Important Paradigm Shifts

I feel led to share what I've learnt ....Personally, this is a journey God is bringing me on, and I pray we will all seek to capture God's heart daily.

God is preparing His Body for mighty exploits! One of the ways He is preparing us is by challenging our current paradigms or mindsets so He can renew our minds. We cannot fulfill our purposes if we are living with a wrong mindset or with clouded vision. There are important transitions beginning to happen in the church over the last several years. There are encouraging "shifts" in our thinking and approach to ministry taking place. These "shifts" are helping us make the transition required to prepare both the church and the community for spiritual awakening and transformation. We must be "renewed by the transforming of our minds" and gain a kingdom perspective before we can prepare ourselves for transformation.

Here's something I have been reading and thinking about lately - man, i've learnt volumes to the writings of others!

Some key paradigm shifts that are beginning to occur:

1. From Suspicion To Trust

As expressions of citywide prayer have increased and gained momentum in the last several years, many people have moved from feeling suspicious of one another to trusting each other. We are realizing that not only is it possible to pray together for our city, we have found it to be very beneficial for the city as well as a personal blessing. We're not as likely to consider our denominational "labels" as the determining factor of whether or not we trust each other. People are working together in cities all over the world, willing to share their ministries for the glory of God! This is a new season for the church and the possibilities for what God has in mind for us to build together are exciting!

2. Functional Unity to Relational Unity

As our unity has grown so has our desire to deepen our fellowship and move from "event-based" unity to "relational" unity. Event-based unity is agreeing to be unified together for the sake of a ministry project then when the project is completed we go back to business as usual. Many leaders are moving to a deeper level of relationship with one another and have experienced real covenant friendship and aren't satisfied to just do things together. In the same vein, many have decided that they want to relate to Jesus the same way, rather than summoning His help for our projects, we want Jesus to manifest His presence among us - we want Him.

3. Horizontal Agreement to Vertical Agreement

Most of our ministry efforts have focused on our unity and agreement with each other, when we need to be more concerned with our unity and agreement with the Lord. We gather in our meetings to listen to each other's ideas and agendas and to promote our own. No matter how much we talk to each other, we will never have the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God is from heaven and if we want it, we must seek the Lord together until He gives us His mind. Horizontal unity is important once we are in vertical agreement with God. People are growing weary of pursuing unity for unity's sake without a heavenly agenda and perspective. We have also grown weary of the endless agendas from within our ranks. We are hungry now for God's agenda!

4. Revival Visitation to Transforming Habitation

Now that we realize that God intends to transform our cities, not just visit them, our prayer focus has shifted from the "visitation" of God to the lasting "habitation" of God. Of course we want God to visit but now we really want Him to stay! Our focus is also shifting from just seeking revival inside the church to the exciting impact of a revived church - the transformation of the community! When God pours out His Spirit and revives His church and His people carry that revival fire out into their spheres of influence in the community, the lost come in contact with Jesus and transformation of institutions begins to occur. We must pray and purpose in our hearts to seek His presence to fill every office, school classroom, restaurant, jail cell, nursing home, and sports arena in our community!

5. Empire Building to Kingdom Building

With the new-found hope that God wants to bring transformation to our entire community, we are beginning to see the futility of building our own "empires". Because true Kingdom vision is so overwhelming and larger than any individual ministry can carry, we are more willing now to lay down our own agendas and work together for God's purposes in our cities. This is one of our biggest challenges in the United States because American's love to build things, we're good at it. We just tend to be more impressed with what we are building than God is. Until we see the big picture and the lack of fruit in the face of the devastation facing us, we will remain satisfied with our own agendas.

6. Workers to Lovers

God is drawing His church back to intimacy and challenging our ministry-based identities. As the realization of the love of God begins to restore and transform us, our motivation shifts from being a "worker" for God to being a "lover" of God. We move from the pressure of a performance-based mentality to a rest and contentment to be loved and then to serve out of that love. This is bringing a tremendous sense of rest to the Body of Christ! We don't have to perform to be loved! We are loved, therefore we love and that becomes our ministry expression. We are human beings not human doings!

7. Warriors to Worshippers

A very important shift in recent years is the role of intercession. Many intercessors have grown weary and even wounded by constant "warring" against the enemy. As the message of intimacy seeps into the conscience of the body of Christ, we are gratefully sitting at the feet like Mary and then interceding out of our intimate fellowship with our King. There is certainly a reality of spiritual warfare but our gaze must remain focused on Jesus. When we worship we literally change the spiritual atmosphere around us because the Bible says, "God inhabits the praises of His people"!

8. "Sacred" versus "Secular" to Kingdom Focused

In contrast to the clergy-only approach to citywide ministry, the Lord is beginning to connect other spiritual leaders together in our cities. The wall of separation between the "sacred" and the "secular" is breaking down. Christian leaders in the marketplace, political and education systems are connecting to Kingdom purposes and extending the influence of the Kingdom of God beyond the walls of the local church. Church is not a building or institution! Being part of the church means to be part of the Body of Christ and that is a mobile family unit! We need to recognize the full expression of the body and release them to minister into the community. Most people who Jesus don't come into the local congregations to hear a sermon on Sundays; they need contact with a "minister of reconciliation" on Tuesday mornings and Friday evenings!

God is raising up people that represent the fullness of the Kingdom - men and women, multi-ethnic, multi-generational, Jew and Gentile, multi-vocational. We are beginning to see the various gifting and callings of believers expressed not only inside the walls of the church buildings but out in the community.

9. Methods of Man to Presence of God

Once we have tired of our endless attempts to produce lasting fruit from fleshly ideas, we began to wait more on the Lord. There is a very healthy frustration in the church with man-made programs and methods. As a result, we are longing for reality and deeper connection to Jesus. We are turning away from our busyness and preoccupations to seeking Him. Spending time in prayer and waiting on the Lord produce humility and wisdom, He purifies our character as we spend time in His presence. When we are willing to acknowledge that our own wisdom and ideas aren't as fruitful as the Lord's, we will be willing to wait on Him.

10. Being "Experts" to Becoming "Learners"

One of the challenges of the Western World, especially in the United States is how many self-described "experts" we have in the church. Everybody is an expert! After a reality check about our condition however you can't help but wonder "experts at what?" Because such a high value is placed on knowledge in the Western World, we tend to think since we "know" about something, we are experts in it. The evidence suggests however that while we may be educated in the ways of God, we aren't currently walking out those principles with a great deal of fruitfulness.

By contrast, the testimonies of how God is moving through His church in power and effectiveness in nation after nation in the non-Western world is mind-boggling! Signs and wonders are happening, revival is spreading, thousands of people are getting saved and cities are being turned upside down by God's transforming power. Who is leading this movement? Nobody you would probably know or recognize, they don't have platform ministries or best-selling books. The leaders God is raising up in the nations aren't well-known or necessarily well-educated but they are well-schooled in the ways of God!

God's ways are so much higher than our ways! Paul describes God's "modus operandi" this way:

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him (1 Cor.1:27-29)

We need to posture ourselves in humility and learn from leaders in the nations who have a story to tell! The overwhelming evidence of our condition should cause us to position ourselves as "learners" rather than experts. We are in a position of weakness not strength, and humility is our only hope of moving out of our current condition.

Note: The above thoughts I have shared are primarily taken from the book "Desperate For His Presence" by Rhonda Hughey

LET'S BE EXCITED FOR GOD & CAPTURE THE IMPORTANT PARADIGM SHIIFTS!