Culture of the Kingdom
Today’s Topic: The Early Church
Scripture: Acts 2:41-42; Acts 10; Galatians 4:28; Matthew 28:19
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now what I love about this topic, Culture of the Kingdom, is that it challenges the status quo and our societies thought patterns and myths that we currently have. Now these prejudices that we have may not be written in the laws of the land, but they are in our minds and our soul takes those thoughts and tries to make you believe in what is said. But did anyone think about the magnitude and the significance the Kingdom of God makes in the Earth. The Kingdom has its own culture and society that every believer, citizen and son of God should exhibit and exemplify. One of the prejudices we see currently is racism. Now I am not just talking about the color of one’s skin, but also the nation one comes from. For example, just an example, I maybe American but I do not like Germans. Also, there is the traditional, I am white and I do not like blacks. But if we look at the Culture of the Kingdom, the Kingdom takes all of this away and makes all these various people, one people and one nation. Now when the culture of the Kingdom is absent then this concept of one people one nation is hard to fathom. Let me show you an example of how prejudices have even invaded the church.
For example, once again this is just an example, you can have a Baptist church on one street and 2 blocks down have a Pentecostal church. Now if that Pentecostal church is having problems do you think that the Baptist church, knowing the problem, will lend a hand to help? In most cases absolutely not! Why? Because their Baptist and we are Pentecostal? If that is the reason then that is completely foolish and not of the Father. Another example is you can have a predominately white Baptist church on one street and 2 blocks away have a predominately black Baptist church. If that white Baptist church starts having problems and the black Baptist church is aware of it, do you think that the black church will help the white church? In most cases, no! Is that what the culture of the Kingdom teaches us? No. So in one situation we have predjudices on a denominational level and on the other we have the same denomination but racism as a probable driving force that is preventing the one church from helping the other. Let’s look at the early church.
The first century church was birthed on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-6). Now we know that Peter and the other disciples were Jews. Now Peter being a devout Jew, really in his mind, believed that only the Jews could have Holy Spirit fall on them until God had to correct him. God sent Peter to Cornelius house (Acts 10) and at the house of Cornelius Peter witnessed Holy Spirit be poured out upon the Gentiles (Acts 10:44,45). See to Peter the gift of Holy Spirit was to him a Jewish phenomena but God showed him that God is not a respector of persons (Acts 10:34). Now we know it was Peter who introduced, or gave a snippet, Holy Spirit to the Gentiles but it was another Jew who was given the full grace to give to the Gentiles and His name was Paul. Now Paul is the perfect example for us to show that we should not allow our physical ethnic differences to separate what God has joined together in the Kingdom. Paul (A Jew) assisted the people of Rome, Galatia, Philippi, Ephesus, Corinth, Colosse and Thessolonica. All of these were Gentiles. So what can we see and learn.
The Kingdom of God brings people from various nations and ethnicities and makes them one people with the same culture. Now when you come into the Kingdom does a Jew stop being a Jew. Of course not, but being a Jew is not that person’s primary concern anymore. The concern of that person is pleasing God, dispensing God’s grace to the Earth and exemplifying Kingdom culture. The first century apostles had it right and the Great Commission from the Lord before He ascended back to the Father was for them to disciple (teach) ALL NATIONS (Matthew 28:19). Not just the Jews, or the Corinthians, but all nations. So this means, we cannot pick and choose who we want to spread the gospel to. That is not our choice. Wherever the Lord sends us we should be willing to go, even if it means being the only person of that particular nation or ethnicity in that country. Let me allow the Scriptures to bring it home, Galatians 4:28:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus”
So in the Kingdom of God, there is no ethnicity, social status nor gender because spirits have no gender, but we are all one in Christ Jesus and it is love that binds us together.
At the Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.
