Two of my latest Bible study plans just went live on YouVersion!
The first one is a 7-day devotional for business executives called Refuel, Reframe, Recalibrate. This plan is a wonderful way to start your day with a kingdom mindset and a breath of fresh air from the Holy Spirit!
Here’s an excerpt: Sometimes work feels like we’re walking on quicksand. We can’t get our footing, and with every step we only sink deeper. No matter how hard we try, we can’t seem to get on top of our workload or ahead of the crises. The antidote to this rat race mentality is to live in the secret place of intimacy with God. Daniel lived from intimacy. Daily, he would kneel in his upper room praying to Yahweh. God knew Him. God took care of him. God loved him. When the king made a law that promised death for anyone who prayed to any god or man besides the king, Daniel simply went up to his room to pray as usual. No fuss, no drama. He didn’t try to appeal to the king, get a petition signed or have a hissy fit on social media. He simply prayed. I think it’s fair to say that Daniel did not suffer from anxiety.
The second plan is a study based on the book of Daniel. It explores our relationship to power.
Here’s an excerpt from this one: In Daniel 1, we discover Daniel starts at the bottom of the power ladder – as a conquered slave. Daniel is a captive of Babylon without the power to even decide his name. He finds himself a chosen trainee for service in the king’s court. This immediately presents a challenge for Daniel because he is a Jew – a servant of Yahweh – but he has to serve a king and a people who have no respect for or allegiance to his God. How will he navigate this dilemma? He doesn’t seem to have much power to influence this massive pagan system. Or does he?
You can access all of my plans including these two on the YouVersion app or here.
I hope they help you on your joyful journey of spiritual growth!
Copyright 2022, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
If you haven’t yet, check out our FREE Spiritual Growth Foundation Course in which we cover the four foundational principles for spiritual growth and much more! In addition to on-demand videos which you can watch at your leisure, there are downloadable handouts for those who prefer written content.
“My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
John 18:36b (NLT)
This was Jesus’ answer as Pilate questioned Him about being king of the Jews. It is a reality that informed everything that Jesus did and the way in which He conducted His life. But perhaps more to the point that Jesus is making here is what He didn’t do. He did not vie for leadership of the Sanhedrin. He did not come as a king like Hezekiah or David to free the Jewish people from their oppressors. In fact, he made no attempt to free them from Roman rule at all. He never tried to gain any earthly power, whether through political means or through violence. His kingdom was not of this world and therefore was not enforced by earthly means.
As 2021 comes to a close, I cannot help but think that we (Christians) still haven’t learned the lessons of 2020. We are still desperately trying to build a spiritual kingdom with earthly tools. Utter futility. Nothing, I believe, illustrates this better than US abortion statistics:
First of all, it is worthy of celebration that abortions have been falling since 1990. I think that this is good news no matter if you are pro-life or pro-choice. However, what is striking is the fact that the greatest declines in the number of abortions took place under Democratic administrations (shown in blue). We can conclude from this chart that there either is no correlation between a pro-life administration and reducing abortion rates or more astoundingly an inverse correlation.
Many well-known Christian leaders publicly and vociferously supported the Republican candidate in the last US elections and cited his policy on abortion as a deciding factor (if not the deciding factor). This one issue absolved us Christians from any responsibility for the pettiness, bigotry, hate, and division that he spewed forth daily. We were saving innocent lives. Only, as it turns out, we weren’t. The CDC’s statistics on abortion for 2018 and 2019 reveal something that has not happened in a long time – two successive years of rising numbers of abortions. (https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/index.htm)
Could it be that what influences a nation is not so much the legal policies but the spiritual atmosphere? Could these scandalous statistics be a message from the unseen realm… “My kingdom is not of this world!”
Maybe (and I admit that this is a hypothesis) what made a difference was the prayers of the church lifted up during pro-choice administrations as opposed to resting on our spiritual laurels during pro-life administrations? Maybe…
Looking forward into 2022, the pandemic rages on and many of our churches continue to be preoccupied with earthly kingdom business. Our big concerns – being forced to wear masks and get vaccinations. As over 5 million people worldwide (including many clergymen and women) have now died from Covid-19, one would think that there would be bigger things on the minds and hearts of God’s people than the infringement of our ‘religious freedoms’. Surely.
Our kingdom compass is desperately in need of recalibration. Where does the anchor of our hope find ground? In Christ or in our government? What is the motivation for our actions? Love of neighbour or love of self? Are we moved by God’s voice or the latest conspiracy theory? What’s our priority, our freedom, or our responsibility as ambassadors of Christ?
Do you have strong convictions about taking or not taking vaccinations? Great! Take a page from the Hebrews in Babylon. They stood up for their convictions and depended on God to deliver them from the earthly authorities of the day. We can rest assured that if we are in the purpose of God, He will protect and provide for us as He did for Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Our King is much more powerful than any earthly power. Daniel and his friends never sent around a petition for signatures or started a campaign against the king or plead their case or even asked God to judge the authorities. They just stood by their decision and left the rest to God come what may. They knew that their kingdom was not of this world.
Let’s flip the script in 2022. Let’s show the world the power of God like Daniel did… like Jesus did! Let’s be radical demonstrations of the love of Christ. The demonstration of Christ’s kingship was not in His ability to bend men to His preferences through legislation, political power or social pressure but His ability to destroy the power of sin, sickness and demonic oppression in the lives of men. In the physical realm, Jesus spent His life as a sacrificial demonstration of love. In the spiritual realm, He completely undercut the power darkness that was at the root of all evil. This is how we shine in the present darkness. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. Our weapons are mighty for spiritual battle.
Let’s get radical. Let’s see thousands healed of Covid as churches send out intercessory teams to surround hospitals with prayer. Let’s see churches give radically to care for the sick. Let’s elevate our minds above these worldly affairs of masks, vaccines, and politics and begin to really follow Christ into His kingdom. Let’s demonstrate the indefatigable love and power of Jesus Christ!
Copyright 2021, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
If you haven’t yet, check out our FREE Spiritual Growth Foundation Course in which we cover the four foundational principles for spiritual growth and much more! In addition to on-demand videos which you can watch at your leisure, there are downloadable handouts for those who prefer written content.
On one occasion Jesus was teaching the people and they kept bringing their children for Him to touch them. The disciples, however, did not think that blessing children was an appropriate use of Jesus’ time. They rebuked them for bothering their Master with such trivial matters. Jesus was indignant. “Do not hinder the children from coming to Me!” he said.
There are two value systems at work here… One says that children are of lesser importance and value than adults. The other says that children are of equal value and importance. Clearly, Jesus is in the latter camp. However, I wonder how seriously we Christians take the call to emulate Jesus in this regard. We much prefer the commandment that children should obey their parents and the proverb, ‘spare the rod and spoil the child’. We love to instill the value of obedience in our children but we’re not so keen on instilling in ourselves the value of treating our children as equally valuable contributors to our families and society.
This emphasis on obedience over value is so widespread that it’s easily missed. For example, do we consult with our children on family decisions that will affect them? Do schools consult with the students when making major changes? Instead, the message is: we adults make the rules and you must follow (without complaint or rudeness of course). This type of thinking is even more pervasive in countries like mine which value compliance over individual expression and empowerment.
Much to the dismay of my wider family and society, I have tried to give my children more of a voice in our family than in most Christian homes. Whereas a ‘good child’ in most Christian homes is one who is courteous and obedient, I have tolerated above-normal levels of push-back in favour of cultivating independent thought, negotiating skills, individual expression and initiative. I also apologize to my children when I lose my temper or do something to hurt them. This is very counter-cultural in traditional Caribbean homes where a wrong look from a child could earn them a beating. I have been told, “Why are you apologizing to a child?!” or “You are the adult and they are the child! You are spoiling them!”.
Admittedly, this is an experiment. Only time will tell if my method has any merit. However, I am 100% committed to living the values that I see in Jesus as best I can. Children were not second-class citizens to Him. I also have to admit that my experiment requires more effort and I’m constantly trying to strike the right balance. There are many times that I wish they would just please please comply without a fuss… (I do have a few years more experience in life than they do after all… sigh, exhale). Recently, my youngest has really been testing me with regards to his online gaming habits and after numerous attempts at a more collaborative approach, I’ve had to make some ‘my way or the highway’ decisions. Sometimes you do have to protect them from themselves.
In general, however, I think we have a value system that gives preference to the needs and desires of adults over children. The adults want it quiet; the children cannot play loudly. The adults want a clean house; the children can’t make mess. The adults don’t think that career will make money; the children must choose different subjects. The child then becomes a compliant automaton, rebels or waits patiently for the day of liberation when he or she has the power to make their own rules. Thus, perpetuating the cycle of using our power to get our way rather than using our power to empower others. And this is the crux of the matter – our attitude to power. Are we willing to give our power away to our children (or to our congregation or to our staff for that matter) or will we covet power to shower ourselves with perks and rewards? Which is the way of Christ?
At the end of the day, I see my job as supporting, nurturing and guiding my children into their own relationship with Jesus and mature adulthood. In neither their faith nor their life, do I want them to come into maturity by passively living through my relationship with God or following my dictates. I want them to find their own relationship and their own way. I’m here to support, coach, encourage, equip and empower.
I am convinced that in Trinidad and Tobago our parenting, schooling, church culture and workplace culture are set up to perpetuate a power-coveting worker mentality; people skilled at towing the line, not thinking for themselves, and seeking power through political maneuvering. We have mass-produced these non-thinking suck-ups and the result is a generational inheritance of people who vote based on their race, expect the government to look after their tribe when they get into power, and exhibit no entrepreneurial spirit. I refuse to let that be the legacy of my family. I refuse to have that power sickness live in my heart. Our children may be a little more rambunctious, but I like rambunctious 😊.
Copyright 2021, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
To receive more content like this in your inbox and to receive a free e-copy of my book, The Primacy of The Voice of God – Elevating the Word of God to Its Rightful Position, please subscribe to www.authenticjoy.org.
Being a man is not as glamourous or as easy as some women (and men) would make it out to be. We just don’t talk about it. And that’s the problem. The media is littered with the struggles women face in the workplace and in the family but there is a noticeable void when it comes to the challenges unique to the male gender. This in and of itself is one of the biggest challenges men face. We believe manliness includes the projection of strength at all times. This is one of the great issues of our time. It is destroying families, churches, corporations and countries. Men will not be vulnerable, show weakness, seek help or admit failure until they are forced to do so by a catastrophic crash.
I am particularly passionate about this culture of machismo and bravado in the church world because I see the wake of destruction it is causing. I am sure that almost every moral failure of every religious leader could be traced back to a point where the problem was still in its infancy but there was no space in the culture to be open about their problems. To admit that ‘we all sin’ is the biggest sin. It would mean being shamed, judged and demoted. Leaders must be infallible. The enemy, ably assisted by bible-thumping ‘perfect’ pastors worldwide, has used this culture to keep men of God in a morass of moral stagnancy for decades. True transformation begins with the space to ‘confess’ failure safely and receive help not condemnation. *Exhale* I digress..
So, I thought that in this blog I would give some insight into some of my personal struggles as a way of giving some insight into the male psyche and taking a small stand against this destructive definition of masculinity. I was actually grappling with these thoughts (by myself of course) amid the normal daily chaos of family life when I came across a podcast by my cousin and his friends titled Toxic Masculinity. That podcast inspired me to share my story.
I consider myself the leader of my family. I know this is, perhaps, a traditional view of the family structure, but I believe it is still a widely held belief (although most might not admit to it outright). Certainly, it is a common belief in the Judeo-Christian world. I start here because it sets the context for most men of the psychological pressures that we face as husbands and fathers. This has less to do with power and much more to do with responsibility. I abhor submission doctrines that are really tantamount to domination doctrines. I view my wife as co-leader of our family, but I still feel a great responsibly to provide for and protect my family. It’s just how I am wired and how many men I talk to are wired. This is not just in a financial and physical sense but also in an emotional sense. I want my wife and children to feel loved and I want them to be happy and I feel a great sense of responsibility to provide an environment that makes that happen.
As a disciple of Christ, I understand that the best thing I can do for my family is to follow God wholeheartedly. I know that if I align myself and my family with His will everything will be optimal. However, the problem I face is this – who determines what is God’s will? Do I? Does my wife? The children? We all believe we know the right way and often we are not in agreement. This is exacerbated in a blended family like mine.
In a blended family there are two sets of adults and children with distinct and unique cultures and traditions coming together to live in one house. Conflict is inevitable and inevitably each parent feels like the one caught in the middle. For me, on one hand, my wife wants my support in enforcing things the way she believes they should be done and if I don’t it makes her look like the evil stepmother. On the other hand, my children want things to remain as they were before and if I take her ‘side’ it’s evidence that I love her more than them and everything is now about her. This is the tightrope I have to walk every day and it is TOUGH.
Constantly, I find myself in the middle trying to make everyone see things from the other’s point of view. This scenario is not just between my wife and my children. It’s between her biological children and my biological children. It’s my children’s mother who has concerns about what’s affecting her children in my house. Its grandparents who have their own views of how we are bringing up the children. In each case, I am trying not to just brush them off but to actively listen, to hear the heart behind the words and ultimately to have a response that is filled with the wisdom and compassion of God and that reconciles and not divides.
If I did not care what God thought, it would be easy! I could just ignore everyone. “You can’t let your children run your home!” the parental pundits say. (Far less listen to your ex-wife’s concerns). But that’s not an option for me because my God teaches humility and compassion and to value EVERYONE. Many (if not all) Christian counselors say that husbands should put their wives first and children second, but I cannot subscribe to that in a blended context. Children in a blended family desperately need to know that they haven’t suddenly become second-rate citizens.
So, I find myself many times pleasing no one and everyone feeling that I favour the others. This is the defining feeling of being a man for me. The feeling that there is no one emotionally supporting me. I have to be the voice of reason, the inspirer, the pray-er, the optimist, the visionary, the reminder of God’s promises, the bigger person and reconciler to everyone and expect no empathy for my role. Often, I feel emotionally blackmailed into a decision and when it backfires, I beat myself up for listening to my wife or my children instead of doing what I felt was right.
But this is not THE truth. In a sense, it’s a prison of my own making because I am actually surrounded by supportive people! The truth is that my wife is my #1 cheerleader and support. In fact, she could be having the worst day but if she knows that I am struggling she immediately switches to full on support mode. I also have children (some more than others) that say, “Thank you dad for all you do for me.” Honestly, there has not been a moment in my life when I’ve had more support than right now. Yet, I still often feel overwhelmed because I still feel that it’s my job to be the strong one for them.
More recently, God has been teaching me to give my burdens to Him. I’ve always known this in theory… I could say the prayer, “Lord I give my burdens to You” but now more than ever I am learning how to practice this exchange of my anxiety, frustration and fatigue for His security, love and refreshing in tender moments of intimacy with Him each morning. It’s a beautiful place.
Well that’s my story. I would love to hear what being a man feels like for you.
Copyright 2021, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
To receive more content like this in your inbox and to receive a free e-copy of my book, The Primacy of The Voice of God – Elevating the Word of God to Its Rightful Position, please subscribe to www.authenticjoy.org.
As this beautiful, articulate, fierce, young woman spit lines from the podium my heart burned and tears came to my eyes. Emanating from this force of nature was something exquisite and powerful. My consciousness was re-awakened to a truth that must have grown dim – words have power.
It seems to me that many of us had forgotten this truth. For a time, we were caught up in a world where words were flung about without thought or care. Sprayed wastefully like cheap cologne or maliciously like rubber bullets. We set our eyes on political power and legislative agendas as the saviours of our world. Our hearts fibrillated in anxiety or exulted in victory, as our preferred narratives collided with reality.
Then came Amanda, armed only with a slingshot full of words. She took aim. And let loose. Straight between the eyes of hate, ego, division and fear-based-manipulation! She stood astride the divide and aimed high. She called out the best in us, over and over again. The sound waves seemed to cleanse and heal. The sonic pulses fanned the flames of convictions that had grown cold and polished ideals that had become dull.
The clarion call rang out over Capitol Hill: hope, harmony, truth, justice, faith, unity, perseverance, bravery, mercy…
Could God use a poem just as powerfully as legislation? Indeed, could a poet be more powerful than a President? Out of the mouth of babes God has ordained strength. We are designed to shape our world by the words we speak.
Let us not forget, words have power.
James 3:3-5 (MSG)
A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
Copyright 2021, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
To receive more content like this in your inbox and to receive a free e-copy of my book, The Primacy of The Voice of God – Elevating the Word of God to Its Rightful Position, please subscribe to www.authenticjoy.org.
Yes I do, but I didn’t always feel that way about some aspects of our new normal. My new perspective on work from home started with this statement:
“Daddy, you have to help me with a PowerPoint presentation for school.”
“OK, bring your laptop next to mine and you will follow what I do.”
As I sat showing my 12-year-old the magic of animation and the art of the layout, I felt oddly useful. Finally, a school project that is super relevant to the real world and that I’m really good at! I got to pass on my knowledge to the next generation.
Time travel back to over a thousand years ago, and the two of us could have been putting horseshoes on a horse or kneading dough for the family’s famous bread that supplied the whole village. Back then (in the 1800s, before the industrial revolution and urbanization), work was mainly done by hand at home. People lived where they worked. Turn… turn… turn… and here we are again living and working in the same location, albeit in a completely new way. Truly there is nothing new under the sun, as King Solomon would say.
I understood in a new way what had been lost with the industrial revolution and lost again with women heading into the workforce en masse in more recent times. I remembered reading about Corrie Ten Boom and her family of watchmakers, living atop their little shop. I remembered reading about the family rituals where work and leisure intermingled like a tapestry, and children grew up observing not just a tiny slice of their parents’ lives, but the gamut of dealing with customers, handling crises and honing their craft. The scope of learning was entirely more holistic and relevant to real life.
I came out of my reverie with a new perspective. I had been bemoaning the loss of separation between work and family life and the stress of sharing my work space with my children. BUT… what if there is a golden opportunity here that we have been completely missing? Consider this with me…
Every time our children crash our Zoom meeting is not a cause for embarrassment or anxiety, it is actually an opportunity for them to learn how work gets done in the real world. A world they will soon inherit. The type of work and the tools may be different, but the core lessons are not much different to managing the family farm.
In a counter-intuitive way (given that this virtual world has been vilified as one that alienates), we have also removed some of the distance that separated us from our co-workers and customers. In that bygone era of village life, co-workers and sometimes customers became like family. Inviting someone into your shop was almost the same as inviting them into your home after all. Life was lived in closer proximity. There is an opportunity now to invite each other again into our virtual spaces… to welcome it instead of resisting it. There is the opportunity to discuss a piece of work with your colleague, for example, with the sound of your daughter’s piano lessons in the background. “Wow, she has improved so much since last time!” we would remark humorously, remembering the cacophony that jarred our last meeting. The world needs more proximity in my estimation. Separation allow us to co-exist without ever really knowing each other. I believe many of our societal schisms and racial tensions would evaporate in time if we simply got to know each other better.
There is power in perspective. There is a moving scene in the bible where Joseph confronts his brothers who sold him into slavery. Many, many years have passed. Joseph has experienced servitude and imprisonment but comes through it all through the divine hand and favor of God. As he stands reunited with his brothers, the highest official over the kingdom of Egypt after Pharoah, he reveals himself to them and they are understandably afraid. To reassure them he makes this monumental statement, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Joseph had a different perspective.
We too today, need to bring to the world a different perspective. Paul said that for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, all things work together for good. This is the truth that Joseph demonstrated and understood as he looked back over his life. As we stand in the midst of this global pandemic, we should have a keen sense that, this too is working for God’s good purpose. Wrapped inside the pandemic package are gold nuggets that it is our privilege as sons of God to prophetically discern and mine.
It’s a great time to be alive! What shift in perspective can you make to help you engage more powerfully with the purpose of God at this time?
To receive more content like this in your inbox and to receive a free e-copy of my book, The Primacy of The Voice of God – Elevating the Word of God to Its Rightful Position, please subscribe to www.authenticjoy.org.
Copyright 2020, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
I often ask myself, “Have I missed it? Did God’s ultimate purpose for my life pass me by while I was distracted with earthly pleasures or ‘normal life’?” I’m going to be 47 this year and you know… I have a good job and a great marriage and awesome kids but…. But have I really hit on a life spent in the glorification of Jesus? I don’t think so. It’s not that I’ve done nothing… I’ve written books, I’ve been involved in ministry, but such score-carding is so pathetic compared to that knowing deep down in my soul. It’s hard to describe. It’s like a smouldering fire in my gut that yearns to be turned loose. Like I’ve tasted a little bit of God, like a faint scent that comes and goes, but my heart longs to be completely subsumed in His Presence.
Sometimes,
especially when the weight of sin overwhelms me, I feel like giving up. I feel
like throwing in the towel on the fight for a life that Paul described this way
in Galatians 2:20 (ESV) “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I
who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Selah.
But… every time
I consider giving up, God whispers in my ear, “The best is yet to come.”
Recently, two people have given me great hope. The first is Francis Chan. I love this guy. I watched this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmKqD2FlFds) yesterday and I was filled with such a renewed desire for more. At 52 years old Francis, is packing up his family (including married children with their spouses) and heading to Burma to spread the good news. He talks about the decision to go and how it was birthed as he was preaching the gospel on a trip to Burma and he was so happy, so fulfilled, so thrilled as people believed and made the decision to serve this God that he knew, that he was like, “This is what I want to spend the rest of my life doing! What better thing could we do with our lives? This is why I’m alive!” So, he says to his wife, “What if we move?” and she says, “Let’s do it.” Wow. He also talks about experiencing miraculous healing first-hand on a massive scale for the first time! As he speaks, I’m tearing up and my heart is doing somersaults because he finally saw what he read in the bible come to pass in his life. Oh God, me too! If you did it for Francis you can do it for me!
Then He talks about the fear and the fight to follow his convictions… how he is discussing the move with his wife about how nice church people can talk us out of our convictions and somehow convince us to play it safe… things like, it’s our Christian duty to keep our kids safe and give them a good Christian education.. I felt the tension… I feel it in my soul every day. But if Francis, at 52, can break past the fear of losing his life, maybe it’s not too late for me?
The second reason for great hope is Jesus. It hit me earlier this year: The Son of God took 30 years to prepare for ministry… The Son of God! 30 years! Think about it. I get so discouraged when I see this preacher who started preaching at 18 and that one who started a ministry at 22 and, and, and…. I’m like what am I doing with my life?!?! Then God said, “Consider Jesus.” The fact that between Jesus’ birth and His entrance into ministry there is little recorded in the bible and nothing recorded in secular history until His rabble-rousing days means this: He did nothing remarkable during that time! The Son of God lived a life so ordinary that there was nothing of note worth mentioning. Now this may sound bad but that gives me hope! If Jesus took 30 years to mature and prepare before healing a single person, making a single public sermon or working a single miracle then who am I to complain about how long it’s taking me? (Secretly, I’m comforting myself with the thought that preparation time is correlated to greatness of impact… but don’t tell anybody.)
If you are like me and struggling with the smallness of your life compared to the great examples we have in scripture (Peter, Paul, Stephen et al) and even in church history (Smith Wigglesworth, John G. lake, William Seymour and the like)… don’t despair. If you are wondering if it’s too late for you… don’t give up on your dreams. It’s not too late! It’s never too late!
Copyright 2020, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
Well folks,
we have come to the end; the final instalment in my kingdom culture series! I
hope you have enjoyed the content thus far. My aim in this series has been to
highlight some of the values of authentic kingdom culture and to juxtapose that
against the prevailing culture in the world. My hope is that the series has
provoked thought and inspired you to live the values of the kingdom wherever
you are!
In 1976 Edward T. Hall proposed a model for viewing culture as an iceberg. The part of an iceberg that is visible above the water is only 10% of its mass. The remaining 90% lurks hidden below the surface. Hall proposed that culture is the same; what we can see; the food, festivals, flag and fashion, is only 10% of what constitutes the culture. Underpinning that are dispositions, values, attitudes and beliefs. Let’s transpose this to the local church. The worship songs, preaching, activities, etc. are the most visible expressions of the culture but what I have been trying to focus on in this series is the underlying beliefs that lie below.
For this
final piece I have chosen an issue which I believe is at the very bottom of the
iceberg – love. I believe that love expressed through relationship is the very
foundation of kingdom culture. I do not believe that anything achieved or
constructed in the kingdom is of any value or merit or integrity unless it
comes from a motive of love that finds expression through relationship.
Jesus said
that all the Law and the Prophets depend on two commandments:
You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind.
You
shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love for God and love for others are the foundational values of the kingdom.
Paul said
that the most powerful exhibit of spiritual
gifts or the most pious expressions of religious duty are all nothing if they are
not done with love. Wow!
What does
this mean for us? Well one practical implication is that God is not impressed
by and He doesn’t respond to, mere spiritual activity. Often, I hear people say
that the church would be better if we pray like we used to, or we attend
services like we used to. I understand where those sentiments come from but the
answer is not in the activity. The answer lies first in the quality of our
relationship with God and with others. The activities are the 10% overflow from
the 90% foundation.
I have found this to be a radically life-changing understanding. It means that our lack of victory in a situation may be more linked to the heart attitude we have toward our spouse than the time we put in in prayer.
This was recently brought home to be in a very tangible way. I was struggling with mild depression. I felt overwhelmed by the challenges in my marriage and the melding of two families under one roof. Extended family members weren’t making it any easier either. But worst of all my prayer life was nonexistent and my bible study was dull. Then God showed me that I had been carrying around a little undercurrent of resentment toward my wife. I thought it was nothing. I thought I had good reasons why I should feel that way but God saw it and He did not share my view. I was stopping the free flow of His love. The moment I saw it and acknowledged it for what it was, my life changed.
The same principle applies to other spheres of our lives. If we want more of the Presence of God in our ministry, don’t necessarily focus on what activity we need to add or change, focus on who we need to forgive or who we need to ask forgiveness of, or maybe which other ministries, leaders or denominations we pull down!
Kingdom power and the Presence of God flows and endures where
people know His heart and live His values.
My dear friends, devote your lives to loving God completely and loving others well. Nothing else is of greater eternal consequence!
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
Welcome to
part 3 of the kingdom culture series. Today I want to talk about how we lead
people in the kingdom. Due to their span of influence, leaders have a great
impact on the culture of the organizations or teams that they lead. Arguably
nothing influences culture more than how we treat the people we lead.
Although it still exists in some organizations, I believe that the pitfalls of leading through intimidation, punishment and domination are well known and accepted in both the secular and church arenas. However, what is still prevalent and widely accepted today is a culture of compliance. Meaning that followers are required by leaders to comply with their instructions, no questions asked.
While compliance may be acceptable in the world value system, a culture of compliance is not kingdom culture. Many church people do not get this. Perhaps it is because in the Old Testament times it was all about compliance. The leadership system centered around a strict compliance with the religious laws and rituals enforced by the leader/king. It fostered an ultimate leader culture that was so dominant that the spiritual health of the entire community rose and fell on the character of the leader alone.
Then, over two thousand years ago Christ entered the scene and flipped the script. He modelled and taught a different kind of leadership. His leadership placed supreme value on winning the heart not just enforcing surface obedience. He said (Mat 5:27-28):
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Jesus was
the ultimate change agent for this new culture. Changing the compliance culture
that had grown deep roots over hundreds of years of Jewish tradition was a
monumental task. Jesus repeatedly confronted it head on as he butt heads with
the religious leaders. He did not mince words. Check Him out in action(Mat
23:27-28):
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
In the corporate world many leaders are focused on compliance with the company’s rules and the leader’s instructions. Insubordination is severely punished and not towing the line leads to victimization. When we consider that many churches function along the same lines we should be cut to the heart. The culture of the world has deeply infiltrated our churches. We have lost our saltiness.
Jesus walked in this earth humbly. He modeled the type of leader that God desires. His first response to sin was mercy and forgiveness. He did not seek to lord it over others and assert His authority and control as so many religious leaders do today. He loved us first and demonstrated it by dying for us while we were yet His enemies.
Remember
when Jesus gave an experiential lesson to His disciples in servant leadership
by washing their feet? He even washed Judas’ feet! The feet of the man whom He
knew would cause Him so much pain and suffering; that man’s feet. In other
words, Jesus loved and served the rogue church member who was out to
assassinate His leadership. Think about that. Jesus’ objective is not to get us
to serve Him by coercion or manipulation. He is committed to winning our love
through loving sacrifice and service.
The church is rife with leaders who believe that their followers are best served by a culture of complete compliance to their leadership. Sin is shamed and punished. Those who obey unquestioningly and fawn over the leaders are favoured. Corporate world culture with a side order of hallelujah. I believe most church leaders are genuine but just do not understand how kingdom submission works. Submission is VOLUNTARY and in the church it is supposed to be RECIPROCAL. Forced submission is domination, period. Sometimes more subtle approaches like social pressure or withholding love or withholding opportunities are used but the cancer is the same. Corporate leaders use the same tactics.
The missed
opportunity here is the opportunity to transform the heart through love. That
is what Jesus is after. That is what the Father is after. That is what Jesus
came to demonstrate. Gaining compliance without transformation of the heart is
no gain at all in Christ’s books. The body of Christ is supposed to operate as
a community of equals serving each other. We each have different roles and
gifts but we are all directed by one head; Jesus Christ. We submit to one another. We honour one another. We love one another. There is no hierarchy of
value in the body. The toe has the same value as the eye. Jesus says it this
way (Mat 23:8-12):
8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
As kingdom leaders we have one job; to love all and to serve
all. Our objective is not to gain people’s compliance but to win their hearts
for Christ. That, is kingdom culture.
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
It was Peter Drucker
who said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” I have found this statement to
be profoundly true. You can have the best strategy and be executing planned
activities diligently but if the culture does not support your strategy the
results will not follow. Conversely, a mediocre strategy with activities that
don’t quite hit the mark executed in the context of a culture that supports the
organization’s highest ideals will bring surprising rewards.
Truth is
truth and applies equally in secular and religious spheres. Therefore, it
behoves us to ask, “What is kingdom culture?” What are the ideals that should
shape the culture in our local churches to ensure that what we are building is
truly founded on the cornerstone of Christ? The question of culture in our
churches is more important than issues of evangelism strategies, worship format
or youth programmes for example. Culture is what will colour everything in our
church and ultimately determine whether we are truly light and salt to the
earth or just a religious part of the world culture.
Let’s
start with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-14):
1 Seeing
the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples
came to him.
2 And he
opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed
are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
11 “Blessed
are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil
against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your
reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before
you.
The first point I wish to make is that all of the things that are called ‘blessed’ here are not things that are generally highly esteemed by the world culture. Jesus esteems poverty, the world values riches. Jesus esteems mourning, the world is looking for happiness. Jesus esteems meekness, the world values status. Jesus esteems hunger and thirst, the world values excess. Jesus esteems mercy, the world says, “Make them pay!”, Jesus esteems purity, the world glorifies sin. Jesus esteems the peacemaker, the world glorifies the soldier. Jesus esteems the persecuted, the world glorifies the strong. Heaven’s culture is diametrically opposed to the world culture. The core ethos of all of the ‘blessed’ statements is that in the kingdom you lose your life to save it, the greatest is the servant of all and the last will be first. This is the kingdom economy. The saint lives in a constant awareness of his lack and weakness so that his riches, righteousness and strength comes from and is attributed solely to the presence of Christ in his life. It is a glorious calling!
Sadly, the church in general is severely contaminated with the world culture. In many instances we have the same values just different jargon. We run after riches and call it blessings. We cry vengeance for our persecutors and call them heathens and demons. We walk around puffed up because we are ‘Christians’ (or belong to a particular subdivision or have a particular title) and make war in the name of God and truth and doctrine. We heap up titles like apostle and pastor and reverend, building our own religious hierarchy and fawning over the higher ups like corporate sycophants.
We need
to expunge these world values from the church. We need to be clear on the
tenets of the culture of the kingdom and be intentional about the culture that
we are crafting. In future blogs I will go into more details. To conclude for this
introduction, it is no coincidence that after the beatitudes, Jesus makes this
statement (Matthew 5:13-16):
13 “You are
the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness
be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and
trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A
city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp
and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the
house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so
that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in
heaven.
Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
