Recognizing God’s work in OUR OWN hearts
In your early years what cultural influences do you think affected you the most significantly?
Most religious discussion involving the topic of culture will focus on the need of transforming it. Usually, it is viewed as something to either overcome or downright avoid! In this school of thought, culture represents the world as existing APART from God. Culture carries a negative connotation.
While I find great truth in these things, and I truly believe that the “world” is a realm that does not acknowledge Jesus as Lord, I do not think this view is the TOTAL picture! I believe that culture also serves God’s purposes. God uses culture to shape the hearts of spiritual leaders (as you have all seen the last 4 Wed. Nights).
None of us are born into nothingness. We enter life at a particular place and time. And we are influenced by all of the things these encompass. EX: language, race, geography, demography, economics, history, intellect, prejudices etc… WE DEPEND ON CULTURE to give us all a starting point in understanding ourselves. And the culture in which we all find ourselves is no coincidence. God knew where and when our lives would become part of his story!
FOR THE REST OF THIS CLASS, “CULTURE” WIL STAND AS SHORTHAND FOR “ALL ENVIRONMENTAL FORCES THAT INFLUENCE US”
So if you were expecting a lesson of culture bashing, you will be disappointed! I do not believe it is an automatic evil to be avoided. In fact---- I BELIEVE culture is something that as Spiritual Leaders, we must somehow connect with, engage and encourage! I would rather influence culture rather than rally against it!!!!
There are 3 aspects of culture that I want us to investigate and study tonight as we decide HOW OUR OWN culture has shaped who we are so far! They are:
It is time to get to your “roots”. This is one of the most important stages in leadership development. Until you ask yourself these questions and get answers, you are in danger of not knowing you personal vulnerabilities. I don’t want you to try and decide you that you are a “victim” of the past, but I want us to gain insight into our early and initial formations!
None of us picked the circumstances we were born into. God says in Hebrews to run the race “set before you”—He picked them! He designs our races. And he placed all of these influences to shape us into something------what is it?????
We often fail to think about the forces that shape us and as a result we do not truly understand ourselves. Worse, leaders who do not know where they come from will find it hard to appreciate where others come from! Just look at the current “worship wars” in 21st century churches and you will see this in action on all sides!
Now, your early culture is not the end of the line. It is not solely determinative. But, the process of TRULY discovering where you come from and WHY you are who you are will broaden all of our views. Do you know where you come from? Tonight we will examine just that and you can hopefully start to recognize why God has you where he does and in what great ways he will use this all!!
Do not get this confused with “taking a stand” against an issue. This is quite different. Her we will focus on our abilities to understand and connect with the culture that God has placed us in, in our leadership positions. We will learn, hopefully, to cooperate with this divine work by looking for ways in which He is at work in this culture of ours, and figure out how to belong tom yet transcend this culture! J
To know where you really stand, you MUST become a student of culture. Leaders have to have the courage to engage culture. Jesus did. That is where his ministry flourished! We should do this not to be “relevant” or “cool”, but to establish and maintain CREDIBLE dialogues and relationships with those inside and outside of our faith.
Some of the most successful ministry efforts are targeted specifically at a certain culture or demographic. Take our experience this summer at PUMP. They culture they were working with had EVERYTHING to do with how the system worked, from the way they talked to kids, and disciplined them. And it determined the games they played, the music they listened to etc…. Do you see how this works? Would a daily service that looks like our service on Sunday mornings work on these kids????-- NO WAY!!!!
The world we are trying to reach is constantly changing. As leaders we have to know these changes. We have to be aware of the trends of our times and the implications they have on our ministries.
This can only take place after the first two things that we discuss have happened. Once we have a good grip on our past and have established some measure of independence from it and we have a grasp of current culture, we can then incorporate these into a direction we want to take our lives and our ministries!
We have looked around and behind us. Now it is time to look ahead. It is time to make a decision. The final shaping of our heart that culture will have a say over will determine where we want to go!
This is the fun part. This is where you set out to turn a dream into a reality. As a leader you have a vision. For some of us it is huge and grandiose. For others, it is simple and small. But they are all important. And they all can happen…if we want them to!
CONCLUSION
So where do we want to go??? How you and I decide to respond to culture DOES shape our hearts and our lives. We are here in history at this place, right now for a reason. And God is NOT surprised or caught off guard by change and upheaval in culture. And he is not surprised to find us facing what we are facing. It is not by accident that we will all lead at a time when the decision we make, especially in response to culture will affect many generations!!!!
WHO AM I??????
This activity is designed to help you understand who you REALLY are. But it will only work if you are completely honest with yourself. You have to have the courage and maturity to be able to do that.
So there is a list of questions that you must address. For each question in one sentence or so, write down how you would answer it to describe yourself—in relation to your spiritual leadership.
1- Who I am has a large part to do with my family. How has my family influenced the shaping of my heart?
2- In what ways did God shape you early on in life?
3- What gifts from your beginnings have you come to treasure?
4- Sometimes your culture affects you negatively. What is one aspect of culture that has had a negative influence on you?
5- Whether you know it or not, YOU HAVE IMPACTED your culture. What is one of the ways that is true?