness is the mandate on your life. Ultimately, enduring fruitfulness in your life and the rest of the body of Christ is the key to seeing nations transformed, cities impacted, and culture shaped.[3]
Here is perhaps just a little hint that Liebscher means something different to Zinzendorf. It is important to hear him from within the context he speaks and writes. Liebscher is the founder of Jesus Culture, originally a youth ministry of Bethel, Redding, CA, now functioning as a church in its own right but very much part of the movement. So, “impact” needs to be heard in the context of The Seven Mountain Mandate to achieve dominion over culture, politics, education and business. It also needs to be heard in the context of the belief that our aim is to recreate Heaven on Earth and that the church with its fivefold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers and pastors is the conduit or funnel through which this happens.
We often get a feel for what people are seeking to communicate by the personal testimony they back it up with. What does impacting the world mean personally for Banning Leibscher? Well, he tells us:
My early twenties were a season of seed planting in my life. At the time, I was serving as youth pastor at Bethel Church in Redding, California, where exciting things were happening. By the hundreds, people were coming to know God, coming back to God, receiving healing of their hearts, minds, and bodies, and being filled with incredible joy and hunger for more of Him. The environment seemed to stir and awaken people’s hopes and dreams for what God wanted to do in and through their lives. It showed up in our sermons, our prayers, our worship songs, and our conversations—everyone was catching a vision for something God was calling them to do. I was no different. I dreamed about the impact I would have on the world. Practically every minister who came through town and preached at our church called me out in meetings to confirm what God was calling me to do and pray things over me regarding my future. It felt like I was being barraged. with encouraging words from people about my destiny. It was both exhilarating and terrifying to grab hold of the vision God was building in my heart and say, “Yes, God! Let’s do this!”[4]
He then tells us that he had to first go through twenty years of preparation using the examples of Moses and Joseph to back this up. Why does this matter? Well, the implication that it is what Leibscher is doing now which is fruitfulness. For that 20 years he had to live in a place of dissatisfaction, if he was being fruitful, then it was nowhere near the kind of level that he expected. And let’s face it, most people will not be claiming the kind of impact Leibscher was having during that time even at the peak of their vocation. So, does that mean that most Christians fail? Does it mean that God is dissatisfied with them? Or isn’t it just possible, that the growth in holiness that should be happening, the putting to death of sinful desire and the production of love, kindness, joy, patience etc is the abundant fruitfulness.
Leibscher does go on to say that success is defined in terms of heart alignment and what lasts eternally rather than short term results. However that doesn’t undo the impact of his own biographical examples. Additionally, in another, book, Journey of a World Changer, Leibscher offers daily readings to help people become world changers. Each daily reading includes some testimony from exemplary world changers. These are all stories of people being called to be revivalists, working miracles, achieving prominence, saving thousands etc.
Is there a place in Liebscher’s world for the person who goes into the office each day, from time to time gets to pray for a colleague or invite a friend to the Alpha course? What about the mum at home, praying for her children early each morning before waking them, preparing their breakfast, taking them to school, cleaning up their mess, collecting them from school, reading and playing with them, telling them Bible stories, praying with them and tucking them in?[5] What about the guy who goes round each day collecting bins with a smile on his face despite the anxiety he has struggled with? Then there’s the grieving widower who lost his wife and still mourns her but turns up to open the church building and welcome people each Sunday? How about the lad who every day says no to pornography? Aren’t these bearing much fruit.
The problem with Liebscher’s approach is that whilst he wants to eschew the world’s ways of measuring success, it still slips into that kind of thinking. In that respect, it is a form of prosperity gospel. He writes:
Today God is raising up a movement of world changers who have a new mindset that nothing is impossible. They have rejected the lies of the enemy (such as God does not heal or intervene in situations anymore), and they are pressing forward to see how much of God’s glory can invade the earth in their lifetime. This new breed understands their authority and acts on it. They are unstoppable. In fact, they are so convinced about who they are and so passionate about bringing Heaven to earth, that nothing else matters (Liebscher, 52).[6]
If traditional Prosperity Gospel is about individual success and Christian Nationalism offers a form of national prosperity teaching, then the Bethel vision is for a form of generational prosperity. It is the promise that there is something special about a generation and also tends to be framed in a form of end-time thinking.
The truth is that Scripture doesn’t tell us that we have got to be world changers. The Gospel is a world changer and indeed the work of the Church as a corporate worldwide entity might be described as such but the role of world changer isn’t a burden that Christ places on us individually. So take a breath, relax, stop working about he great things you still haven’t achieved, throw away the bucket list and start enjoying Jesus.
[1] Liebscher, Banning. Rooted: The Hidden Places Where God Develops You (p. 1). PRH Christian Publishing. Kindle Edition.
[2] Liebscher, Banning. Rooted: The Hidden Places Where God Develops You (p. 2). PRH Christian Publishing. Kindle Edition. [2]
[3] Liebscher, Banning. Rooted: The Hidden Places Where God Develops You (p. 3). PRH Christian Publishing. Kindle Edition.
[4] Liebscher, Banning. Rooted: The Hidden Places Where God Develops You (p. 7). PRH Christian Publishing. Kindle Edition.
[5] For clarity that could be a mum or a dad!
[6] Liebscher, Banning. Journey of a World Changer: 40 Days to Ignite a Life that Transforms the World (p. 43). Destiny Image. Kindle Edition.
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