Out-of-the-box thinking for a Church

Here at Real Life, we have been talking about what it means to be a Christian.. The more we thought about the paradigm the more we realized that church is only one piece of what it means to live our faith. Jesus came to preach what he called the Kingdom of God, and that encompasses more than just the church, meaning the building, sermon, and ministries rather than the collective Body of Christ. The problem is that for years, we have preached from the pulpit that the best way to influence culture is through the church. If we could only get people "inside" the church there would be a movement toward God nationwide. The truth is, that theory has never been proven.

We watched a video by a somewhat eccentric guy named Lance Wallnau. He teaches that there are 7 molders of culture within society, and he calls them seven mountains. He believes that the Kingdom of God includes not only the church, but these other six molders of culture. This may sound like a simple enough idea for people new to church or outside the church, but to those who have been in the church for a while it is a radical concept. That is because we have told people that the best way to serve God and God's Kingdom is through serving the church, and ultimately if you are serving full time in the church you are serving God's Kingdom in the highest way possible.

This thought process has led to the church separating itself from society and later pointing the finger at culture when it fails. There is a movement calling Christians to start thinking outside the church, to start climbing the other six molders of culture in order to influence the world for the Kingdom of God. The thought process is different because is starts aiming people toward the areas where they are the most skilled and influential to proclaim the Kingdom.

The reason this method can work is because Kingdom principles work. The Kingdom of God is called the gospel, and gospel means good news. It is not only good news for the church, but for the entire world. We can start influencing the world by implementing Kingdom principles throughout every aspect of our lives, primarily where we have the greatest influence, whether that be your family, government or media.

If you have the opportunity and want to hear more details, listen to Aaron's sermon this week. http://www.liferotp.sermonpodcasts.net/.