I want to share a special message about Kingdom Culture.
Jesus said, “I will build My church.”
- That would make Jesus the first church planter!
- And, for most people, if you look at the results, Jesus was a failure (at least as some thought!)
Jesus could be looked at as a failure because He worked for three years to “build My church”, as He said, and, in the end, had a core group of only twelve guys, and one of them defected!
Our mentality is to go big and go fast. Jesus’ approach is to go slow and go deep.
- He spent three years developing primarily twelve guys (where He spent most of His time).
- He imprinted these guys with the culture of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus taught, over and over again, the various aspects of Kingdom culture.
- He began His teachings by saying, “The Kingdom of God is like…”
- To explain it, He often used a parable—a story.
- Sometimes He used a visual aid: “Look at the fields, they are ripe and ready for harvest.”
- Sometimes He used a metaphor: “If you don’t receive the Kingdom as a little child, you can’t enter into it.”
- Sometimes He used a story: “There was a man traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. He fell among thieves and got beat up…”
Jesus taught Kingdom culture.
- He said that His “Kingdom is not of this world.”
- When you operate in the Kingdom or do Kingdom work, it is not the way the world operates. It is very different.
When Jesus talked about the Kingdom, He reflected five areas of Kingdom culture:
- 1. Values
- 2. Beliefs
- 3. Attitudes
- 4. Priorities
- 5. Worldviews.
- These are, collectively, the DNA complex of Kingdom culture.
- They overlap and they are intertwined.
A productive, Great Commission church, is a church that has the environment of Kingdom culture.
- Read your Bible from this perspective. Look at what Jesus teaches about Kingdom culture and use that as a lens for your own life and for the life of your church.
- Read the two New Testament letters written by the apostles to churches in places like Ephesus, Corinth, Philippi, Rome, etc. See where the apostles are constantly trying to correct churches that have drifted away from Kingdom culture and run the risk of turning God’s wonderful movement into an institution, organization, and a bunch of programs.
Kent Hunter, founder of Church Doctor Ministries, is known as the Church Doctor. His most recent e-books are The Future Is Now and The J-Dog Journey, available at no cost. Contact him at (800) 626-8515, by email, Twitter, Facebook, or visit www.churchdoctor.org.
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