but a unified whole that is made up of several vital pieces,
each one of which must take its own path toward transformation.
These segments of society should be seen as apostolic spheres.”
–C. Peter Wagner, The Church in the Workplace, (Regal, 2006), p. 112 [emphasis added].
The quote above comes from a chapter in C. Peter Wagner’s book The Church in the Workplace, which is an account of the marketplace transformation movement. This book is an attempt to justify a new role for the church co-mingling with the corporate business world, based on the newly concocted doctrines of C. Peter Wagner, George Otis, Ed Silvoso, Dennis Peacocke, and a host of other Latter Rain and Reconstructionist leaders.
In a chapter entitled “Apostles in the Workplace,” Wagner details the “strategy for war” for marketplace transformation, and puts out a plea for leaders to “standardize our terminology” for the “7 spheres” or “7 mountains” or “7 gates” of society that must be transformed. Wagner suggests “using a list that can be traced back to Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, and Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade.” (p. 112)
As the story goes, Cunningham and Bright each had a spiritual experience in which the vision was imparted to them by God of “seven chief categories of society” where the church needed to “concentrate” to “turn the nations back to God.” Wagner quotes a portion of Loren Cunningham’s book Making Jesus Lord (YWAM, 1988, p. 134), where he recounts this experience. Cunningham wrote:
“Sometimes God does something dramatic to get our attention. That’s what happened to me in 1975. My family and I were enjoying the peace and quiet of a borrowed cabin in the Colorado Rockies. I was stretched out on a lounge chair in the midday warmth, praying and thinking. I was considering how we Christians – not just the mission I was part of, but all of us – could turn the world around for Jesus.
“A list came to my mind: categories of society which I believed we should focus on in order to turn nations around to God. I wrote them down, and stuck the paper in my pocket.
“The next day, I met with a dear brother, the leader of Campus Crusade For Christ, Dr. Bill Bright. He shared with me something God had given him – several areas to concentrate on to turn the nations back to God! They were the same areas, with different wording here and there, that were written on the page in my pocket. I took it out and showed Bill and we shook our heads in amazement.
“Here’s a list (refined and clarified a bit over the years) that God gave me that sunny day in Colorado:
1. The home
2. The church
3. Schools
4. Government and politics
5. The media
6. Arts, entertainment, and sports7. Commerce, science, and technology
“These seven spheres of influence will help us shape societies for Christ.” [emphasis added]
Remarkably, even though Wagner was a mission leader who hobnobbed in the same circles as Cunningham and Bright, he states that he didn’t know about the experiences of these two men until Lance Wallnau (see previous two posts on this topic) brought it to his attention. Wagner writes:
“He [Wallnau] calls them the seven mountains. The warfare strategy is that ‘if the world is to be won, these are the mountains that mold the culture and the minds of men. Whoever controls these mountains controls the direction of the world and the harvest therein.’” (p. 114) [emphasis added]
The amazing quote within the quote above is attributed by Wagner to a “privately circulated paper” of Lance Wallnau’s entitles “A Prophetic, Biblical, and Personal Call to the Marketplace.” Apparently in this paper Wallnau spiritualizes the “high places” of these 7 spheres or mountains which supposedly have “principalities and powers that control” them.
Wagner goes on to describe how each of these 7 mountains or spheres will become an “apostolic sphere.” Apostles “are the only ones who will be able to change the power structure at the top of each mountain.” (p. 114) Wagner calls these “extended church apostles” who “will be able to lead the army of God into those strategic battlefields.” He then quotes Wallnaur:
“How do we go about reclaiming the mind molders of nations, and what does this have to do with you and your calling to the marketplace? Everything! You are about to be drafted into an elite unit of marketplace commandoes. . . .
“Look at your occupational field and see it as a mountain. What companies and people are at the top of that mountain? Why are they at the top? What skills, knowledge, and personal characteristics are needed to occupy that position? What would need to exist for you to occupy the top of that mountain?” (quoted in Wagner, p. 115)
Wallnau worked with well-known Latter Rain “prophet” John Paul Jackson on “Give Me My Mountain,” a 3-CD set which is being sold by the Elijah List. Wallnau was a featured speaker at Wagner’s Global Harvest Ministries March 2007 conference “The Spirit and the Bride Say Come – Unlocking God’s Kingdom Plan Today Congress,” which promoted pure Latter Rain Dominionism:
“WE ARE MOVING INTO A TIME OF KINGDOM EXPRESSION. THIS IS A SEASON THAT WE MUST HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS SAYING TO THE CHURCH. THIS INCLUDES THE CHURCH IN YOUR TERRITORY. THE CHURCH MUST BEGIN TO EXPRESS A KINGDOM CULTURE TO TRANSFORM THE SOCIETY.”
“COME! RECEIVE:
- A kairos word for this hour. In a time of great confrontation, we must clearly hear how to advance in this season.
- An understanding of Christ’s mediational authority.
- An impartation on how to take dominion and occupy your sphere of authority.
- Kingdom administrative keys for this hour.
- An understanding of how to wear favor into this season we are living in and experience Kingdom Glory.
- An understanding of how Kingdom government interacts with civil government.
- An anointing to stand in the gap until you see the Spirit of God and Kingdom rule manifest in your territory.”
Lance Wallnau is also listed as one of the speakers of the New Canaan Society, an eclectic mix of political dominionists, Emergent/Emerging leaders, Contemplatives, Latter Rainers, Mission leaders, etc.
The Truth:
The reader is challenged to find any semblance of the Gospel of Salvation in any of the quotations above. Yet, this “spheres” teaching, which was reportedly given by God to two major mission leaders, profoundly altered the nature of global mission work during the past generation. This redefined church is supposed to re-make Society and State, particularly with the help of the other leg of the stool — the Corporate.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.” (Galatians 1:6)