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Tag: #culture

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A Culture of Success

Welcome to Kingdom Culture #5! Let’s talk about success. Everybody wants to be successful… including Christians. Everybody wants to accomplish something. We want to have a good job and be able to afford nice things. Or maybe we are a little more spiritual and we want to win souls for Christ and become a preacher, evangelist or apostle. Church leaders want to have a growing congregation and a big building. We all have a goal; a vision in our head of what success will look like.

The question is: Is it God’s vision? Does God have the same vision of success that we do? Let’s be honest, is our vision that much different from everybody else’s. Does the man who doesn’t serve Christ not also dream of riches and titles and big organizations? Is what drives us not the same as what drives them?

I have at least five friends who have special needs children and through them I’ve learned a lot about this accomplishment culture that is in our veins. I see the pain that parents go through when their child cannot do what other children can do. I see the fears of how society will treat their children. Will they have a successful life?

This hit me one day so hard and I had to take a step back and ask God to see things through His eyes. Does God measure the success of a human life by their accomplishments? If my child cannot read or write or even talk by a certain age does God see failure? NO! God sees more! Jesus sees the human being that He died for; that He accomplished all for, so that that precious child could call Him friend.

The value of a life is not in accomplishments. The value of a life is how much God paid to redeem that life. The value is the life of His Son. There is no other qualifier. We don’t have to achieve to be valued. We walk in great purpose and destiny because we are already valued!

Let us examine ourselves. If in our hearts we worship success, if pictures like the one above turn us on, then let us ask God to adjust our hearts and tune it to His value-system. There is a popular way of thinking that says that we must project success to attract those who don’t know God. It actually does the exact opposite. There is even a pastor in my country that puts up a billboard on the highway with a picture of his children and their academic qualifications every time one of them does well! I am sure he is well-intentioned but I am not so sure that that is the message that God wants to send. Was Jesus successful according to world standards? The truth is, He lived a humble life and died a most undignified death. He lived his life not for Himself but to please His Father.

Any culture that idolizes success and glorifies anything but the King of Glory is not the culture of the Kingdom. It is some other culture. Our Father runs out to meet the failure like the prodigal son and holds a homecoming celebration in heaven! Our King delights in using the frail, weak, foolish things of this earth to confound the wise!

We aren’t trying to draw attention to our great accomplishments mistakenly thinking that this will attract others to our God. Rather, like Paul, we should boast in our weaknesses so that the power of God may shine through us. We ought to humbly and sacrificially expend our lives to glorify Christ and Christ alone!

Copyright 2019, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
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A Culture Of Compliance

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.
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Introduction To Kingdom Culture

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.
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The Fire Series: Culture and Conviction

Christians don’t dance. Christians don’t drink alcohol. Christians don’t curse. Christians don’t get tattoos. Christians don’t wear short skirts. Christians go to church. Christians read the bible. Christians pray. Christians pay tithes. Christianity has a culture. It has evolved over the years. It’s ok to dance now (but only to Christian music of course lol).

In 1980 an American management professor Edgar Schein developed a model for organizational culture. It looked like this:

Using this model, all the examples of what Christians do and don’t do, that I listed above, fall squarely into the category; Artefacts and Behaviour. These, and other things, are what people on the outside observe about us. Then there are the values that Christians espouse; values such as kindness, love, generosity and patience. Finally, at the deepest level are the basic assumptions of Christianity that I prefer to call our convictions. These are the underlying beliefs that are so fundamental that they are assumed. For example, a basic taken-for-granted belief of Christianity is that God is real.

I imagine that things were not always this way. Before Christ, there was no Christian religion (obviously) or ‘Christian culture’. The early church must have spent a lot of time preaching about basic beliefs and values and new believers were converted when they were convicted of the reality of the truths that the apostles and disciples of Christ were preaching. Their behavior flowed from deeply held convictions. Unfortunately, I see a different dynamic at play in the church today.

Today, I see thousands of people who have adopted some of the behavior, maybe a few values but rarely the convictions of Christianity. To illustrate my point let me give some hypothetical examples. Let’s define three Christians:

  • Person A only knows the most visible part of the Christian culture; the behaviour.
  • Person B knows the behaviour and the values.
  • Person C knows the behavior, values and convictions.

So, suppose all three persons lose their jobs and are struggling to gain employment. Here is a hypothetical reaction of each person:

  • Person A falls into a depression. He cannot understand how come this happened to him when he attends church regularly, says the ‘Our Father’ daily and pays his tithes faithfully. Soon he leaves the faith.
  • Person B struggles with depression as well but maintains a brave facade. When asked about her situation she says, “I’m too blessed to be stressed!” She fasts and sticks up scriptures about God providing for her on her mirror. She asks her pastor to pray for her but struggles to understand why this is happening to her.
  • Person C is not worried. She knows that God is faithful. She prays, and God tells her that she needs to forgive her old boss and open the business she has always been dreaming about.

Rare are the person Cs in this world. The sad reality is that many who have grown up in church have no deep convictions of anything; they have just mirrored the behaviours and adopted the catch phrases that they saw/heard around them. We have become adept at emphasizing what Christians should and shouldn’t do. There have been whole sermons dedicated to how women should dress for church. (Can you see my eyes rolling?) Most of us know what we should believe and are oh so quick to tell others what they should believe too. But too few of us actually believe and live the reality that God exists, loves all men unconditionally and wants to be in intimate relationship with us. We are working at the shallowest levels, failing miserably to reach the depths of conviction that can truly transform the church and the world.

We are wasting our time with whether abortion is legal or illegal, whether gay marriage is legal or illegal, why divorced sister so-and-so is receiving communion or leading worship, forcing our disinterested children to attend church and the list goes on. These are all symptoms of a much deeper problem but 90% of our effort is aimed at the symptoms. We are living the delusion that behavior modification is what Christianity is about. Christianity is about a real relationship with the living Christ!  Nothing less will do!

We need to get back to the core of our faith; the deep convictions of our faith. Let’s talk about those! Let’s live those and turn the hearts of men back to God. Then and only then will we see a cultural shift that will overtake the planet and shake the universe!

Joyfully,

Copyright 2018, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.