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The Culture Dilemma

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The C3 March program theme is “Being a Culture Shaper”. We are challenged as Christians to “not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.” Jesus taught through the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-23 that when we prepare the soil properly, there will be an abundant harvest of 30, 60, 100 times what was sown.

We can either let culture shape us or we can shape culture, which can be challenging considering our position in history. The rate of change is accelerating at such a rapid pace due to globalization, exponential technological advances, and exposure to information almost 24/7. The current rate of change presents many opportunities and can also threaten the values and beliefs of many in the world. I believe this is one factor contributing to the polarizing environment we see in our culture today.

For the Christian today, this can create a cultural dilemma. When the values we believe so strongly in are threatened, it is easy to isolate ourselves from the world and declare a war on culture. However, is this the approach we are called to in scripture?

Cultural Isolation

The Church, which is made up of all followers of Jesus Christ has less influence in our culture today than 60 years ago. The Judeo-Christian values that were the foundation of so much of society seem to be diminishing. When we look at the seven mountains of influence in a culture, which are religion, education, business, family, government, arts and entertainment, and media we see where there has been a separation of Church and the other six mountains of influence. We have bought into the lie that there is a separation of my Christian values and the way I operate my life, which has attributed to the secular/sacred divide.

As Christians we can work to integrate our Christian values as taught in scripture into how I live my life at home, work, government, or in the community. This does not mean I must proselytize, or beat others up with the Bible, but to apply my faith in such a way they see Jesus through my speech and actions. I like the quote that states, “tell them about Jesus and if you have to use words.”

Cultural Engagement

Cultural engagement begins with a transformed life. As we apply biblical truth and allow the Holy Spirit to do the deep work in our own lives, we can help others and positively influence culture. Matthew 7 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible and addresses many of the deep issues that can be barriers to a transformed life. Listed below is the major topics of Matthew 7:

  • Judging others
  • Getting the board out of your eye so you can help get the speck out of others
  • Ask, seek, and knock
  • The narrow and wide gates
  • True and False Prophets
  • True and False Disciples
  • The Wise and Foolish Builders

This principle is also seen when we fly in a commercial airplane and the flight attendant states in case of emergency make sure you put the oxygen mask on yourself before you try to assist others. We must work first on being healthy ourselves so we can help others. Join me on this journey to allow the Holy Spirit to transform our lives so we can see our culture and communities transformed.

To get more information and join the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce (SC-C3) movement, go to www.sc-c3.org and become a member today!

Jamie Jordan is the State Director for the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce (SC-C3). His passion is to see unity and excellence exhibited within the Christian community. Jamie can be reached at jjordan@stravicom.com.

Can One Person Make a Difference?

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During the Eighteenth Century, many Quakers were wealthy, conservative slave owners. John Woolman, a Quaker, dedicated his adult life to eliminating the practice of slavery among his brethren. He spent more than twenty years visiting Quakers along the East Coast. He did not criticize people, nor did he make them angry. He merely asked questions like, “What does it mean to be a moral person? What does it mean to own a slave? What does it mean to will a slave over to one’s children?” Driven by his vision, he influenced a whole generation of people to give up slavery.

By 1770, a century before the Civil War, not one Quaker owned a slave.

Certain individuals, like John Woolman, have that kind of irresistible and flaming influence that brings out the best in others. Their influence is like a fire on a cold, lifeless piece of iron.  While many attempts have been made to break the iron, all have failed. But the small, soft flame curls around the iron, embracing it, and never leaving the iron until it melts under the flame’s irresistible influence.

What characterizes influencing people?

  • An undeniable dream.

Woolman’s vision was to rid the world of slavery. All influencing individuals know where they are going. They have a clear sense of direction.  A reason for living. A clearly defined purpose for life. Victor Hugo, the French poet, wrote, “There is nothing like a dream to create the future.”

  • An unflappable tenacity.

Woolman devoted much of his adult life to his dream. Influencing people refuse to quit.  Nothing will discourage them. They possess remarkable staying power. They know that life cannot deny itself to the person who gives life his all. When faced with a mountain they keep on striving until they climb over, find a pass through, tunnel underneath or turn the mountain into a gold mind.

  • An undaunted faith.

Woolman believed that his fellow Quakers would see the moral light. Influencing people will not allow their principles to be compromised. They are never victims of circumstances, but victors over circumstances. They are optimistic about tomorrow.  They know that when one door is shut another door that is bigger and wider a little farther down the road will be opened.

  • An unyielding compassion.

Woolman saw that all people regardless of skin color deserved to be free. Influencing individuals demonstrate a care and compassion for the people they are around. Love keeps the flame of influence burning brightly. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said it this way: “The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire.”

John Woolman possessed each of these characteristics. Because of his efforts the Quakers were the first religious group to denounce and renounce slavery. In recounting this story, Robert Greenleaf pointed out:

One wonders what would have been the result if there had been fifty John Woolmans, or even five, traveling the length and breadth of the Colonies in the eighteenth century persuading people, one by one, with gentle nonjudgmental argument that a wrong should be righted by individual voluntary action. Perhaps we would not have had the war with its 600,000 casualties and the impoverishment of the South, and with the resultant vexing social problem that is at fever heat 100 years later with no end in sight. We know now, in the perspective of history, that just a slight alleviation of the tension in the 1850s might have avoided the war. A few John Woolmans, just a few, might have made the difference.

Woolman hated the idea of slavery and found it intolerable. He was determined to change the minds of his fellow Quakers. His vision, courage, and persistence transformed his church, his state, and ultimately his country.

One person can influence a marriage, family, school, church, community, nation, and world. What if each Christ-follower had such passion and conviction? What if each church had such a desire to change the world? Who will be the John Woolman in this generation?

To get more information and join the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce (SC-C3) movement, go to www.sc-c3.org and become a member today!

Rick Ezell is the Managing Partner of Employee Care of America (www.employeecareofamerica.com) that provides chaplaincy services to businesses in South Carolina and a writer. Read more of this writings at www.rickezell.com.

Kingdom Business

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Impacting the Kingdom of God through business is one of the vital proving grounds of Christian service. The veracity and fast-paced nature of the work environment puts us in a situation where we must either rely on God and his wisdom or the humanity of a self-directed will. The latter sets us up for spiritual failure as human reasoning, decision-making, and motivation pushes out the wonder of His grace and love. God tells us to love Him. God also tells us to love our neighbors. In the business realm that would be our peers and coworkers. Let’s now explore one of the ways that we can do both at the same time and impact His Kingdom through business.

Kingdom Impact

Outside of Jesus Himself (who is the supreme example), I believe we can look to the Apostle Paul as an excellent example for building loyalty and friendships.

And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. (Acts 27:3)

In a very short period of time (the next day), Paul was able build the relationships and loyalty necessary to be courteously treated and given liberty. The liberty given to Paul by Julius was no small gesture. Julius was a centurion with enormous responsibility. As a professional in the Roman army, he was someone who had many men under his command. His task to deliver Paul to Rome and to the emperor was of the highest magnitude. The order to deliver Paul put both he and his men’s lives at stake. Failure would have surely been met with quick judgment and death. Why then take a chance and let Paul roam free (pun fully intended) with such liberty?

Investing in Others

Paul understood the importance of getting involved in the lives of others. He also understood that building loyalty, trust, and friendships were keys to reaching others for the glory of the Lord. When I think about the life of Paul, several key aspects of his Christianity come to mind. First, he loved God with all of his heart, mind, soul, and strength. Second, he knew the necessity of being involved in the lives of other people. Third, he wanted to authentically care for others through as many mentoring opportunities as he could possibly find. Paul understood that investing in people by being a mentor was powerful and produced extraordinary spiritual results. Fourth, he realized that the fellowship had to be lasting and on-going. There would be very little fruit if he was simply getting people saved, checking the box of evangelism, and moving on to the next convert. He desired to stay connected either through letters or face-to-face meetings. Once the ungodly were converted, he knew a plan would be needed for continuous communication and fellowship. How are you doing in your relationship building opportunities at work? Are you building lasting spiritual relationships at work for His Kingdom?   

To get more information and join the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce (SC-C3) movement, go to www.sc-c3.org and become a member today!

Michael LaPierre is the director for the Christian Chamber of Commerce(C3) in Pickens County and President of Christian Leadership Worldview International. He can be reached at mike@clwi.org

The Kingdom Community

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When we started the C3 journey, we knew unifying the Christian community was the unique opportunity God had placed before us. Last year we refined the C3 vision to better articulate this destination, “C3 exists to mobilize the Christian community for city transformation”. Through this journey we have grown to understand the power and importance of the Christian community and the vital role each group plays in this process. We all desire to see the many divides with the Christian community healed and Jesus’ prayer in John 17 that the world would know Him through our unity realized, but who is the Christian community?

What is a Kingdom Community?

There is a unique opportunity to impact culture for Christ by connecting the Christian community. We see many good things happening throughout the state with dedicated business owners and leaders, alliances, churches, and individuals walking out their faith in the sphere of influence for which they are called. This has reinforced the C3 vision and heightened the awareness that the Christian community must work closer together by strategically engaging the ABC’s (Alliances, Businesses, Churches) and individuals in the Christian Community. We must first understand and respect the roles of each group we are working with.

The Vital Role Each Play

The alliances are defined as a not-for-profit organization where a Christian is in a position of leadership and has the authority and desire to apply Biblical principles to serve their employees, customers, donors, vendors, and community.
The role of Alliances is critical in the Christian community and provides valuable services in a variety of areas from serving the homeless, incarcerated, veterans, children, feeding the hungry, discipleship, and many other ministries within the community. These services are the hands and feet of Christ that work together to serve our communities. We support Alliances through volunteering to assist, donations, serving on boards, and assisting in strengthening the organization.

The businesses are defined as a for-profit organization where a Christian is in a position of leadership and has the authority and desire to apply Biblical principles to serve their employees, customers, vendors, and community. The role of businesses in the Christian community is to provide valuable services, employ people, and use influence to promote Kingdom activities. Businesses can be supported by doing business with them, and they support others by using their influence to promote alliances, churches, individuals, and others in the community.

The churches are defined as a not-for-profit organization or fellowship to promote evangelism and discipleship of Jesus Christ. The role of the church is vital in the Christian community and is to equip and encourage followers of Christ to apply their faith in each sphere of influence they are called to. Churches can be supported by the tithes and offerings of their attenders and support the community through the promotion of business, alliances, individuals, and other churches.

Individuals are followers of Christ who may be employed by a secular or Christian organization, work in government, education, healthcare, work as a stay-at-home parent, or any other sphere of influence where God has placed them. Individuals are the largest group in the Christian community and play a vital role as they serve in many capacities and bring the light of Christ into many places throughout society.

Engaging the Community for City Transformation

We believe that each of the four areas of alliances, businesses, churches, and individuals are all important roles in the Kingdom of God. Moreover, we believe that a mobilized Christian community who shares the same values, vision of unity, and foundation of prayer can impact the world in ways we have never seen before. Acting in unity and caring for all would reduce poverty, crime, prison population, orphans, impact social and moral issues, strengthen families, and reduce the tax burden on our state. City transformation is possible when the Christian community is empowered by the Holy Spirit and work together according to His will!

To get more information and join the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce (SC-C3) movement, go to www.sc-c3.org and become a member today!

Jamie Jordan is the State Director for the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce (SC-C3). His passion is to see unity and excellence exhibited within the Christian community. Jamie can be reached at jjordan@stravicom.com.

The Kingdom is Like….

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We pray your 2019 is off to a great start and you are pursuing God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will for your life! The C3 theme for the month of February is “Kingdom Influence.”  As followers of Jesus, we are taught to pray, “Your Kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Many times Jesus is quoted as saying, “the Kingdom is like”, but what is this Kingdom and how do we apply this to our lives?

Kingdom Defined

Webster dictionary defines kingdom as, “the realm in which God’s will is fulfilled.” The Kingdom of God is when we allow God to be ruler of our lives and for Christians, that should be when we accept Jesus as Lord. As Christians, we know that this is a process and not an event.  When we submit our will to the Holy Spirit, we are allowing the Holy Spirit to sanctify us into the wonderful masterpiece we were created to be.  This picture is clearly defined by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

When we begin to understand this process and allow the Holy Spirit to do the deep work of sanctification in our lives, we begin to establish ourselves as instruments of righteousness that can be used to establish His Kingdom on this earth.  We see the perfect example of Jesus in the garden before going to the cross when He was praying, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  His flesh did not want to go through the suffering, but He submitted His will to the Father and endured the cross for our salvation.

Kingdom Rule

The example Jesus provided reflects the power of Kingdom rule in His life as He submitted His will to the Father. We are temples of the Holy Spirit when we accept Jesus and are filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Apostle Paul stated in I Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”

The Apostle John paints us a wonderful picture of Kingdom rule in John 15 as we abide in Jesus, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunesso that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” When we abide in Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to flow through us to produce fruit, there is a freedom that we walk in and a confidence that comes from His presence.

Kingdom Territory

When we understand that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and His power can be manifest wherever we are, then Kingdom territory is where we are. Our homes, businesses, alliances (non-profits), churches, communities, etc. become Kingdom territory and we have a responsibility to represent the King well. If we as Christians grasped this concept and applied it to our everyday lives, the world would be a better place and we could shift the culture. I believe this is why Jesus prayed in John 17:23, “I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Kingdom Culture

Kingdom culture is realized when the King (Jesus) is placed in His rightful place of kingship and we become instruments of the Holy Spirit to produce fruit and influence those placed in our lives. The power is not from us, but the Holy Spirit within us. The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 4:20, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”

Imagine what could happen in our families, alliances, businesses, churches, and communities if we applied these Biblical truths to our lives and allowed the Holy Spirit to transform our cities.  This is the vision of C3, “To mobilize the Christian community for city transformation.” Please join us today in this exciting move of God!

To get more information and join the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce (SC-C3) movement, go to www.sc-c3.org and become a member today!

Jamie Jordan is the State Director for the South Carolina Christian Chamber of Commerce (SC-C3). His passion is to see unity and excellence exhibited within the Christian community. Jamie can be reached at jjordan@stravicom.com.