System Changes

System Changes; Are you called out?

As you may already know if you know me, I’m all about identifying world systems that have infiltrated the modern American church and replacing those systems with Kingdom principles. The goal being to motivate individual Christians in getting back to the early church model and fundamentals, via experience based relationships, both with the Father and with one another.

For some people, It’s easy to say this is largely happening already. Some will call what I described above simply the process of sanctification; for an institution and for people. For some others the hang up will be over my words of ‘the early church model’ where there may be some discussion on varying styles of worship and individual preference. Minds often are hard to change. But, as true as that is, there’s something often even harder to change, and that is systems. When you start addressing systems, well, that’s when you’ll really get push-back. With systems comes a lot of tied in investment from those who have strong vested interests in the status quo. I think many in church leadership would agree that the Christian churches in America are not immune to this. However, it is rare indeed to see churches with active processes in place to prevent such a thing. Should it be so shocking to assert a good many “successful” churches more closely resemble American business models than the models and principles we find in the book of Acts? I say no!

Not sure if you agree with me? Using the first Corinthians guidance that Paul gave us when he said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ” ( I Cor. 11:1), I generally take that statement to be a fair beginning litmus test of how much either the system of the Kingdom or the system of the world is at play in a given atmosphere, including physical churches. What do you think? My experience has been that there is little experiential success by modern American church leadership in imitating Christ, or even that of the apostles. If anything, I see instead at best an attitude of you imitate Christ and we will tell you how successful or unsuccessful you may be in doing so, if you should happen to ask us. I don’t see very often the leadership in churches actively encouraging experience. It certainly doesn’t often seem that they are imitating anything of the Kingdom and teaching others by example, as Paul was doing.

I do see something else I recognize instead however: Hierarchy. Politics. Who you know, not what you know. Have you ever worked in a place like that? How about, have you ever been in a church like that? Too often I see little mini shrines where Jesus’ name is at the top, but the actual person at the top often isn’t Him. They are imitating something, but that something is a bit more worldly. Sadly I’ve been in more churches that could just as easily have been called names like Worship Incorporated, Feel Good Philosophy LLC, Northside Social Club.

But here’s the kicker – I don’t completely fault a lot of them. Why? Because a lot of them are just doing what they know, what they’ve experienced before them, concerning what success looks like. Or worse, only what the people attending will allow them to do or participate in. Systems are hard to change. Ironically there lies both the problem and the solution. I’ll explain what I mean by that a bit later.

For now let’s consider what early Christians were called and known as –

…These people that have turned the world upside down.. Acts 17:6

I ask you, how are we doing in comparison to that statement in 2024? What has happened to us my brothers and sisters? Does it seem we are turning the world upside down, or much less our families or our communities?

Speaking of the American church in this context, I say perhaps our first red flag to the body should may have been when we stopped asking ourselves, “Am I imitating Christ with how I am living?”. The second a quick follow up of, “Should I even be discipling someone to imitate me?”. Then on the heels of those deeply personal questions, our third red flag, which asks, “If I am a world changer by nature, is what I am building resembling something of this world or of the Kingdom?”. Perhaps if you can’t agree with me on those exact concerns, you could at least agree on the sentiment of each, could you not? For what is our model? Why it is no more, nor no less, than Christ Himself! What examples do we find in scripture concerning how He Himself operated? Did He teach His disciples to operate in the same manner as Him or not? So, did they do well in the imitation of His image?

Jesus provided for His apostles both a physical example as well as verbal instructions on how a person who wishes to be the ‘leader’, should be positioned in relation to the heart. He was already deconstructing a worldly system and providing instruction on rebuilding a Kingdom system to replace it, when He taught us this. I argue somewhere we largely abandoned that principle and went backwards. I could argue where and why it happened in history, and perhaps it would even provide some measure of valid reason why, but even so it would still not matter now, nor should it!

Why are we here now in a time and place in history where the potential for incredible Christian impact simultaneously exists alongside societal liberty, and societal need, as never before, and yet we Christian ‘world changers’, full of the Holy Spirit and with full access to Kingdom abundance, have seemed to grow comfortable or at least complacent with our churches more and more resembling the world system than resembling the Kingdom? More importantly perhaps for today though is, what are we going do about it?

Obviously, perhaps, is my stance that we need to rebuild the system with us going back to Jesus’ teachings, imitating His example, and using the early church as a model for an important inflection point in the modern church. But how do we change a system (the physical church) that by need or circumstance is contained within another system (the world)?

I was stumped by this question for a while honestly. I thought and considered and prayed about this question for a long time. I just kept coming up with the reasoning that some must have recognized this problem and tried different approaches at solving it, but those approaches either never took or they did take initially but as time went on they would morph and evolve to go back to something resembling the world. The Christian system paradox I called it.

Here’s the paradox: If there is an over arching system that contains the system we want changes to happen to, then the inner system can never evolve past the point of that over arching system that is the container containing it. To do so, both would have to be rebuilt, and how in the world is that possible!? I cannot change the way the world works!

That’s when one morning as I was praying about something completely different, the Father, in His gentle and patient way, revealed the beautifully simple solution to me. It couldn’t. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t still a way. I was just looking at it backwards, kind of like from the outside in, when instead from the inside out was more the approach that I needed. So beautifully simple. To change the inner, what we are seeing in our churches, we have to change ourselves, the body first.

We are the church. We know that, but do we all know what the Greek word was that Jesus used when He used it in this verse?

…and on this rock I will build My church… Matthew 16:18

The word He used was, Ekklesia. The Greek meaning – a people called out. To be a called out people you have to be called out of something! But out of what? The world – that system! Starting to get the idea?

As born again Christians we are in truth already existing outside of the over arching container system of the world, that is why it is possible for us to change the inner container in spite of the outer one. We are a new creation indeed if we are truly a called out person!

We are in the world but not of it (John 15:19)!

In light of this we must understand the beginning of the change we desire to see begins within us. We ourselves must work on removing our ways out of agreement and participation with the systems of the world that surround us. This includes within the physical church. We must believe and partner in the word of God and be mature enough Christians to act that fact and that believe system out, and force organic change from the bottom up.

There in lies your sanctification process that oft gets thrown your way, though most often misused and misunderstood. Sanctification is a process YOU walk out and are responsible in/for. The Fathers work at the cross was never incomplete. It’s partnership. It was His will for it to be partnership through relationship! Willing participation results from being in love with the Father and will insomuch likewise occur between brethren/people when we’re in love with one another; which is only possible through being changed anyhow, for love is not from this world either!

So where does that leave us then? Am I just saying that the body of Christ is to blame for worldly churches? Am I suggesting that there are just not enough legitimately born again Christians that have a personal relationship with Jesus and that is the reason we have worldly churches? Certainly not! And don’t you believe that low hanging rotting fruit either, if anyone anywhere should suggest that.

I believe that in a lot of cases the non leadership portion of the body has just ran into a similar problem as the leadership portion has – a knowledge/Experience issue (and sometimes including heart issues). But I would stop here and inject/call back up something that I do have an issue with – Church ‘Leadership’.

Let it be suffice to say it should be difficult for a person off the street, so to speak, to distinguish who the leadership personnel are from the overall body in a fellowship setting. Unfortunately most times it looks more like either board of directors or mail room employees in fellowship halls. Not to disparage either end, but to illuminate my meaning. Too much worldly hierarchy. Concerning ‘leadership’, the biblical Kingdom model should apply where those that desire to come first must come last. A Kingdom leader resembles more that of a servant than a President, CEO, or professional athlete. I think Kingdom leaders resemble more biblical shepherds instead. That’s part of the change needed as well unfortunately.

The future of church leadership and meaningful change resides within those new creations with the correct position of their hearts that are living out actual Kingdom experiences that draws others to them. Isn’t that also what Jesus did? Then those folks, out of love for the Father, can’t help but share experiences and encourage others to walk out the same. Our future leaders will rise up organically in this way as a healthy royal priesthood. It takes an actual paradigm shift to change a paradigm after all. Jesus opened for us that possibility too by shifting paradigms. Then He gave us that power as part of our inheritance and responsibility; the responsibility to shift paradigms and set up Kingdom systems. I doubt we will see large scale maturing of the body until we embrace this fact on a much larger scale. And we won’t do that operating in a worldly container, even if we are acting like Christians. We must stop imitating the world or worldly leaders and imitate Christ. Christians aren’t who we are, we are sons and daughters of The Living God. The current large scale American church system must change for those who are called out. When we mature and act like we are called out, it will.

Be sure to check out the resources on this website to help do it. We also must start investing in loving dedicated relationships with one another to help us grow and stay accountable in this endeavor. If you need prayer, discipleship connection, or more info or resources to help you accomplish what I am talking about, please reach out to us.