Pages

Culture Architecture

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again."
John 3:16-17 (The Message)


Firstly allow me to define three keywords:

The world is the kingdoms and costumes of the age we live in, a
n architect is a person responsible for achieving a particular plan or aim and culture is a lot of things that have been passed on, it is what people pick up on immediately, thought it may be imperceptible to regulars.

For our sake and the sake of the next generation we need to make sure we pass things that are worth passing on. That’s why at D7 our team nights are so important, here we will not only learn leadership principles and be empowered but you will also know what we are all about. This is extremely important in order to keep yourself and others connected. Culture is the glue that holds our church together.

Now, let's establish two things:

We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him."
Colossians 1:15-16 (The Message)

1) God cannot be seen.

"The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence."
Ephesians 1:23 (The Message)

In this day and age how do people see Jesus? He is invisible!


2) Jesus cannot be seen.

Here is where culture architecture comes in.

You see God by seeing Jesus (but Jesus is also invisible). So you see Jesus by seeing His Body – The Church. The church is His body filled with Him.

The questions we need to ask is:

1) How does the culture of our church represent the culture around us?
Is it relevant? Are we being present? Is it Innovative? Are we contributing in creative ways in order to bring positive and meaningful change?
2) How does an unbeliever see our church?

The culture exists no matter what! Do something to contribute and architect culture. Each single one of us sets the atmosphere and the culture of our environment. Owing the culture will help us be more confident in bringing people to church. How does that look like practically? You bring the atmosphere with you, you get your attitude sorted before coming to God's house because you understand that it is not about our vision but His Kingdom, not about our fame but His name.

No comments:

Post a Comment