Cultivating an AND Culture

Acts 1:6-8

We’ve been talking about the 4D’s of discipleship and what it would look like for us to be a 4D Church. These are the things we value most here at LW Alliance Church: Dependence on God, Delight in the Church Family, Dedication to the Community, and Driven by Mission. These are our values – our driving force. Living as a 4D disciple in our world is challenging enough, but how does that translate to what is going on in France? Or Jordan? Did you know that those countries are each only 3% Christian? What about other lost places? Jesus’ last words on earth show us that our calling is more than here or there, then or now, or us or them. As He prepared to ascend into heaven, Jesus left us with a culture-defining promise. Not an OR culture, nor a them culture, but an AND culture.

AND the Holy Spirit

Have you ever compared the pre-HS disciples with the post? It’s interesting looking at them before they are empowered with the HS. The heart is there, but they come across more like empty shells—not even misguided—just powerless workers that don’t see their own job right in front of them. Consider the rest of chapter 1 as a comparison against the disciples after the HS arrives. The effort to select Matthias was understandable, but we can clearly see throughout the rest of the book that Paul is the chosen successor by God, not Matthias. What was a well-meaning act on their part was basically forgotten in scripture once the Holy Spirit arrived. Before then, there’s just no power and thus no mentionable fruit from their actions. Nothing memorable or worthwhile or strategic can happen without the source of real, life-changing power, the Holy Spirit. He is the lynchpin in making the mission a realistic, fruitful pursuit. The first AND is the Holy Spirit.

It’s almost comical how crazy it is to think we can do this under our own power – yet we all seem to try at one point or another. You can’t blame the team for replacing Judas, but the Holy Spirit already knew who the replacement would be (Paul). The Holy Spirit also already knew how it was going to spread this message of the Kingdom; Jesus’ goodbye is more than a challenge – it is actually a promise of what will happen – a promise we’d do well to remember. Jesus’ call to the disciples to be His witnesses is actually the verse that the book of Acts uses as its layout of the book. Chs 1-7 focus on Jerusalem, chs 8-12 on Judea and Samaria, and chs 13-28 on the ends of the earth. This shows that Jesus’ call for them was more of a promise that it would happen than a request to do it.

AND the Near

Jesus promised that the disciples would be His witnesses to the Near and Far. It starts at home. These are the people that aren’t hard to find. Acts 2 has one of the single biggest days of evangelism in history, and that happened literally in their church! By opening our eyes to our friends, neighbors and grocery store compadres, we can have an untold effect on the world around us. I remember a couple of old friends of mine, people I met while networking, then would meet up for a 1-1 and end up sharing the gospel with them. What should have been a business meeting wound up to be life-giving! These people are here, bumping into us every day. Like my friends, they are like us and close, making relational connection easy – but that’s not always the case.

The biggest controversy in the book of Acts is when gentiles started coming to faith, yet God showed by giving them the Holy Spirit that He wants all people groups (Revelation 7:9). Our Judea are those that are like us, but not very close and our Samaria is those that are close, but not like us. They may be near, but it takes up a step or two out of our comfort zone to reach them. That becomes increasingly more difficult with those who are far away.

AND the Far

Participation in kingdom building is a multi-faceted effort. One person cannot be everywhere, hence why the Holy Spirit empowers all of us to play separate roles. Remember that sometimes we are called to be around people like the rich, young, ruler and other times we are called to people like the Ethiopian eunuch. To reach the far requires boots on the ground, funding, prayer, and more to see the gospel have effect in unreached areas. This is why having an AND culture is so important. Take a look at this video.

We need an AND culture and keep our target not just on what’s in front of us, but the end goal – Christ’s return; the end of our mission (Matt 24:14). So you know, our larger church family, the C&MA, puts their main focus into Group A in the video. What role in this cause will you play?

Next Steps

With the Holy Spirit’s power and an AND focus on the mission as a witness, we can participate in bringing back the King. Develop an AND culture in your heart and life. Go all-in for the gospel and let the Holy Spirit empower you to incredible influence and fruit!

1. Reach out to people in your neighborhood that you don’t know. Make it a goal to have them over for dinner.
2. Consider an short-term missions trip. Consider being open to cross-cultural ministry on a 1-2 week trip.
3. Consider giving to those sent: pray about giving to overseas work.
4. Pray for God’s work at home and abroad!

One person can’t do it all, but one person CAN do those things. If everyone steps up in a team effort, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can participate in bringing back the King. What can you do today?