Engaging the Culture
The Apostolic Church Engaging the Culture
By Terry L. Thompson
In 1970, Francis Schaeffer saw the present church situation coming. He said, “The church today should be getting ready and talking about the issues of tomorrow and not issues of 20 to 30 years ago, because the church is going to be squeezed through a wringer. If we found it tough in these last few years, what are we going to do when we are faced with the real changes that are ahead? One of the greatest injustices we do to our young people is to ask them to be conservative. Christianity is not conservative, but revolutionary. To be conservative today is to miss the whole point, for conservation means standing in the flow of the status quo and the status quo no longer belongs to us…” Today there are thousands in our mega-churches, soaking up the warm Christian entertainment offered to them every week. Christian books are now found everywhere and on every subject, and Christian artists are now ‘crossover’ mainstream entertainers, and our Christian mega-stores and CD's and DVD's and Study-Bibles are readily available to the public for consumption, in spite of this deluge of information Christianity is in serious trouble in the world. Despite our lavish Cathedrals ('Charismatic or not) with their high tech projector screens, comfortable settings and $100,000 sound systems, I telling you that Christianity is in trouble around the world. Somewhere in our comfortable suburban streetscape with its manicured lawns we lost real Christianity. Somehow in our concern for "property values" and a better 'dental plan' we left true Christianity behind. But that is not the worst part of it. The worst part is that we don't know how to get it back again. Or perhaps we don't really WANT to get it back again. The cost simply doesn't bear thinking about, does it? And so, as we drive around in our nice shiny cars with our groovy plastic toys, and attend "church" as we know it twice a week for 2 hours; as we live a life that is about as unlike Jesus as you can get, a life of comfort and coddling’ the fact is that we don't really CARE that we have lost original Christianity, do we? As we listen to the Fox News prophets today, they are reminding us of a nation and world that is in serious peril and dangerously borderline chaos. Things are spinning out of control and no one seems to have an answer. The church has not advanced enough to address the postmodern world of today. In the United States, 80% do not attend church. The ones that do attend our mega-churches remain shallow and connected more to the world’s principles than to the principles of Scripture. If we were to examine the depth of Bible knowledge for pastors, leaders, and workers in the church, we would find a great famine for the word of God. Why? Maybe a good place to start might be with the people in the pulpit and their concept of a “Biblical” worldview. What constitutes a "biblical" worldview? Christian researcher George Barna says, “ it includes a belief in absolute moral truth as defined by scripture, as well as acceptance of six core biblical beliefs: the accuracy of biblical teaching, the sinless nature of Jesus, the literal existence of Satan, the omnipotence and omniscience of God, salvation by grace alone, and the personal responsibility to evangelize”. In a recent survey of Protestant pastors conducted by the Barna Research Group, only half (51%) passed the test on whether they possess a biblical worldview. Of the pastors surveyed, Southern Baptists scored the highest with 71% while United Methodists finished at the bottom with just 27%. In between were 57% of pastors of Baptist churches (other than Southern Baptist), 51% of pastors of non-denominational Protestant churches, 44% of pastors of charismatic or Pentecostal churches, 35% of pastors of black churches, and 28% of pastors of leading mainline denominations. What has caused the church leaders to have such a low percentage of a worldview? Someone once said, “If we do not learn from history, we are bound to repeat it.” Problem with the church is we are not changing history, just repackaging the problems which cause us to remain ineffective. Since 1830 the following ten characteristics have permeated and dominated almost every Christian church, denomination, school, and organization on the planet, even though most of them still believed in the Bible and orthodox Christianity and still loved Jesus personally in all sincerity. From around 1830 almost every church and denomination became:
Man-centered rather than God-centered.
Defeatist and pessimistic, rather than optimistic, about Christianizing society in this age.
Accommodative, rather than confrontative, toward falsehood and unrighteousness if there were a cost to be otherwise.
Fearful, rather than courageous and self-sacrificing.
Escapist and Rapture-oriented, rather than eager to have “God’s will done on earth” now.
Irrelevant, rather than willing to offer answers to the world’s problems in law, government, education, business, financial, etc.
Piecemeal in its thinking, rather than comprehensive in its biblical world view.
Institutional, rather than relational, and sensational, rather than theologically thoughtful.
Oriented toward a “peace-time” mentality, rather than a “war-time” mentality.
Inclined to consider the Kingdom of God as primarily “spiritual” during this age, rather than a real, active, Kingdom on earth now, which God intends to have permeate, influence, and ultimately overcome all other societies, “kings,” states and continents for His glory."
On December 4, 2008 the following Prophetic Word was given to me.
I am bringing My church out of the chaotic mess that it has mired itself into. I will release a fresh anointing on those who remained faithful during this period of whore-mongering by my bride. The world will not change from chaos until I have fully realigned and revised the present mindset in My church. She has lifted her hands, mind, and committed fornication with the world systems. Now is the time for it to end for My name’s sake. Prepare her through cleansing, purifying, adjusting and ordering.
Those who resist will remain in the quagmire and will diminish in their fancy palaces, which are tombs of people that are empty, because they remain full of themselves.
It is the hour for intercession of governmental proportion. The decrees of the Kingdom are being released to My apostles and prophets. They must be free of man’s faces and know Me with all their heart. I am coming to strip My bride for the covenantal ceremony. I am drawing her back to the palace of authority and power that the world may fear and know that I am actively directing the affairs of all mankind.
You will hear a fresh sound arising from the East. It is a sound of clarity for those who have ears to hear. But many will scoff, laugh, deny, and doubt the validity of this sound. Rest assured to those it is unclear and unbelievable to my servants it will be a refreshing, releasing, and positioning. What you have done in secret, I am rewarding you openly. It is now I am calling My apostles and prophets out of the prayer closets into the churches, highways, small meetings, and other places for this sound to go forth. Know that you will hear a voice behind you confirming the sound of this new era.
I am laying the foundation for this new era and am releasing spiritual demonstrations to confirm this sound. The old ways of war will not work for the new battles ahead. Arm yourself with the present weapons of warfare. Train My people with a complete new armor.
The cultural system today has to be engaged by a church that is relevant and knows the mindset of God for this season. The Corporation style, Evangelical church of today has become impotent in its mandate to establish the Kingdom of God in the Earth. The church has lost its position in the culture. Most churches no longer hold a place of prominence or influence in the community. Their contribution beyond themselves is no longer seen as viable or significant by the culture. The church has been marginalized, not just by the devil, but mostly by its own fornication with a world system that is antichrist in nature.
The church must rediscover its calling, authority, and find a new place in the culture. The church will probably never be the center of the culture again, but it can exert great authority and influence from the fringes of the culture. Just like Daniel, Joseph, and the early church. To do this we will have to examine our present ministries and be willing to deconstruct and reconstruct our work.
Alan Roxbourgh suggests a five-stage process for church changing in order to engage the culture:
Stage 1: Stability - where life is working fine to…
Stage 2: Discontinuity - when the old way is working less and less, to…
Stage 3: Disembedding – when we feel the current system is unsupportable, to…
Stage 4: Transition - when we haven’t yet left the old or quite entered the new, to…
Stage 5: Reformation – When we decide to go for it in the new world.
When I was a young pastor I had all the same ambitions as my peers. I wanted my church to grow and have plenty of money. This seemed to be the goal in ministry. The problem with this mindset was that it determined whether the church was doing well or bad. It also decided my attitude toward the work God had called me to do. If attendance and money were up, I had a good attitude; if it was down I had a bad one. Realizing the vanity of this mindset I needed to change.
One day while reading through the scriptures, I was enlightened to Matthew 7: 24-27. It states:
“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine (Jesus Christ) and does them, I will liken him to wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; an it fell. And great was its fall.”
I realized that what I was building was built on tradition of 1830 and not on Jesus Christ. So I began the transition from a Corporation blessing model concept to an apostolic model.
The traditional view of leadership places a strong individual at the top, with a few loyal personnel underneath to carry out the wishes and demands of the leader. This Corporation Style structure produces the, ‘us and them syndrome.’ You will hear things in the church community like: ‘church staff’, ‘annual business meeting’, ‘budgets’, ‘church office’, ‘a record of your giving’, etc. While we need personnel, meetings, offices, accounting, these seem to have a higher priority than the church’s actual purpose.
This pyramid style is reflection of building on ‘shifting sand’. Pyramids are the sign of Egypt in our midst. Pyramids were built for death and not life. They do exactly what they are designed to do. KILL!
This style will keep any potential leaders from being developed. Instead of seeing them as young Timothy’s or Titus’, they become suspicious of insubordination, danger, power hungry, and deceitful. This style leads to church splits and constant division. Instead of building on the ROCK (Jesus Christ), they begin to strike the Rock, who called them. Just like Moses struck the Rock. This was the spiritual rock that provided in the wilderness, parted the Red Sea, and brought victory over the enemy. Where had the bitterness come from? What caused the flood of anger? It was the pyramid style leadership. The results Moses received much from God. Had a close relationship with Him, but NEVER made it into the Promised Land.
In the Apostolic Style we must transition our leadership from being ‘OVER’ to ‘WITHIN’ or ‘IN THE MIDST OF’. Study of the scriptures reveals this as ‘covenant language’. The apostolic style is based on covenant. It is more pragmatic than ideological, relational than fragmented, trustful than fearful and cooperative than competitive. This style provides a clear blueprint of building churches as God designed them.
Genesis 13: 2-4, “…and he (Abraham) went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place when his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai…” Abram built his altar at Bethel and dwelt there. The choice between, ‘BETHEL’, meaning “an assembled house of God” and ‘AI’, meaning “a heap of stones or ruin”, is significant. Bethel was the gateway to heaven for future generations.
(Genesis 28: 10-22) This is apostolic style. This style produces lively stones that are assembled in their proper place. (Ephesians 4:16) When God’s people gather together in ‘heaps of stones’, we do not see the reality of the house of God, normally resulting in RUIN. Or as Matthew teaches: “Great is the fall…”
Transitioning from a Corporation Style leadership to an Apostolic Style takes careful, prayerful, and hopefully delightful strategizing. In order to do this we must look at a change of mindsets. Let us examine some of these mindsets.
1. We must move from people and their needs to a focus on God’s call and purpose for their lives.
People become accustomed to someone always running to their every need. Needs are met indirectly by encouraging people to pursue God’s call and purpose in their lives. This creates within the individual a great confidence and faith in God.
2. Change from Spiritual Obesity to Training people to be Spiritually Fit.
The average American Christian hears approximately twenty-six sermons a week. (i.e. church services, radio, TV. tapes, etc.) This steady diet of hearing and NOT doing is creating an obese church. Hebrews 5 exhorts us to have our sense EXERCISED by discerning… This exercising challenges the people to live out their full potential and realize God’s will for their lives.
3. Change from a ‘Bless Me’ society to ‘I want to be a Blessing’.
Individuals need to take responsibility for their own lives and needs. The BLAME started in the garden and continues until this day. It is someone else’s fault that ‘I am the way I am’. GET OVER IT and grow up. Begin to do things for yourself and others.
4. Change from the hired staff doing everything to the work of the ministry.
Grace gifts have been granted to every believer for their skills, talents, and abilities. Apostolic style teaches and trains individuals how to discover their gifting and how to move in them. We are accustomed to finding a hired gun and expecting them to perform. We can disobey the hired staff, but when the Holy Spirit is speaking to us, we must learn to obey.
5. Change from a maintenance program to a focus on maturity.
The Apostle Paul travailed for the Galatian church so that Christ would be formed on the inside of each of them. He desired to present a mature and complete Bride to Christ.
6. Change from a Slave mentality to an established and experimental reality in Christ.
The apostolic style works on moving us out from under governors and tutors to the reality that we are sons/daughters in Christ.
7. Change from meeting EXTERNAL needs to meeting INTERNAL needs
The business world’s formula for success is, “Find a need and fill it”. The church has adapted this slogan. While this is acceptable it only goes part of the way. Apostolic style moves beyond felt needs and stirs the spirit of man to greater identity and discovery.
8. Change the behavioral system to the belief system.
There is much teaching on applying God’s word in order for believer’s behavior to match God’s standards. The apostolic style lays the proper foundation for minds to be renewed and lives to be transformed. Lives are transformed when our minds are renewed thru revelation knowledge.
This will not happen overnight. It is a SLOW process. You will be asking individuals to move out of areas that have been their comfort zone for a long time.
We are indeed caught in a world of cultural change, church change, and different leadership changes. In order for us to engage the culture we must engage the church first. The church must understand its mandate and begin to equip and empower new leadership for today’s challenges. With the present attack on the church and its worldview, we must stand sure of God’s design from the foundation of the world.