Creating a Culture that Honors the Lord

To some degree, we create the culture and atmosphere around us. Pope John Paul II said, “Man creates culture and through culture creates himself. Are we creating a culture that honors the Lord?  In this article, I would like to mention two cultures that we can create through His power that honor the Lord.  

A CHRIST CULTURE
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

To create a Christ culture, we must really get to know and spend time with Jesus. A Christ culture is a culture where Christ is our focus and the center of all we do and say. It is making His values and priorities our values and priorities.
 
John Hess Yoder, missionary in Laos, shares this, “Before the colonialists imposed national boundaries, the kings of Laos and Vietnam reached an agreement on taxation in the border areas. Those who ate short-grain rice, built their houses on stilts, and decorated them with Indian-style serpents were considered Laotians. On the other hand, those who ate long-grain rice, built their houses on the ground, and decorated them with Chinese-style dragons were considered Vietnamese.

The exact location of a person’s home was not what determined his or her nationality. Instead, each person belonged to the kingdom whose cultural values he or she exhibited. So it is with us: we live in the world, but as part of God’s kingdom, we are to live according to His kingdom’s standards and values.”

CREATE A CULTURE OF LOVING ONE ANOTHER
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  
John 13:34-35

In Romans 12:9-18, Paul gives us a picture of what love looks like. He says that love is sincere, hates what is evil and clings to what is good. It is devoted and committed to one another. Love is honoring one another above yourselves. Love is not lacking in zeal but keeping your spiritual fervor. It is joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. Love shares with God’s people who are in need and practices hospitality. It rejoices with those who rejoice and lives in harmony one another. Love does not repay evil with evil and is careful to do what is right.
 
I Corinthians also offers us some characteristics of God’s love.  It says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”  I Corinthians 13:4-8

Praying for God to give us His divine love for others can help create this kind of culture. It is a culture where we look for opportunities to demonstrate love based on the Lord’s definition and example of love.

Scott Gross tells a story of something he witnessed on a freezing cold day in Denver. He had wanted to stay home, but instead, braved it out to the Convention Center where a group of people were to meet. “My batteries were bad so I ran across the street to a Seven-Eleven store. There was an elderly man who made his way to the front. It took him forever to count out his change for coffee and a muffin. I started thinking, “Why would he come out in this weather for a muffin?” The lady cashier called him by name and was very patient with him. Taking both his hands in hers, she held them against her face. Responding that they were still cold, she rubbed them in her hands for a while and then straighten up his coat and shawl around his neck. She told him to be careful out there because she was looking forward to seeing him the next day, and he left. After talking to the clerk, it was clear to me. That man did not come out for a muffin and coffee. He came to be loved. He came to have his heart warmed.”

Would you join me a praying that God would help us all to create a culture that honors Him? Pray that God would help us to create a Christ-like culture, a culture of loving one another everywhere we go.  It is my heart’s prayer that this would be the culture of our church for His glory.

I love you deeply.

Pastor David Grinder