Tag Archives: Church

The Culture of Christ is the Culture of the Kingdom of God

Articles December 11, 2022 Leave a comment

“There is no justification for a leadership that has strayed into the profane of its culture!”

 

Before we start developing today’s  topic, it is important to mention that the English version of this article has been translated from the Spanish version of Towards Excellence (https://hacialaexcelencia.org/2022/12/11/la-cultura-de-cristo-es-la-cultura-del-reino-de-dios/); not necessarily from the original texts and works of authors here cited.

JOversetreet-valoresReino-ENGJane Overstreet, the author to whom we have referred in previous articles, mentions that after working for more than twenty years with Christian leaders around the world, she has observed that their leadership style is more like the culture in which each leader lives, than really the culture and values ​​of the Kingdom of God.[1]  And she emphatically points out:

“Each culture puts a slightly different mask on those leadership qualities it cherishes, and all our cultures are terribly broken. Perhaps some are significantly worse than others, but none of them accurately reflect God’s values. The values ​​of the kingdom of God are countercultural to every earthly culture. (Overstreet 2011)

Along these lines and for the purposes of this research, we had the opportunity to interview Tope Popoola, a prominent Nigerian leader and author, who regularly gives lectures and consultancies on topics related to leadership, management, marketing, and entrepreneurship in various countries around the world. For Popoola, when asked, what should a Christian leader do so that the culture of Christ prevails in his actions instead of the culture around him. This is what he replied to us:

“The culture of Christ is the culture of the Kingdom of God. Our call is to make Christ known in all spheres of human existence… We are called to bring heaven to earth, not earth to heaven. When we ask ourselves before taking any action, ‘How would Jesus handle this issue?’ and go ahead to do what He would do, regardless of what may be popular or trending, we enforce the culture of Christ. Whoever does it must necessarily die to himself and die towards popular public opinion. The kingdom of God is not a popularity contest! Those who can’t stand something will fall for anything…I’ve had to oppose my culture regarding various traditions. At first it wasn’t easy, but they came to respect me for my decisions.” (Popoola, Interview on Christian Leadership 2020)

Parallel to this important challenge; and in the same way, for the purposes of this research we also carried out a random survey aimed at the Christian public. 118 people participated, from 21 countries, representing the 5 continents.

By asking them, in one of the questions, to rank in priority the characteristics of a “servant leader” that Christian leaders need to put into practice so that they truly reflect the excellence of Christ; the voting system yielded the following results, among 10 proposed characteristics: “practice spiritual disciplines: pray, fast, read the Bible”, in the first place; and, “act with integrity”, in second place. According to the voting system, these were the characteristics with the highest score and consequently those considered to be a priority for those surveyed.

And these results point to the heart of the problem. If Christian leaders do not walk in intimate communion with God, it will be obvious that we are more likely to walk reflecting our own culture, a culture broken by sin, and not the culture of the Kingdom of God.

As Christian leaders, as sons and daughters of God, whom do we represent? Well, the Word has given us the title of “Ambassadors of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20). Therefore, our actions must reflect such title; if we represent Christ Jesus, the image of the invisible God, the Creator God of heaven and earth, of the entire universe. What a tremendous privilege! And what an enormous responsibility to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of God! Certainly, it would be far from us to act like those ambassadors of the world, who have often been involved in corruption scandals.

It truly causes shame, frustration, and great pain when we see the Church not acting up to Christ; a leadership that has accommodated itself to the culture of its environment, losing sight of the culture of the Kingdom of God.

We live in a postmodern culture, which has sadly compromised its values, has become involved in the profane. As Miguel Núñez says, when we live in a culture like this, if we do not try at all costs to avoid it, its effects will end up contaminating us and then the profane will become normal in our lives.[2]

Today more than ever we need a leadership that turns to the SOURCE, as Popoola says, so that we can recover the values of the Kingdom. This is not evangelical jargon, which is so common at least in Latin America. We think that if we treat ourselves as “brothers”, we say: “Glory to God”, “Amen”, “Hallelujah”, “Blessings”; we are already Christians. But it’s not like that. There is a world that observes and judges us severely and in front of which we have dishonored the Name of excellence of our Triune Creator God, the Name of our Savior.

If indeed one day we have come to Christ, only by turning to His Word and maintaining an intimate communion with Him, we will be confronted and we will achieve that His mark of excellence shines in and through us and allows us to truly be the salt and light that this world needs.

Hands holding Holy Bible over grey background. Sharing the Gospel with youth. Copy space. Christian concept

This is consistent with the Word:

“Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you…Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:3-5)

And this is complemented by the clear challenge from our God:

 

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16)

Only the Word and an intimate communion with Christ, will transform our mind so that consequently we are channels of transformation in our environment.

In closing, we will quote an extraordinary reflection by Dr. Núñez, which will certainly touch the hearts of readers as it has touched the author of this blog:

“…Perhaps one of the highlights of his [Jesus’] life of service, especially considering that He is the Creator of the world, and yet he set out to serve the creature. When one thinks that the God of the universe, the One who sustains everything with the Word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), was capable of kneeling down to wash the feet of His disciples, this is something that goes beyond what that the human mind and heart can assimilate”. (Núñez, Jesus – the man who challenged the world and confronts your life 2018)

There is no greater example of excellence than this! There is no justification for a leadership that has strayed into the profane of its culture!

 

[1] Jane Overstreet, UnLeader: The Surprising Qualities of a Valuable Leader (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011), 3.

[2] Miguel Núñez, Vivir con Integridad y Sabiduría: Persigue los valores que la sociedad ha perdido (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2016), 40.

Tope Popoola, Interview on Leadership, 2020.

 

At the End of 2017, a Message to the Church

Articles December 31, 2017 1 Comment

Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.  (John 4:35)

 

What do we feel when we “hear” these words of our Lord Jesus Christ? I invite you to do a brief mental exercise. And let us travel imaginarily back to our places of origin. Let us raise our gaze there, what do we see around us? What do we see beyond our comfort zone?

In fact, let us lift our gaze even more and try to see what is probably not so visible and obvious, and perhaps lost in the midst of our daily hustle and bustle, and highly tight schedules.
You know what is it that I have personally seen in my country, my Region, my continent lately? Please allow me to tell you.

Debris after earthquake. Manabi, Ecuador.

 

Only between 2016 and 2017 I lived, very closely, the terrible earthquake of 7.8 degrees on the Richter scale that destroyed a big part of two provinces of Ecuador, my country.

 

I have also seen very closely, the passage of 4 hurricanes destroying several areas of the Caribbean and the United States; 2 high-magnitude earthquakes severely affecting areas of Mexico. Why was it very closely? Because I have friends and brothers in Christ who lived all that in their own flesh and it feels like I myself went through all that.

And not only natural disasters, but also political unrest and destabilization of governments, such as the

Miami, a couple of days after Hurricane Irma.

sad case of Cuba and Venezuela. Currently, in Ecuador there are nearly 50,000 Cubans who say they have fled the communist regime and the consequent lack of jobs.

And nearly 30,000 Venezuelans who long for personal security and economic stability. These figures certainly do not represent the total of hundreds of thousands of Cubans and Venezuelans who have traveled through Ecuador to reach other countries in the Region, always looking for a “better future.”

And what about the proliferation of Eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. Currently

Mosque in South America

our country has around 7 mosques and a large Buddhist temple, in addition to the innumerable yoga and transcendental meditation centers to mention the least.

I have seen in my own country and in the Region shameless cases of corruption perpetrated by governmental and political leaders, but sadly also by “Christian” leaders.

I see in my country, in my region and even beyond, a world increasingly confused, convulsed and sick. The famous gender ideology, the legalization of abortions, and of course, civil wars, terrorist attacks, and yes, painfully a lack of leadership, a lack of true leadership at all levels, with honorable exceptions, of course.

Are we actually living different times than Jesus lived when he said: “…see that the fields are white for harvest!” Let us think for a moment, what was the situation of Israel during those times? There was no such thing as a spiritual awakening in Israel, the Scriptures did not mention precisely that the priests, the scribes, and the Pharisees were turning to God.

In fact, it was the very opposite, Jesus was mocked, the religious leaders of the time rejected Him, questioned His integrity and even His divinity. He was about to be knocked over a precipice. In fact, Christ Himself regretted over the cities of Israel because they did not repent after His message: “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! Woe to you, Capernaum!”

What is it then that moved Jesus to state that “…the fields are white for harvest!” For I believe with all my heart that it was precisely the sad, desperate and dark condition that the people were facing; to such extent that Jesus wept and wept upon seeing the confusion, the hardship and the spiritual blindness of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41).

Don’t you think that if Jesus was physically in present times, He would not exclaim with pain: “Woe to you, Latin America; Woe to you, Asia; Woe to you, Africa; Woe to you, America;  Woe to you, Europe … Woe, Woe, Woe!”

And just as He did in the past, His heart would suffer. And certainly, if He walked through our cities, our villages, our sanctuaries, He would continue to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, would continue to heal diseases and sick hearts. He would continue to have compassion for the crowds who walk helpless and scattered like sheep without a shepherd. He would continue to look beyond the visible and obvious … having compassion for a world broken by sin.

And he would certainly continue to say to “His disciples” – “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” He would repeat to us “His disciples,” to us, His servants, servants of the Most High God,   – “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:35-38).

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, from all over the world, let me tell you with all my heart, I believe that in spite of all the convulsion that we live in this world, we are the privileged generation. I sincerely believe that we are very close to seeing the return of our Lord Jesus Christ for His Church. No one knows the day or the hour, but the Lord clearly announced in His Word about famines, earthquakes, tribulations, nations against nations. False prophets and false christs would deceive and confuse many.

Believers persecuted and even sentenced to death. And He also anticipated that the love of many would grow cold because of the increase of wickedness.

Let us raise our gaze, all this is happening before us, in unusual proportions, which frequency is increasing. And we cannot deny it!

Beloved, there are more than 2 billion people who have never heard the Good News.
We all, who call ourselves “sons and daughters of the Most High God,” are on a mission to fulfill His last mandate: “Let us go and make disciples of all nations.”

 

So, we all shall rejoice and state:
“All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord (Jesus), and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.”  (Psalm 22:27)

Exclusive Interview with Pastor Bill Hybels

Interviews January 27, 2014 Leave a comment

“[The Church] It’s the hope of the world when it’s being the hands and feet of Christ in the world…”

Bill Hybels

Founder and Senior Pastor of the Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, USA.

Pastor Bill Hybels (courtesy of IEVI)

Pastor Bill Hybels
(courtesy of IEVI)

He is also the creator of the Global Leadership Summit. Pastor Hybels is an author of a number of books, especially on the subject of Christian leadership.

 

How would you define a leader of excellence either in business or within a Christian environment?

Leaders have to be moving groups of people in a God-honoring direction. I often refer to leaders as people who move people or causes from here to there. And the “there” is wherever God wants something to go. Leaders have to be clear vision casters. They have to build teams. They have to inspire and motivate, they have to solve problems. So there are a lot of skills required in making a good leader, but the main understanding of what a leader does  is that he takes a cause for a group of people and moves them  from here to there.

 

There are great leaders in the world, in politics, in science, business, etc., but they do not necessarily pursue the Christian faith. What would you say to them?

From a private conviction standpoint, I wish every person on Planet Earth knew God in a personal way. I wish everyone could experience His love and His guidance, and so that’s not a problem because that’s not going to happen, at least not in my lifetime. So even though someone’s not a Christian, I’d want to help them be as good a leader as they’re capable of being. In other words, I’ve got to say everybody wins when a leader gets better. If a principal at a school –even a public school- gets better, everybody wins. The teachers win, the students win, the parents win, you see. And if the leader of an athletic team, a coach, gets better, then the players win and the players’ families win and the school wins. If someone in government –doesn’t even have to be a Christian government- but if a leader in government gets better, everybody wins. So I’m trying to raise the level of leadership in any position, in any arena of influence anywhere in the world.

The Church is the hope of the world. But what does the church of today need to do to truly act as “the hope of the world”?

The Church is the hope of the world when it’s working right. It’s not the hope of the world just when it shows up and holds services. It’s the hope of the world when it’s being the hands and feet of Christ in the world, when it’s helping people far from God find faith, when it’s helping people who know God progress to their full spiritual potential. It’s when it finds lonely people and enfolds them into the Biblical community. It’s when the people in the Church begin to serve the poor and fix what’s broken in society and overturn a fraction of systemic injustice. So the Church has to be doing a lot of things right for it to really credibly be viewed as the hope of the world. But when a church is working right and when it really is the hands and feet of Christ in the community, there’s nothing like it. There’s a power, there’s something supernatural released into that community that no other institution in society can compare with.