Kingdom Culture vs. Church Culture
I was thinking recently about what my walk with the Lord was like as a younger believer and how the direction I went then led me to where I am today. I was thinking about all the changes that occurred over there years, and how different our church is today compared to those earlier years. Back then I had just come out of living in the world so my perspective on things was much different than it is now that I have been a part of SOF for 26 years now. Back then we had a larger congregation. We had a food bank & a weekly family fellowship dinner. We had a connection to the Salvation Army that brought in a lot of resources to our community. We had an adult dance team as well as a kid's dance team, and oh, the prophetic praise and worship!! I absolutely loved our worship leaders! We had flags and banners. It was wonderful! We had Friday night services, midweek classes, Wednesday night prayer, and other outreaches, as well as being affectionately known as "The church on wheels." as we would go and support other ministries in the area. It appeared for a season that we were very "successful" and we did make a big impact on our community. I can distinctly remember the faces of two women, in particular, both of whom have gone on to be with the Lord. It was literally impossible to show up and not get a hug from Betty McKenzie or Alice Robbins. Everyone who walked in through the doors of our church received hugs from both of these ladies and knew without a doubt they were loved. But as I look today...all that seems to be a thing of the past and so much has changed.
The culture of our church today is so different than what it was back then. It would be easy to long for those days. There was a season in my life where I did just that. I have to wonder though, even though all of those things were good things and "God" things too, where is the fruit of them today? Why did they not last? I believe that even though we were taught about the Kingdom of God, many of our people, myself included back then, were more wrapped up in church culture, rather than Kingdom culture. There is a difference between the two and in fact, the one can be a huge stumbling block to fully operating in the other! I believe there is a lot of idolatry in the church. At times there is more focus on the programs, the worship, the gifts, etc... than there is on being more like Jesus. We settle for an experience when God has so much more for in store for us.
You see, Jesus never preached the church. He preached the Kingdom. He prayed "Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". He did not pray "you're will be done in the earth as it is in the church." But yet, we seem to be stuck in a "church culture" mentality. One definition of the word culture is this: The ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society. Here are some of the differences of ideas, customs, and behaviors of the "Church Cultured" church vs. the "Kingdom Culture" church.
In a church cultured church, I go to church. I attend church, while in a Kingdom Culture I am the church.
In church culture, my focus is getting through my week, making it through until Sunday so I can get my fix or spiritual goosebump. In Kingdom culture I realize every day that I am a representative of God's Kingdom everywhere I go, affecting the world rather than being affected by it.
In church culture, only the pastor and leadership minister and I come to be entertained. In the Kingdom-centered church, all believers are equipped to do the work of ministry.
In church culture, I passively wait to be caught up in heaven while in the Kingdom-centered church, I am seated in heavenly places and bring Heaven down to earth.
In a church culture I show up empty so I can get filled; while in a Kingdom-centered church, I am already filled. Because I have been with the Lord all week, I come to pour myself out as an offering. It's not about what I can get but what I bring and who I bring.
In church culture, a spirit of excellence is what is important to me. The focus is on the programs and how they meet my need while in a Kingdom-centered church I am focused on excellence of heat and on what the Holy Spirit wants. Christ is the focus. Like Mary, I have chosen the better thing. "Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[f] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. - Luke 10:41 - 42
In a church cultured church, I rely on the worship to bring me into God's presence. In a Kingdom culture, I am already God's presence because I practice His presence daily. Therefore, I don't rely on an external experience. I am already there! For in him we live and move and have our being. Acts 17:28
In church culture, I come for answers to all my problems. In a Kingdom culture, I am an answer! I am a solution because the Answer is living on the inside of me!
Can you see the differences? I no longer long for what was. I anticipate what is to come and I am learning to make the most of the opportunities that are in front of me today. I love Isaiah 43:18 & 19! It says "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"
This is what Jesus said about the Kingdom:
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Matthew 13:44-46 - nothing should stop us from obtaining the Kingdom. If we aren't experiencing the Kingdom then we must ask ourselves "What we are holding on to?"
Luke chapter 8 says Jesus went about preaching the good news of the Kingdom. In verse 4 He talks about the sower who went out to sow his seed and the different kinds of soil the seed falls on. There is rocky soil….thorny soil...etc…. The seed is the same but the place it lands is different. The success of the seed has nothing to do with the seed but everything to do with where it lands. When the sower the soil seed… where that seed lands determines whether there is a crop. God’s Word is the seed. You can go to church, hear the word every Sunday and it is possible that that seed does not work or grow. Nothing is different. You need to realize that if nothing is different in your life...it is not the problem of the seed. The seed being sown has not changed but it’s where the seed lands that determines what the seed does. If God’s word is not working, We have to check the ground it landed on. We have to investigate the nature of the soil. Do you know that some wine tasters can taste a wine and they can tell by tasting it if the harvest was good that year or not...if it was too dry or too rainy and what region the grapes came from. Vs 8 Jesus called out: He that has an ear..let him hear. It is possible to have ears and not hear. It is possible to come to church and hear the sermon and hear nothing at all.
I heard someone say that in our Western culture we have more starving people than ever in the history of our nation. Because many people are eating food-like substances rather than real whole food the way God made it, we have an epidemic of overweight people whose bodies are starving because of the lack of real food and nourishment. I see a parallel here. Sadly many in the church are spiritually starving. In an effort to be more like the world we are busy perfecting our programs and our worship has become entertainment. Like with our natural foods we settle for what is user-friendly and convenient and as a result, the church has become malnourished and anemic. We are missing it. We aren't hearing because our focus is wrong. Like Jesus, we need to be busy about our Father's business. Noticed that the miracles he performed were not performed in the temple. He was among the multitudes. The devil is more than happy to keep us busy doing the religious thing of playing church. Why are we so hung up on church culture when Jesus taught on Kingdom culture? In Matthew 16 Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter at Peter's revelation of who Jesus is, as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Jesus tells Peter "Upon this rock I will build my church." The word church there is the Greek word Ekklesia, meaning a calling out, a Christian community of members. Jesus was referring to a people, not a program or a building or a religious structure. It's the revelation of who Jesus Christ is, not how great our programs or our buildings are.
When I first came to SOF….I came out of the world and became church cultured. It was a place to begin, a place to grow, a place to be nurtured...just like a small child that grows needs a loving family so we have that or are supposed to have that in the church….but the time comes when we no longer need the milk but the meat….and like Jesus….Man does not live on bread alone….His food was doing the work of the Father...establishing the kingdom. The early church, before Constantine made Christianity "legal", preached the Kingdom. They demonstrated the Kingdom by the miracles they performed in Jesus' name.
In John 15:2, God is not only cutting off the branches that do not bear fruit, He is also pruning the branches that bear fruit. Why would the Father prune fruit? Isn't fruit what we want? The Father is looking for a harvest and He wants a global harvest that goes way beyond the four walls of a building. So He is going to prune away the good fruit to make way for better and bigger fruit. Remember, good is the enemy of better. Your church programs and your worship team may be good but the Kingdom of God is the better thing!
