We all live in systems—ways of doing life that shape how we relate, what we practice, and who we become. Some systems are huge, like government and society. They affect us a lot, but most of us have limited influence over how they run. If you strongly disagree with that system, your main options are usually to adapt, advocate in small ways, or leave for a different place.
Other systems are smaller but far more changeable—like marriage and family. A couple is constantly creating a “home system”: how you communicate, handle conflict, make decisions, manage money, raise kids, and care for the relationship. That system isn’t fixed. It can be named, evaluated, and rebuilt on purpose—especially when both people commit to growth and healing.
Church is a system too. Every church has a way it “does church”—how it forms people, empowers leaders, handles problems, and measures maturity. Many churches inherit their system from tradition, but it’s still a chosen structure. Leaders have varying levels of power to change it, and members have varying levels of influence within it—but everyone has a choice about how they participate, whether they try to strengthen it, and whether they stay or go.
And there’s one system I have the most agency over: my personal growth in God. I decide how I use my time, what practices shape my spiritual formation, and how consistently I show up to them. I steward my thoughts, emotions, actions, and reactions—and I can bring them into submission to Jesus Christ. I choose how much I cooperate with the three divine means of grace: God’s Word, God’s Spirit, and God’s People. And I choose how much other systems shape me—not only by what I’m exposed to, but by what I embrace, participate in, and teach my mind to accept or reject.
All of this matters because we aren’t passive creatures. As humans with real agency—and with a God-given calling to cultivate, develop, and bring order (the cultural mandate)—we carry responsibility for the worlds we help create. We don’t just live under systems; we also shape them, even if only in small spheres. And whenever we have influence, the goal isn’t control—it’s stewardship: ordering life in ways that bless people, protect what’s good, and serve the well-being of everyone affected by the systems they live under.
That stewardship also means we have a responsibility to continually evaluate and update our systems so they stay aligned with God’s heart and God’s call. Scripture gives us a vivid example of this in Moses (Exodus 18 & Jethro). His “justice system” was sincere, but it was failing—creating a bottleneck that exhausted him and frustrated the people. When Jethro helped him see the limits of the current structure, Moses didn’t defend the old way out of pride or habit. He humbled himself, reworked the system (based on wise advice from Jethro), and created a healthier flow of shared leadership for the good of the community.
That’s a pattern we need today—in families, churches, organizations, and leadership teams. We’re called not to repeat by default, but to steward by wisdom. Part of loving people well is improving what they live under: strengthening structures that help others thrive, and replacing patterns that hinder growth or quietly harm over time. This is especially true for the next generation. We don’t want to hand them our blind spots and call it “tradition.” We also want to raise up capable, reflective leaders who can discern what needs to be preserved, what needs to be reformed, and what needs to be retired—so what they build is more aligned with Jesus than what they inherited.
Because systems always produce fruit, we either build order that leads to life and flourishing, maintain unhealthy structures that drain people, or tear down what’s good and prove ourselves poor stewards through the new but flawed system we promote. Even “good ideas” can become a slow drift away from God if they’re not rooted in Kingdom values. That’s why our principles and priorities must be continually brought back under the Lordship of Christ—so we don’t haphazardly build what looks effective in the short term but forms people in the wrong direction over time. (See example: Case Study of Seeker-Sensitive Ministry: When a System Shapes Disciples Wrong — The Willow Creek Story)
At the end of the day, our aim needs to help people step into that kind of agency—to become the kind of disciples who faithfully steward what God has placed in their hands through responsible, obedient choices, while staying deeply dependent on and guided by Jesus—abiding in Him as the source of life, strength, and lasting fruit—so they can keep and cultivate the blessed, abundant life God has called us to live.
