The Kwan: by Tim Kernan

The sign of Jonah. Why do we do Cold Contact Evangelism? by Tim Kernan on the 14th Dec 2008
[audio:WhyWeDoWhatWeDo/TK_CCEvangelism_2008-12-14.mp3]

TIDWELL “…it’s not just the money I deserve. It’s not just the “coin.” It’s the…” (He says this next word royally, as if it’s fine silk.)

TIDWELL (continuing) — “the kwan.”

JERRY “That’s your word?”

TIDWELL “Yeah, man, it means love, respect, community… and the dollars too. The package. The kwan.”

JERRY (impressed) “But how did you get “kwan?”"

TIDWELL (irritated) “I got there from “coin,” dude. Coin, coin… kwaaaan.”

JERRY “Great word. Towel?”

TIDWELL “No, I air-dry.”

This is a hilarious part of the film Jerry McGuire where Rod Tidwell, a down on his luck American Football player, is teaching his agent Jerry a new word: Kwan. As Tidwell (played by Cuba Gooding Jr) explains, kwan is so much more than coin. Kwan is also the love, respect, community and the money too! Its everything he wanted in life together all at once.

When I think about who had the Kwan in the bible, there are a few names that come to mind. I think, however that King Asa is probably the winner. He had it all; the full “Kwan” required to succeed in an incredible way.

2 Chronicals 15: 8-15 “(King Asa) …removed the detestable idols from the whole land of Judah and Benjamin and from the towns he had captured in the hills of Ephraim. He
repaired the altar of the LORD that was in front of the portico of the LORD’s temple.Then he assembled all Judah and Benjamin and the people from Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had settled among them, for large numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.

They assembled at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of Asa’s reign. At that time they sacrificed to the LORD seven hundred head of cattle and seven thousand sheep and goats from the plunder they had brought back. They entered into a covenant to seek the LORD, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and soul. All who would not seek the LORD, the God of Israel, were to be put to death, whether small or great, man or woman. They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.”

Here we see that King Asa had the conviction and personal righteousness to destroy the idols in the land and even recapture land that had fallen to the pagans. He repaired God’s altar in Jerusalem so that there could be sacrifices to God. He had large numbers of people; he gathered together not only his people Judah, but also won over the people of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon who had fled the unrighteousness in Israel as well. He set the example of seeking God wholeheartedly which encouraged all the people to seek the Lord with all their hearts and commit themselves fully to God. Together they insisted that the nation be made up of only the fully committed. If that was not enough, God blesses him with peace on all sides so that they could grow and build. King Asa truly had the Kwan…

As a church we need to get the “kwan” or what’s often called in the ministry the “critical mass” that is required to truly make a mark on London. Here are a few essential elements of critical mass:
1. Commitment: (Luke 14:25-35) It’s better to have a handful of committed disciples than a vast group of those who are sitting on the fence.
2. Unity: (John 17: 22-23) A complete unity in Christ lets the world know that the Jesus was sent by God. There are a lot of types of unity out there, however it’s really only unity in Christ that matters.
3. Personal Righteousness: (1 John 1: 5-10) God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. We need to walk in the light, allowing our sins to be seen through confession and repentance so that God can bless us and so we can have forgiveness and fellowship with one another.
4. Leadership: (1 Thesalonians 5:14) Leaders need to know how to focus on the few who are ready to work immediately and show the miracles that will help, encourage and warn the weak, timid and lazy.
5. The right equipment: (Ephesians 6:10-20) These must not be lacking in our lives and characters: Belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.
6. Growth in Numbers: (Acts 2:42-47) When the church is living the life depicted in Acts 2, the Lord adds to their number.
7. Money: (Acts 4: 32-37) Yes the church has always known how to spend money! God works though the hearts of disciples to give the church what it needs to for fill His will.
8. Joy and Happiness: (Philipians 4: 4-7) We must rejoice always in the Lord and let our gentleness be evident to all. A church with lots of joy and happiness is a church that is close to critical mass.

I think we can all agree that a church with all eight of these elements, even though it’s not an exhaustive list, is a church that is doing very very well. The next question is of course, how do we get this critical mass? On this matter the bible is absolutely crystal clear: Matthew 17: 20 “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” It is though faith that all these things are added to us as well. So then it might be asked: how do I get more faith? Again, the bible is clear: Romans 10: 17 “…faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” In short, when the Word is preached then our faith grows.

What does this mean? The message is simple: critical mass comes from faith, faith comes from preaching the word. It means that at the end of the day what moves us forward and builds our “kwan” or critical mass is the preaching of the Word. As Christians we instinctively know this yet we can start chasing the individual elements of critical mass, in and of themselves, without realizing that they all come from God who gives them to us to fulfill His Will. As disciples we need to build an incredibly strong conviction that in preaching the Word to the world we will give faith to others the way it was given to us. Through this growing of the faith to all nations, God will give us all the elements of critical mass to move us forward on His mission.

Sadly King Asa lost his confidence in God in his later years. In a number of instances he depended on his own strength and resources in order to save the nation and his life. He took gold from the temple to bribe a king to ally with him against another king. This drew a severe punishment from God. In his final days (2 Chronicals 16: 12-13) “…Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers.” Without his faith that came from the Word of God all of King Asa’s “kwan” left him and he died of a foot disease; not the best way to go…

Through the preaching of the Word, God will give us the faith and all the resources we need to accomplish His mission. Like King Asa, though the preaching of the word and sharing our faith we will destroy the false idols of the nation and recapture cities that have fallen into godlessness and apathy. By preaching the Word, we will give honour to God’s altar where the slain lamb gave his blood and we will gather large numbers of people from every nation. By sharing our faith we will call everyone to be totally committed disciples and by reaching out to others God will give us peace on all sides.

Are you sharing your faith to bring about God’s amazing victory or like Asa are you counting on your past victories? Are you spreading faith though the preaching of the Word or have you allowed Satan to decieve you and as a result take you out of the battle? Are you discouraged or are you going out there to find the next preachers, missionaries and leaders who will take our dream into the future? Let’s make a decision to push forward in our daily evangelism to get the “kwan” and critical mass which will take our vision of Europe and the world from a dream to reality.

With love,

Tim Kernan