When we observe the breakdown of order in families, communities, and societies, we are witnessing far more than institutional failure or procedural collapse. We are seeing the manifestation of a profound spiritual reality: the deterioration of the internal systems that govern individual lives. Society is not an abstract entity but a reflection of the inner worlds of the individuals who comprise it.

A system is an organized collection of interconnected ideas, principles, values, and standards that work together to achieve a specific function and purpose. In the context of the ecclesia as the starting point of redemptive order and restoration of creation, a system can be defined as the heavenly designed operating system with multiple subsystems that processes kingdom information and principles, leading to accurate decisions that produce specific outcomes consistent with the essence of its apostolic mandate.

This is what we see designed in Ephesians chapter 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the [e]edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

This understanding pushes system beyond what we observe functioning in the natural material realm. What makes system work has to do with the configuration of individuals, which is linked to the principles of redemption. We cannot meaningfully discuss the breakdown of governmental structures, the dysfunction of municipalities, the failure of healthcare systems, the corruption in business, or the inefficiency of the private sector without first examining the individuals who animate these institutions. All external manifestations of systemic breakdown are symptoms of an internal collapse that precedes and produces the visible chaos.