Learning Kingdom Culture To Communicate It

About four years ago the Spirit told me to put more effort into my French studies. This might have seemed strange for people who knew me considering I had spent four years in Belgium and another 19 years in Quebec. But on my return to Canada I ended up in english ministry in Quebec, not requiring much french at all. I could get by In Montreal with my limited french. But here now the Spirit said “study”.

So I have studied, most days three hours a day, and my french has greatly improved. Then the Lord instructed me to join in with an apostle we greatly respected, joining my church in with his. This church operates in three languages but is primarily a french-speaking church. Ah, I get it Lord. He had been preparing me.

Language is key to understanding culture. My french is great now, giving me great comprehension of the spoken and written language. But to understand and to be understood are two different things, and so here is my weakness, being capable of understanding and struggling to express. But this is not about my struggle with french.

The KIngdom of God is a very unique culture, a culture far more powerful and important than any culture on this planet. We are not native to this culture but are instead adopted into it. We have the same challenge as any immigrant coming into our country's culture, they need the language to understand the culture so they can adapt to this new life.

Many a day, as I plugged away at my studies, I wished that my brain could be transformed into a french thinking brain. French is a wonderfully precise language that reveals the unique way of thinking of a french speaking person. To grasp it you have to let go of your own way of thinking which helps you form sentence structure. You have to let go of the old to grasp the new. This describes the Kingdom process as well.

Jesus warned us that the old had to go in order for the new to come. In the Kingdom this is both transformational and also a process. Unlike our differing cultures, the Kingdom makes it possible for our minds to be transformed to grasp and live according to Kingdom culture. It’s called “renewing”. Apostle Yvon Stabili has said that the only thing we need before Jesus is redemption and the thing we need after Jesus is a daily renewed mind. Scripture encourages us:

“Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.” (Romans 12:2)

If we want to understand Kingdom culture we need to bathe ourselves daily in Kingdom language as found in the Word and to grow in our relationship with the Spirit who teaches us this culture. It is a completely foreign way of thinking and living. Love your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you. Honour leaders who may be against you. Give just because someone asks and give more than what is asked for. Pray and the sick will be healed and the dead will be raised. This is crazy talk from the point of view of the cultures of this world. Without the Spirit we could never make the transition.

My struggle with french is that I can live every day without needing to speak it. Almost everyone I know speaks english and when we are not forced to use something we often don’t. I need people in my life who cannot switch to english out of their sense of compassion. I need situations where I am forced to communicate in french. It is the only way I will improve. I need to get past my fear of imperfection, if you know what I mean. The Kingdom is no different.

The only way we will grasp the Kingdom is when we live the Kingdom. If we study it and even memorize it, there is no value to it. Scripture tells us to not just read and know the word but to live it. Do  the Word. Live the culture empowered by the Spirit and you will progress in the process. Do it. Just do it.

The biggest stumbling block to speaking a new language is our fixation on perfection or our fear of mistakes. We must be willing to learn as a child learns, living daily in imperfection until things fall into place. This applies in a big way to  Kingdom culture. Father is not afraid of our imperfections, it is part of our growth. He wants us to listen to his voice and step out to live this culture, being daily renewed and living according to his heart. We have to become like children to see the Kingdom which means we move forward as children, knowing we have a lot to learn and mistakes to learn from.

So, let’s not give up. Let’s encourage each other to press on through our learning and growing so that someday we will be better able to communicate the heart of Father through all that we do.

“But we aren’t the sort of people who timidly draw back and end up being destroyed. We’re the sort of people who have faith so that our whole beings are preserved.” (Hebrews 10:39)

Don't Waste Your Sin

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. " - George Santayana

Most of us can attest to the truth of this statement. We may understand it from a different perspective like, a mistake is not a waste if we learn from it. Some of the greatest lessons in history and our personal lives were the precursor to some great advances. But how different it could have been if we had failed to learn.

We see this in our relationship with Jesus as well. Nothing is a waste when Yahweh is involved:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) 

But what a mess it becomes when we refuse to remember and refuse to learn.

Remember Aaron's mistake (sin) when he made the golden calf and called it the god who had rescued Israel? The nation was almost wiped out on the spot. You would think it would be an historical sin that no one would repeat. Not so. When the kingdom became divided there was concern that people would eventually move to Judah because of the temple. So guess what they did?

Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” (1 Kings 12:28)

They did what most of us do, they not only repeated their sin but doubled it. "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results." - Rita Mae Brown. Insanity or not it is what we do with sin when we are not strong in the Lord. Sin seems to cloud our mind but the presence of the Spirit frees it. In the Spirit we are able discern but without him we continue to repeat our sins.

We can't do it on our own and we need to stop trying. We are wasting time, effort and opportunities. If we are really interested in spiritual growth and development we need to embrace the lessons that come from the sins of our past and be willing to be taught in every situation we face. It is part of growing up.

Are You Willing And Desiring To Be Taught?

One of the greatest hindrances to our relationship with Jesus is not sin; it is independence from Jesus which allows us to sin. We like being our own boss, doing things the way we want to do them and we don't want to be told anything. Perhaps it is not exactly how we think but it is certainly how we act. Maybe we want to be dependent, to be directed and instructed but that somehow does not get translated into our actual thinking and acting. Remember, our first nature before coming to Jesus was rebellion and sometimes it is an easy thing in which to continue.

Sometimes we also get this notion that the Spirit is somehow just going to force our heart into obedience. We hear time and again that we fall short of the glory of God and that it is impossible for us to live the Law. We also hear that the Spirit empowers us to live in the righteousness of Jesus. This is all true but we keep forgetting about the heart matter. We have to desire to want to walk in the righteousness of Jesus. We have to desire to obey. We have to desire to pursue living like Jesus. He has told us he will give us the desire of our heart but that desire has to be correct; it has to be for him.

If we really want to grow in Jesus we need to have teachability. We have to be willing to admit we don't know as we ought to know, we don't do as we ought to do, and we don't think as we ought to think. We have so much to learn and the best place to start when we first come to Jesus is to set aside everything we thought we knew. We need humility in the Church so those of maturity can come alongside and help us to learn to be taught in prayer, in the Word, and by the Spirit. We can't grow if we refuse to learn.

King David was one who was always learning. He made many mistakes but he remained humble before the Lord so he could receive correction where needed. His attitude is summed up in Psalm 25:

Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. (vv. 4-5)

Show me, teach me, lead me, should all be commonly repeated phrases in our prayers and in our hearts. But it is no good to say them unless they become part of the motivation of our heart and part of our determination to live. It should not surprise us when the Lord corrects us. It is a normal part of the "growing up" process of our relationship. We should desire correction and welcome it when it happens. We should expect to learn every time we open the Word or kneel in prayer. When we submit ourselves to the Lord we are doing so to grow.

The Lord has also called out trainers in the Body; teachers who are to train us in "good works", which is the beginning process of growing into the whole measure of the fullness of Jesus. We are told about it in Ephesians 4 where we find the process we are going through and how it requires a teachable spirit to participate. But many in the Church refuse instruction and isolate themselves from the Body which is a sin because it is contrary to the will of the Father. Our walk with Christ was never intended to be done in isolation but in community. However, such people demonstrate a lack of teachability and will never mature as the Lord intends.

I am almost 50 years old and have been a pastor for over twenty years and I am still being taught every day. I still go through times of breaking and reforming. I have daily moments of insight and inspiration that nullify incorrect thinking and brings me back in line with the Word. Every time I enter my prayer closest I expect to grow and indeed the Spirit teaches me. I still require the trainers to come alongside and provide guidance. It is not that I am spiritually immature, only that my journey is not yet complete. There is always more to learn. Learning is a good thing, a wonderful thing, a desirable thing. Let us remain humble and obedient so we may reach the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, together.