The world is running on systems,principles and laws. These systems are so powerful that they have been keeping the entire cosmos in check ever since God made this universe.
Do you wonder why God is never bothered about whether it will rain at a particular season or not or whether the sun will rise or not?
The reason is that God has set up systems that runs the entire world.After he made the earth in 6 days, he set up systems to keep the entire world running smoothly.
Even after the fall of man and the corruption of the current creation, his systems are so powerful to still maintain order and to ensure that every living thing on earth lives.
Have you every wondered why some people keep on behaving in the same way and people from the same or similar background behave the same way and even have the same accent?
The answer is because of the system that runs the environment or culture in which they were brought up in.
The systems that runs our world and every environments are so powerful to subconsciously and unconsciously frame and mold people into what they never thought of.
So what then is a system?
To help us remember it for a long time we will be using a simple system of acronyms to do the job.
Definition 1: The C’s of A System
I define a system as a collection of components that are connected together and contributing to achieve a particular change or effect and are usually following a course and a clock or cycle.
Definition 2: The P’s of A System
Another way we can define a system is that a system is an assembly of parts that are participating to accomplish a purpose by following a process, a path and a pattern withing a period of time.
Definition 3: S.Y.S.T.E.M
Moreover a system can be defined by what it is meant to provide for you. In that case a system is anything that Saves You from Stress, Time,Energy and Money/Matter. This is a simple abbreviation to help you remember what a system does.
- S : Saving
- Y: Yourself and Others
- S: Stress
- T: Time
- E: Energy
- M: Money and Matter
Definition 4: The Efficient and Effective Machine
A system can also be seen as a machine that makes your work easier and saves your from doing the same thing over and over again.
Let us make it simple, we will be analyzing each of our definitions.
The Components of A System
The C’s of A System
From our definition we learnt that a system is a
- Collection
- Components
- Connected
- Contributing
- Course
- Cycle/Clock
- Change
Based on that every system must have components and these components should be connected either directly or indirectly and they must be contributing to one another.
Moreover every system must follow a course or a cycle and they must produce a particular change when in place.
So let us take an example of a system and dissect it if it matches our definition. The human body has about 12 different systems that is keeping you and I alive. We have the
- the circulatory system,
- the respiratory system,
- the reproductive system,
- the endocrine system,
- the nervous system,
- the digestive system
- the excretory system
- the integumentary system (skin)
- the musculoskeletal system
- the enteric system
- the immune system
- the lymphatic system
These 12 systems makes sure that you are alive. When you are even sick the immune system takes over. God has placed these systems in our body to make sure that we are alive and we do not always look to him for every possible thing.
Hence by using these systems God has saved himself from wasting time to concentrate on the other aspect of the universe and existence.
If you take the hydrological system or water cycle, you can also see the wonders of God that makes sure that there is rain, when there ought to be etc.
If you take the water cycle, it consists of components such as the streams,the rivers ,the lakes and the sea. All of these are connected to one another. There is also the sun that shines to instigate the process of evaporation of the waters to form clouds which becomes rain/water when it is due. From this you can see what a system is. This system has been keeping our planet with food, oxygen,etc for almost every living organism.That is one of the purpose of this water cycle system God has set in place.
There are also human made systems that are being used to run our societies. Examples include the health system, the transport system, financial system,school/educational system etc.
If you pick up the transport system we can have several min-systems such as the train system in which we have the various components or parts. These components include the train and the couch as well as the staff or people who work in the train stations. Inside the train stations we have the billing or ticketing system, the boarding process and even the canteen. All of these components are working hand in hand(connection) and are contributing to ensure that human beings are transported from one place to another securely and on time. Every system follows a clock or a time period, hence at the train station, there is arrival time and departure, if you miss the time you will be at a loss.
From these examples I hope you know understand what a system is and how it looks like.
Now let us see general principle behind every system to enable you and I to be able to create our own system.
Principle of A System
Every system operates with this simple but powerful principle.
- Input
- Process
- Period
- Output
- Place/Environment
- Feedback
So in creating a system you have to know what you want to achieve(purpose) and understand the pattern and the various component you need to join together to get to that purpose. Once you are able to get these components in place and you are getting your results within the time frame, you have a system.
Linear View and Cyclic View of System
Most people view life linearly which is good but you have to understand that everything can be made into a system and not just structures. This is done when you view things not only as linear but also as cyclic.
Systems thinking demands that you see things not just linearly but also as a cycle. Hence to be able to build any system you have to first of know what you want to achieve and then understand the principle and pattern required to achieve that and then get the parts and connect the components together.
So back to our principle of a system, you will need an input that will produce a particular output. But that is not all, you will need to also include the process and the period as well as the place(environment). What most people do is that they only think of input and output which is good but that is not the best. If you only think of input and output, you are only seeing things linearly but you need to go beyond just the linear view to cyclic view.
Let us take an example of what I mean, suppose you want to lose weight , what most people do is to either reduce their food intake (input) in order to get their desired weight or exercise. But most of us forget to factor in the other components such as the process and the period. Everybody has his or her own metabolic process( some fast, some slow – endomorph,ectomorph,mesomorph) hence if your metabolism is slow you may reduce your food intake but you will not lose that weight. Moreover if you don’t see the change as you expect, you make give up and not continue again, this is the feedback that will influence your input.
Again even if you do all the above and you keep on eating at wrong time(period) you will not achieve your goal.
So you can see that we need to include not just the input(food intake) or output(desired weight) but also the process and period as well as the feedback
Having understood what a system is and the principle behind systems let us see how to create systems for immortal impact.
Systems For Immortal Impact
Man without a machine or system is a slave
We all desire to live forever on earth but we will die one day. It is only after the resurrection that we can live forever as immortal beings which is possible for only those who believe and follow Jesus Christ.
So what do we do whilst we live on this earth – our goal should be to please God and to do things that will continue living after us even after we have left this side of time.
Since we are destined to die one day or be changed(during the second coming of Christ) how can we leave an immortal impact on earth. This is what we will be discussing in this section.
We are all influenced by someone or something but some people move from being the influenced to becoming influencers and impact makers. But becoming an influencer and an impact on the lives of people is not enough. When you are not there to ensure that your influence and impact is ongoing you will be at a loss and not have immortal impact or long lasting influence that can last for more than 500 years. You will be forgotten even by your own children. Your influence and impact must live on even after you are dead and gone.This is what I called Immortal Impact/Influence – influence and impact that live on and keep on helping people even after you are dead and gone for 500 years and over.
To achieve that what comes in mind is to be immortal -but as you and I know we will all die or be changed hence we have to look at it in a different way. Let us see what immortality is and then let check how to make immortal impact.
What is Immortality?
Immortality refers to the concept of unending existence or living forever(eternal life). It is a subset of eternal life but not the same. Not every being that has immortality has eternal life. Not every immortal has eternal life – eternal life here refers to the kind of life God has and that which he gives to those who believe and follow after Christ.
Humanity has through out history proposed several ways to achieve immortality of such include the tree of life, the philosophers’ stone, the elixir of life etc. Even in our modern time there is the concept of Cryonics and Mind Uploading which has the idea of making humans immortal. But as we will have it – it is a long away from being achieved.
We can only achieve life extension – in which we extend our life time or slow down our ageing. This is possible and will be even rampart when Jesus comes back again during the 1000 years of peace.
Since these are a bit far, and we cannot live forever to keep on impacting people and generations to come ,let us take another approach.
We will be separating our impact from just coming from us into systems and structures that will continue to help others even after we have died and gone. This is what is going to produce a long lasting and almost eternal impact.
Characteristics of Immortal Impact
What characterizes immortal/long lasting impact include any impact or influence that;
- Lives on after you are gone,
- Lasts for more than 100 to 500 years
- Not Time and Space Bound
- Helping people often and consistently
So how do you achieve such a feat.Below are some of the ways we can use to make impacts that is long-lasting and immortal.
- Books as a System
- Education as a System
- Discipleship as a System
- Media(Video/Audio) as a System
- De-materialization and Digitization
- System of Products
- System of Problem-solving Products
- System of Problem-preventing Products
- Good name/Bad name
- Building/Monumental Structures
All these listed above looks simple but if applied well as systems it will produce long-lasting and almost immortal impact on humanity both here and forever.
If you look through out history, you will noticed that out of the 100 billion people that have been on earth, very few are still being remembered and are influencing the world from their grave.
By observing their lives you will noticed that they applied if not all, some of the things listed above.
Discipleship as A System
Jesus is still remembered up till now,even though he lived physically on earth in the 1st century. His impact is still being felt as of today 2020 and even till all eternity. He poured his impact and influence into people – his disciples (discipleship as a system) and into educating the masses via his teachings and doctrines. He had followers and helped huge masses of people hence his impact will never end.
Paul of Tarsus a disciple of Jesus, is still influencing the minds and cultures of people even till now from the grave. Socrates,Aristotle, Moses, Confucius, Nimrod, Abraham,Enoch, Newton,King David, Peter the Apostle,John the Beloved,Mohamed,Martin Luther, Matthew Luther King,etc and the list goes on and one.
Books as A System
Moses,Paul,Luke,John used books as instruments to keep on influencing people. Either they wrote their ideas/deeds or the ideas and deeds of other people into something that is separate from themselves and separate from time and space. This tangible thing that they poured their selves into is called Books. So in this case the books were acting as a machine to make their work easier. The books were acting as a system to save them from going from one place to another and saying the same thing over and over again.
This may look simple but it is one of the most powerful tools and system for transforming the lives of people both now and forever.
In using this system for immortal impact you will have to write the book like you are designing a system. The input in this case is the ideas, deeds, philosophy,instructions,etc that you will pour into the book which the readers and learners will feed upon.
The book should have an output/outcome that you want to achieve. Are they going to be transformed or informed or both?
What is going to be the environment the book is going to operate in – physical,digital or in the medium of the era? Who is the book addressed to?
If you look through out history almost every religious group has a holy book of some sort. Inside these books they frame and impact the lives of people from generation to generation.
This idea of using books as a system came from God the creator himself. He left humanity a book – the Holy Bible, even in heaven there is the book of life that forever keeps track of those who will inherit eternity. If God the Eternal One uses books to influence generations after generation , then you and I must also learn from this and apply it for ourselves.
Media(Images/Audio/Video) as a System
The advent of audio and video recording capabilities has ushered us into an era in which we can achieve the same benefits of using books as a system on not just books but our very lives. With the concept of books we can only use text, pictures and diagrams, but with the new technology of audio/video recording you can actually record a moment and a section of your influence and value to live beyond you. People learn best and remember the most if they can see than just reading hence with video or audio our level of influence and impact will be so high.
Can you imagine if the teaching section of Jesus or Plato or Tesla in real life was recorded as an audio or a video. See what books about them are doing, now multiply it by 100 – that is the impact we will be having.
Do you know why in the 20 -21st century the level of globalization and advancement is so high as compared to all the previous century? The reason is that in these centuries -we had the technology to not just record in print but also to record in audio and video and then mass produced and share to a larger global audience faster.
This is something that most people are undermining or abusing and using it for only entertainment instead of more. You and I can harness the media(images/audio/video) as well as the future form of media (Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality) to leave an immortal impact.
These are some of the systems for leaving long lasting impact on the earth. In another time we will continue with the rest. You can check out more in the book The Treasure was yours and upcoming books. I hope you have had a mind shift on how to look at life and impact. Stay bless
Thank you for your time and attention.
Jesus Saves
By Jesse E.Agbe(JCharis)