Are you a Contagious Christian?

What is our current home, workplace, church, (pick your own appropriate adjective) culture?

In the context of the above question, dictionary.com defines culture as: “the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group.” These behaviors and beliefs aren’t arbitrary, but rather molded and shaped by the underlying values of the people present in the environment. Culture is a tree rooted in people’s personal values that bears fruit of processes & procedures, behaviors,  and structures. 

In creating “culture” the below elements mix and interact with each other:

• Rituals,
• Rewards,
• Taboos,
• Creeds & Proverbs,
• Stories,
• Environment.

We as Christ’s ambassadors are commissioned to proclaim the gospel (Matthew 10:27, Mark 16:15), make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20), and reconcile the world to God (2 Corinthians 5:18-19) as we accomplish His will on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Yet if we neglect or are inconsistent in the practice of renewing our minds (Romans 12:2), failing to take every thought captive, making it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) through the washing from the water of the Word (Ephesians 5:26),  we should not be surprised to learn that we’ve been corrupted and rendered ineffective for God, by the very culture that we are commissioned to change!

Considering that people’s underlying values shape and mold everything in the culture in which we live, breathe, and participate, the bad news is that the culture may be extremely difficult to change.  However, the great news about this realization is that we can literally start anywhere in our efforts to change our culture!

We need to:

• Identify an issue - prayerfully in both humility 
• Avoid the temptation to accept the status quo
• Look for a Christ-centered kingdom minded solution 
• Try it out

Complete these sentences: 

• A key issue in my (workplace, home, church, etc.) culture is ....
• A small step I can do to make a difference is ...

Many believers are well acquainted with Jesus’ warning to His disciples about watching out for and guard against “the yeast of the Pharisees” (Matthew 16:5-12) yet are less familiar with his comparing the kingdom of God to yeast that a woman mixed into 60 pounds of flour (just a few chapters before - Matthew 13:33). Therefore let us faithfully cultivate and plant our little mustard seeds in anticipation of the day that it is a tree, with birds perching in its branches (Matthew 13:31-32).

What are your thoughts? Let’s discuss. Thank you for your comments.