Ps 145:4 GOD’S WORD translation

So today, while sitting at Starbucks, I took some time to really listen to the music of Jesus Culture. I have heard of them and even caught snippets of their music, but never really stopped to listen: I am glad I did!

What struck me most about the music and I assume it is representational of the musicians and their movement, was the passionate hunger for Jesus. Songs like “You Won’t Relent,” to me was like a duet of God’s passion for us and a hungry soul longing for intimacy with Him. It was all I could do to keep the tears from flowing (after all, I was in Starbucks!).

As my mind reeled with thoughts, I began to ruminate on the generational differences. The next generation’s expression of faith is not the same as ours and godly leaders need to recognize this and liberate them!

In this thought process, I was taken back to a discussion I had in Albany GA with Vincent Hunt, a progressive thinker of the generation after me. We were discussing that there did not have to be a generational divide, but an empowering and releasing from one to the next. The illustration we discussed was a bow and arrow.

In short, the purpose of the bow is to propel the arrow forward as it is released to hit the mark. Neither is effective without the other. It is from the bow that the arrow receives power and direction. The bow and arrow are different from each other, but their purpose is to work together to accomplish a mutual task.

The problem arises, when you draw the bow and attempt to hold the arrow to long. The tension that builds will result in an increased potential for the arrow to go astray and miss the mark: neither bow nor arrow will fulfill their purpose.

The idea here is each generation is different. It is the responsibility of the “older” generation to provide direction and empowerment as they RELEASE the next generation! The “elders” are to pass on the truth and testimonies of faith to the “younger” generation and trust Jesus to do his part as they walk out their faith, just as we did.

In my communications with individuals of the generations following after me, the main comment I hear is that they want spiritual fathers that will nurture, love them and trust them. I admire one characteristic statements from the Jesus Culture website: “They would be connected with spiritual fathers and mothers and aligned under their covering.” I believe there is a generation ready to step up: IF they can find the generation before them to empower and release them!

For years, I have heard 1 Chronicles 12:32 preached regarding the times we live in. The New Living Translations puts it this way: “From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take“  (emphasis added). In my opinion, if there is ever a time for this to be true it is now.

The necessity of this text is not because of the evils of the world, but because of the transition of the ekklesia (church) into kingdom manifestation. We are at a crucial karios moment in God’s plan: not just a generational change, but also a spiritual mindset transformation. We are at a time and place that my generation of ministry (I’m only 51) notches the arrow, pulls the bow back AND releases the arrow!

So, my final challenge:

• To the “older” generation, find the “young” person, invest in them, love them, trust them and release them!
• To the “younger” generation, find that “older” person who is trying to understand, be patient with us. Seek the wisdom of our scars, listen to the story of what God has done, and use it to build your faith!

P.S. – Please forgive the slight disjointedness of this post: it was written on the fly as I was sitting at Starbucks. It is my desire to be one of those “older” generational members that understands the times and what is necessary for the church to do!

One focus of the opening night was to re-create the scenario of the calling of the clans for a meeting, again, a centuries old tradition. As each clan representative stepped to the circle they would give some part of the clans stories, many tracing back their origins. As someone who like history and has been fascinated by Scotland, it was interesting and entertaining. But something more dawned on me as I watched, listened and experienced the calling of the clans.

What I noticed about this event was that while I enjoyed it and knowing a little of history, I could grasp some of their stories: it did not move me or “speak” to me like it did to them. Why? Because it was not MY story! I could not see myself in THEIR story, even though historically true, it was not RELEVANT to my story. After all, I’m German: no McSchmaltz or O’Schmaltz clan was visible! So what is the point of this musing?

The point is: the modern church does the same with its presentation of the Good News. The challenge is, while the Gospel is the ONE answer to everyone’s situation, it’s PRESENTATION many times is not. Too many times we present the Gospel in a modern, western, North American get saved and go to heaven scripting: and our audience cannot relate. It doesn’t fit THEIR story.

The context of this presentation is from an era when Christianity was viewed as the dominant thought process of Europe and America: all things were judged in relationship to organized religions dogma. However, things have changed!

Our culture is a kaleidoscope of beliefs and “truths,” that shape the life context or story of each individual. The belief of today is that there is not one truth, but whatever works for you. Each person forms his or her beliefs and values, based on their life experience, which then manifests in a particular lifestyle story.

When presented with new ideas, including the Good News, each individual judge what they hear, based on how it fits into THEIR story. How many times have you heard someone dismiss Truth with a statement like: “That may be fine for them, but…” That in effect, is them saying, it doesn’t make sense to MY story.

So what is to be done? The Good News must be presented in a context that fits their story: in short, it must be lived out in the context of THEIR story. That means we cannot just tell them about Jesus, we must demonstrate him! It is not witnessing so much by our words but by our lifestyle.

This is tough for the average Christian, because it means I must get involved in their lives. I must live in a transparent way, so they see the grace of God working in my life as I deal with the situations of MY story. It is the demo of the gospel in the daily rub of life that proves its reality and begins to give others hope. If others can see it working for me, they may just begin to believe it might work in THEIR story.

Food For Thought
How are you demonstrating the Gospel so they feel it can be a part of THEIR story?

Our ministry is to come along side the leadership of the local assembly and assist in the discipling of the believers to reveal the power of the Kingdom with in them. We accomplish this by ministering the principles of walking in apostolic or spiritual authority. To schedule us email at maschmaltz@juno.com with your contact information.

At a later date, this same person invited me to play racquetball. I gladly accepted, after all I had seen him play softball, NO PROBLEM! While preparing to play, I watched him putting on kneepads and a nylon jacket. I thought to myself: “What next, a helmet?” Well, I found out the equipment was not for protection – but performance.  I was amazed as he would slide on his knees for shots along the wall, flip on his back and be upright before I could return his volley. He “smoked” me (our term of the late 70’s). What was the difference? He was gifted at one sport, the other he obviously was not.

How well this illustration fits many churches of today.  We create programs with positions, and then we seek to assemble ministry teams based on the needs of our programs. Many times individuals are asked to participate in areas that may not allow them to excel in their gifting. Unfortunately, this results in a lack of fruitfulness, which produces frustration and a high turnover of individuals.

There is a series I have adapted and teach on ministry foundations (1). One of the strengths of this series is that it first reveals to us how many traditional churches develop their ministries. The steps are similar to the following:

• First, the leadership determines there is a need requiring some action – reach the homeless lets say.
• Second, they develop a program – this is how we will do it.
• Third, they create a missions statement as to why and what they are doing to motivate people.
• Fourth, they then begin disseminating a vision – this is how this is part of the kingdom, what God wants to do etc.
• Finally, they go to prayer and ask God to bless what they have created.

Now, I am not saying these things are wrong. But I wonder as to the ultimate effectiveness of them. How many times do churches and individuals start something, yet in the long run it is not very productive? It becomes a challenge to motivate people to get involved. It can ultimately become a source of frustration for leadership. Yet God does want us to minister and be fruitful.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul compares the body of Christ (the church) to the human body. He tells us we are many members (parts) each being different, yet we are all one body. Since we are each different, we have different gifting. For our human body to function correctly, each part must perform the purpose it was created for. If we have a part not performing its job, we call it disease or sickness.

When the church structures its ministries according to the giftings God has placed in the body (not a program because we feel in it is necessary) we find that the members will be fruitful in their ministries and if fruitful they will be fulfilled.

Years ago, in the first church I pastored, I sought the Lord to see how we were to impact our city. His response was children’s and youth ministry. We spent a large amount of our resources and people on developing these ministries. When the Lord moved us on, over 50% of the church was under the age of 18. The last time I spoke with my successor, he reported they would have in mid-week bible study almost as many children as was the total Sunday attendance prior to my leaving.  All this in a small town of 10,000 people, with at least 23 other churches.

There were times during my pastorate, in my ignorance, I used to get frustrated about not having other ministries. There was a prison in town – yet we did not have a prison ministry.  We had a small women’s ministry and no real men’s ministry. It was not till many years later I came to realize, that we built a ministry based on the giftings and passion God had placed in the local body.

The discovery process we went through and what is now taught is summarized as follows below, obviously there is much elaboration on each that can be done.

• First, begin with spiritual formation – get a connection with the King and His kingdom.
• Second, from this spiritual formation, let Him give you a Kingdom vision. A big “spiritual” picture.
• Third, from this big picture, let Him give you the mission He has for you or the local church – notice His Idea, not ours.
• Fourthly, now develop the ministry to fulfill the mission He has given you.
• Finally, you should see your actions much more fruitful because the source is the King and His kingdom.

When we develop a ministry and initiate the actions based on this process,  because it is His idea, He will bless and we will be fruitful.

May I suggest, if you are frustrated in your ministry or have a ministry that is not as effective as you believe it should be, take some time to evaluate it. Was it initiated because it was a good idea or something you think every church should have? Or was it Jesus’ idea? If it was yours, go back to Him with a clean agenda and see what he will have you to do. If it was His idea, double check and see if you need to make any adjustments, and then be faithful in the mission and vision He has given you.

till next time
martin
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(1) Developing A Passion Based Ministry ~ The most effective ministry is one based on our spiritual giftings a passion derived from a specific Kingdom vision. This series reveals the process of spiritual formation and empowerment of a passion based ministry.

Words are powerful tools: they can build up, communicate ideas, motivate or even hurt. The right words can paint vivid pictures in the mind of the hearer. Yet the wrong words for the context can also cause alienation. Let me explain.

Have you ever been part of a group conversation and you heard the words they spoke; yet you did not have a clue about what was being said? My daughter works for a financial planner: on a regular basis he has a coffee time where speakers discuss various aspects of investing. I must admit, most of the time I am lost when I listen. I have yet to get a good grasp on annuities, bonds, and the various other vehicles that are offered. Probably why my portfolio is more like a manila folder.

There are various professions it seems that they pride themselves on an exclusive language: attorneys, physicians (not picking, I am one) engineers and most college professors. While inter-professional communication is expedited by unique terminology, it is actually a hindrance in clearly transferring ideas to non-group member. Remember the last time you asked your doctor to explain it in english?

Now, what I’m getting at is this: The church and christians have this unique cultural language that can be problematic. There is a plethora of terms like: brother, sister, infilling, holy Ghost, soaking, holiness, bought by the blood, plead the blood, pray through, seeker sensitive and so on. I could probably come up with more, but unfortunately, I am so indoctrinated in church terminology it all makes sense to me. Yikes!

The sad thing is that the results of this churchese or christianese can be just like the investment meetings and doctor’s visits. When we use such language in our meetings or interactions, we continually reinforce a context that is unfamiliar to many non-church individuals, isolating us and alienating them.

On the contrary, Jesus spoke in stories that everyone could understand (yes to the disciples he unpacked in a little more), choosing words that included his audience. In an agrarian society, they all understood words like fields, seed, tares, sheep and so on. The right choice of words allowed the people to see themselves in the context of the message. In short, Jesus choice of words made the Good News relevant to the hearer.

Today, as the church, the body of believers who are called out to be his representatives, we must wisely choose our words. We should do whatever is necessary to communicate in a manner that is inclusive of those we are trying to affect with the Good News.

The simple truth is we have all the same commissioning from the Lord: He has instructed us to “Go and make disciples.(1)” So, no matter where we find ourselves in living for God or our status in life, we all have the same purpose – we are to make disciples.

The wonderful challenge comes in discovering how we are to use our individual uniqueness to fulfill this purpose. Paul addressed this issue when he wrote to the church at Corinth, elaborating to them that they were each created as different members of the body of Christ, but each was equally important to the functioning of the body.(2) It is still the same today: we are each uniquely gifted and equally important to the purpose of the body.

It is our individual giftings that will qualify us to circulate in different environments effectively demonstrating our King and establishing disciple making relationships.

So if we all have the same purpose and are uniquely equipped to accomplish this purpose, what seems to be the challenge to successfully accomplish this?

I believe part of the challenge is the traditional model of discipleship development of gathering and containment. The typical church creates attractional events to gather the lost to a service to hear the Gospel. Once someone is born again, there is typically a series of classes that will teach a biblical morality and particular lifestyle. Discipleship is judged by the successful completion and adherence to this material.

In contrast to this process we see Jesus words “Go and make disciples.” The two key words of this statement: “Go & Make.”

“Go”
This is probably the toughest word to be obedient to. To quote part of the Law of Inertia “A body at rest remains at rest …unless acted upon by an external force.” The challenge to “go” is we must must overcome the lack of inertia: this requires energy. We must grasp that we are sent,(3) motivating us to leave our present place of rest, both physically (church building) and spiritually. We must be missional minded, we cannot expect the people to come to us. Jesus went to those who needed Him: “for god so loved the world, he gave.” Jesus stated “As thou has sent me into the world.” The true nature of being apostolic demonstrated by our going. The proof we have been sent is that we go.

“Make”
This is the second challenging word and it implies a process, it requires my involvement. It means I must invest my time, energy, vulnerability: it cannot be a one time event.

In their teaching series, The Story Formed Way, the leaders of SOMA missional community state: “The word make implies a process—a process that has steps to it and is intentional.” To make disciples requires us to plan to get involved in the lives of those around us, initiating intentional relationships. Again from the SOMA leaders: “discipleship process begins at the point of relationship, not at the point of conversion!” In todays culture, many people want to see the proof of our God, lived out in daily relationships before they choose to believe in Him.

So back to our purpose. Each of us has been uniquely gifted and sent to enter the process of relationships with those who do not know Jesus. It is within these relationships, in the daily rub of life, others will come to see the transformational power of Jesus in our lives, then choosing to enter a saving discipling relationship Him.

Today, choose to GO AND MAKE a disciple!
———-
(1) Matthew 28:19-20
(2) 1 Corinthians 12
(3) John 17:18

For a recent conference, I was asked to be one of the members of a panel discussion, our topic was: The Church in the 21st Century. A lofty theme for a two-hour dialogue.

In preparation, I spent much time ruminating on what has been written about the current church situation and what is seen as biblical models of a New Testament church. The following is a few thoughts I jotted down. Now they are not a complete dissertation, but I think, they are good discussion points to starts some dialogue. So, tell me what you think.

Church growth
We are well into the 21st century, yet when someone speaks of church growth it is predominantly from an old paradigm, ie: numerical growth of a local assembly. The typical concept of church growth is to find a better way to attract people to an event on Sunday. The thought is, if we can increase the number in a service, we think we can increase the chances of someone being saved and then continuing to attend on a regular basis. The fact is we are just looking to do what we have always done, just in a more attractional way!

In the traditional, attractional church of the 20th century, the Sunday event is seen as the major point of evangelism, or preaching of the salvation message. This mindset causes church leaders to search out the latest, greatest program that will attract a crowd. The majority of ministries can devolve into programs that actually promote the church, hoping it will inspire those to attend. (believe me, I have been there done that as a pastor!)

Unfortunately, this is still DOING church using a model that is becoming obsolete. Depending upon what sources you read, this way of church appeals to at best 40% of the population; but realistically, about 30% (Hirsch, Salter). So we have the majority of “churches” all scrapping for an ever-shrinking piece of the pie.

Now before you crucify me, I am not saying this is WRONG, just not as effective as it was many decades ago. Also, I am not saying to do away with the weekly gathering. But what we need is a new context/paradigm/box/perspective (buzz words) to see this gathering in to be more Gospel friendly.

So what is the answer to successful church in the 21st century? I believe it is focusing on BEING the church, not how we DO church. Or another way of saying it: grow people, not churches.

Discipleship
Jesus states that He would build his church: He did not empower us to do this. He did give us a commission, not to grow churches, but to make disciples by teaching them to be obedient to His way of life (commandments). If we focus on our part, He will do his.

If the church is to be successful church in 21st century, each born again believer must think like missionaries (missional): Contextualizing a holistic Gospel in the lives of the culture they are trying to reach. What this entails is living the gospel AS good news in the daily lives of those we interact with. It is taking the Gospel beyond the salvation experience and demonstrating its transformational power. It is the application of this transformational power of the Gospel that will result in disciples being formed.

If the church is to fulfill the commission to make disciples, there first must be an empowering and then a sending of the existing disciples. The empowerment process must convey that the believer has been authorized by Jesus to be His representative and image bearer to this world. The demonstration of this empowerment will present a relevant Gospel in the context of the culture they are living.

Relevant
Relevance -“having direct bearing on the matter in hand.”

Now what relevance means to the success of the 21st century church is this: Demonstrating how the gospel reaches into the nooks and crannies of life and address the deepest issues of our existence, reveals its relevance BEYOND the salvation experience.

For each of us, our choices determine the outcomes of our lives and those choices are dictated by our values. The relevant application of the Gospel reveals how the good news of the Kingdom challenges and transforms our values, which in turn, will affect our choices. Each person and culture has ideologies that are deeply ingrained in their value system. In the discipleship process, it is the responsibility of the believer to root these out and present the Good News in a way that addresses these, thus making the Gospel relevant.

So in summary, if the church is to be successful in the 21st century, it must change its paradigm from an attractional model only: to an attractional AND scattering process. The leadership of the local assemblies should focus on training and empowering the believers THEN sending them out to demonstrate Jesus and his kingdom, thus making disciples.

Then Jesus will build his church.

One of the components of staging is the outside, particularly the front door: in real estate terms it is called “curb appeal.” This may actually be the most important part of staging. Curb appeal is how the house is viewed from the street. It is the place where the average people go buy and it is the first impression of the home. Done right, curb appeal is an invitation; it grabs the attention and says “this is what you are looking for!” It is a strong magnet, drawing those who pass by to come in and explore the rest of the house.

The better the curb appeal, the more likely for people to enter the front door.

One day, while sitting at my office (Starbucks) a pastor friend and I were discussing a particular ministry he was developing in the assembly he was leading. His comment was it was to be the front door of the church. This got my mind going. I began to think about “the front door” and the idea of “curb appeal.”

The front door to the church is not glassed commercial double doors, stained doors or solid wood doors. Neither is the front door to the church some particular program, ministry or mode of evangelism. The front door to the church is you and I!

Let me clarify this a little more. Contrary to traditional religion, the church is not a building were people gather one day a week to partake of some religious performance. The church is the body of born again believers who have been called out to exercise the authority of Jesus Christ, thereby demonstrating the miraculous power of His Kingdom. In short, the church is you and I!

As the church, we are the representatives of Jesus and his kingdom. It is how we present ourselves (staging) that determines if the church is attractive to others. Breaking it down, the way we live our lives, manage our homes, how we interact with those around us; this is the “curb appeal” of the church (or kingdom). In the day-to-day rub of ordinary life, we find we have an opportunity to make Jesus and his church attractive to others. When we respond to the situations of life as Jesus would, we are presenting an attractive front door for individuals to enter. Obviously, the more attractive I make Jesus, the more people will want to enter.

So, I guess this brings a up a question for all of us to address:
How inviting is my “curb appeal?”

The following is a list of the books that significantly impacted me in 2010. To reach this list, these books changed, clarified or reinforced my (new way of) thinking. Obviously, I do not agree with every word, but enough to recommend them.

Total Church – Chester & Timmis
What impacted me most regarding this book was their grasp on the holistic application of the Gospel. It is much greater than the salvation experience, but is something that should daily confront the weakness and frailty of our lives.

The Tangible Kingdom – Halter & Smay
What I loved about this book is its realness. The authors are very real in discussing where they were with “doing church” and how they were able to transition to a place of making the Gospel real in everyday life.

Unchristian – Kinnaman & Lyons
This book was an eye opener. It can be a shocker to hear how the average unchurch/professing non-christian views christians, church and religion.

Untamed – Hirsch & Hirsch
Untamed will unleash your passion for genuine, in the trenches, everyday living discipleship. Just the way Jesus did it.

The Forgotten Ways Handbook – Hirsh
This is definitely for the leader. It covers the principles of creating a missional structure for an assembly. Not a shallow read, but well worth it.

The Missional Leader – Roxburgh & Romanuk
This is for the established pastor who desires to transition a segment of the assembly to a more missional focus. What was a real eye opener was the discussion on the three zones of organizational culture that assemblies or denominations move thru. It might be scary to find where you are in this. Another heavy read, but well worth it for the inner core of leadership if you want to transition a church.

Honorable Mention
Organic Leadership - Cole
Church 3.0 - Cole

I would be interested to hear any comments you may have regarding them.

It so happened that our family was traveling out of state for a wedding; so I had a few hours to occupy. It did not take long, and I was totally immersed and wandering the Shire. From here I went on and read The Lord Of The Rings trilogy numerous times. In fact, my son eventually picked up my copies and has worn them out! (Oh, by the way, I did pass the class.)

So what is the deal about The Hobbit now? This past Christmas while visiting relatives, I caught a few minutes of The Two Towers and was enthralled with Gollum/Smeagol. Also, just today, via a facebook post, the idea if Tolkien had some significant meaning he was trying to convey was brought up. Thus the trip down memory lane.

Now I am not sure if there is a deep meaning to Tolkien’s writing, but I did see how the life of Gollum/Smeagol can be a metaphor for a life focused on things. The following is a very short bio of Gollum/Smeagol:

Gollum, originally known as Sméagol or Trahald, was a creature of Hobbit origin. The name Gollum was derived from the disgusting gurgling, choking cough he made. He had been deformed and twisted in both body and mind by the corruption of the Ring. His chief desire was to possess the Ring which had enslaved him, and he pursued it for many years after he had lost it. Lord of the Rings Wikia

What we see in the life of Smeagol is:

What happens when something we have a hold of, gets a hold of us!

The transformation of Smeagol to Gollum reveals to us how the things we hold “precious” can transform our attitude with resulting behavior. We get to the place we will protect what is “precious” by whatever means necessary, even to the detriment of others well being.

Now, not saying because we value some things we are going to turn into Gollum. It is not like we are going to lose our hair (most of us anyway), develop a hunchback and crave raw fish (sushi excluded) and kill people! Yet I wonder if we do develop a deformed spirit and leave casualties in our wake. How many marriages have been destroyed, businesses failed, relationships severed, finances bankrupted and the Kingdom stalled because we have given everything to protect our “precious?”

I understand, that things are not wrong. Many times we start out with the right intentions, yet somewhere along the line what we have a hold of, gets a hold on us. Jesus, instructing his disciples regarding their life’s priorities warns them of their focus: “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” (1) Further Jesus states that whatever is in our hearts, good or bad, will be what is produced in our lives. (2) So in practical application, what ever we treasure (is “precious” to us) will be what becomes internalized: this then will be expressed in our life.

The hard truth for us to face is this; what I give my time, energy and gifts to, reveals what is “precious” to me! So the question we all need to ask ourselves:

What’s my “precious?”

(1) Luke 12:34 NLT
(2) Luke 6:45 NLT

During my time of practice, occasionally, there would be a patient who would come in exasperated or frustrated and say, “Just do something.” I would explain that to help them, we needed to undergo a diagnostic process to determine WHAT was the true SOURCE of their problem. In the church today, many pastors and leaders are like these patients. They know something is wrong and they are frustrated. They look to do something, by grasping the latest church growth program, big name evangelist or that one special conference. I know, I have been there. It is my desire to help us walk in apostolic authority. This Apostolic Note is a diagnostic process to assist us in determining WHAT the true source of our problem could be.

In the Christianity of today, we find that many of man’s ideas have become a hindrance to the operation of the Spirit, limiting the church’s ability to operate in apostolic authority. Jesus said, “Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men,” (Mark 7:7-8). Jesus further spoke of the result of holding the traditions of man in verse 13, “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered:” According to Thayer’s “Making of none effect” is one word and it means “deprive of force and authority.”

The greatest hindrance to apostolic authority that is faced in this day is the tradition of men and the resulting structure of traditional churches. (PLEASE NOTE: not all tradition is bad, only the traditions of men that make the word of God of none effect) Traditions create a biased paradigm that is used to filter scripture. This tainted view of scripture affects the individual’s faith and ability to walk in apostolic authority. Centuries of man’s tradition have created an organization that is far from the original apostolic church.

In the New Testament, the Greek word paradosis is translated as tradition 13 times, 11 times in a negative context and the two times it is used positive it must have a qualifying statement to make it positive. According to Thayer’s it means: “a giving over, giving up. 1. the act of giving up, the surrender: 2. a giving over which is done by word of mouth or in writing.” Most online English dictionaries that I have looked at include for the modern word tradition a component of a “handing down or over.” Furthermore, paradosis is derived from paradidoomi which, according to Thayer’s, means: “to give into the hands (of another) or to give over into (one’s) power.” So we can see the essence of tradition is to surrender something over into the hands or power of another.

Also, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary; tradition’s etymology is Middle English tradicioun, from Middle French & Latin; Middle French tradition, from Latin tradition-, tradition and is the action of handing over. It is from the same root word as treason.

Once again, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary; the etymology of treason is Middle English tresoun, from Old French traison, from Latin tradition-, traditio act of handing over, from tradere to hand over, betray.

Man’s traditions affect our faith by creating predetermined paradigms that hinder our ability to walk in apostolic authority. A paradigm is: “A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them.” American Heritage Dictionary (Dictionary.com). These traditional paradigms create a filter we view the Lord, His purpose and our spiritual lives through.

A review of the modern church reveals some of the developed characteristics of man’s traditions. Along with these traditions I have also given food for thought about an apostolic approach.

A traditional church is a church that….
…preaches a “bless me” gospel
This gospel and its message is an attempt to alleviate man’s discomfort and pain. The Bible is seen as a cookbook with recipes to fix our current problem. This is a “self” focused gospel. Much of modern preaching is about how we are to be “healthy, wealthy and wise.”

The apostolic church is a church that…
….preaches the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven
Jesus’ first message and that of the disciples was the gospel of the kingdom of heaven (Matt 4:17, 4:23, 9:35; Lk 9:60, 10:9). He did not come preaching how wonderful we are, He came declaring the reality of a Spiritual Kingdom. We are to be ambassadors of this kingdom. Our blessings are a by-product of obedience to His purpose.

A traditional church
…has most of its ministries inward focused
Due to the “bless me” gospel, most of the resources must be allocated to programs that make the individual feel good about themselves. This focus does not promote a transformation of the believer. There is a constant need to change the program to deliver the necessary stimulus to the people.

An apostolic church
…focus on outward ministries
Our focus should not be on self, but on others. Jesus commanded His church to go and make disciples – followers. (Matthew 28:19 AMP, Darby, NKJV). The focus of the church should be outside the four walls of the building.

A traditional church
…is built upon man’s ideas, structure and programs
Therefore, the result is only what man/flesh can produce. If a program is successful in attracting a crowd, it’s duplication is attempted by others hoping for the same results, producing the latest “fad” of church growth. Unfortunately, the success is not always duplicated, and frustration results.

An apostolic church
…is built based on the spiritual gifting in the body
The church should be structured around the giftings that the Lord has placed in the body. This would be the outcome of the ascension gifts (governing gifts) identifying, instructing, empowering and supporting the individual member’s gifts.

This list of comparison been presented to challenge our paradigm of church, not to condemn. When I pastored, I sought to address these issues, seeking the Lord’s direction as to how to lead a local assembly in a paradigm shift. The Lord will do this, because the church is His chosen vessel today. As we seek to align ourselves with the way He wants to build the church, we will find a flow of apostolic authority to accomplish His purpose.

The purpose of the apostolic church is to demonstrate and reveal our King and His kingdom.

This list is taken from our book: Apostolic Authority, Every Believer’s Privilege. Order now, click here.