“Great things are done when men and mountains meet,” wrote famed poet William Blake. Mountains are a perfect metaphor for the height required to shape the culture of a nation. Within American Christian culture we refer to the template for cultural transformation of cities and nations as The Seven Mountains.
Long before use of a Seven Mountain template, William Blake coupled the lines, “Great things are done when men and mountains meet; this is not done by jostling in the street.” Culture is created from the top and flows down into the grassroots of culture. It does not flow from the streets to the mountains, but from the mountain tops to the streets.
The Seven Mountain template is new language for holistic theology where truth is not confined to the spiritual aspects of life but flows just as strongly into the practical aspects of a society. Francis Schaeffer contributed a large body of work and teachings to the body of Christ demonstrating that biblical truth appropriately applies to all areas of life. The Seven Mountains is a template for believers to see those areas of life that need biblical discipleship.
The Seven Mountains divide culture into seven spheres of influence. These are:
- Religion
- Family
- Economics
- Media
- Education
- Arts & Entertainment
- Government
Each of these mountains have key influencers at or near the very top who are discipling the entire mountain in their worldview. It is not a conspiracy; it is the world doing what men and women were created to do – they are just doing it under a false reality that serves a different master. At times these influencers strategically implement plans to win cultural wars on issues that matter a great deal to believers. However, it is all coming out of a false worldview that they believe to be the right way to think.
When we do not disciple The Seven Mountains, these areas of culture work in tandem to disciple culture which results in the Church being discipled by the world.
In contrast, when we disciple in these spheres applying biblical theology to church, economics, family, media, education, the arts, and government, we not only disciple these spheres but the populace that these mountains disciple.
The goal is not to use worldly power to control these mountain tops. That is how the world disciples. The goal is also not to build a Christendom reminiscent of Constantinian Rome. We are not rejoining Church and State and giving the Church control over all these mountains of culture.
The goal is The Great Commission to go into all nations discipling them in all that Jesus taught. It is to liberate nations to their God-given freedom to operate free of the bondage and oppression of foreign worldviews. This work is accomplished through the Spirit of God and not by might nor by power. No worldly weapons, no worldly domination, simply serving and discipling showing a better way forward that will enhance, cultivate, and reflect the glory of God within the nations of this world.