Creating apostolic culture in our churches is essential work to see the body of Christ fully equipped to be able to do all that she is called to do. Each of the fivefold cultures are needed in our congregations – in fact, they are non-negotiable if we want to build and lead a vibrant and healthy church. But what is apostolic culture, and how do we go about creating it?
What is Apostolic Culture?
Apostles are ‘sent ones’. Therefore, the defining marker of anything apostolic must be built around the foundation of ‘sentness’. Anything else considered or named as being apostolic must therefore serve and undergird this concept of ‘sentness’. Without ‘sentness’, something cannot be considered truly apostolic.
A healthy church thrives with an apostolic culture that fosters a reforming mindset. This mindset drives a mentality that seeks to impact and influence society.
Apostolic culture looks to influence and transform the world around us – locally, regionally, and globally – with the values of God’s kingdom. Apostolic thinking leads to an apostolic culture – an understanding that the church is sent as missionaries to people and places to bring about heaven’s impact through word and deed. Reformation is the goal which, by definition, is positive change and transformation for the benefit of all.
Why is It Important?
An apostolic culture leads to positive social impact and local favour across many sectors of society, ultimately benefiting and transforming people and communities. Healthy apostolic culture brings many things to a church. It:
- Balances Prophecy and Practicality: Apostolic culture keeps prophetic pronouncements grounded in practicality, preventing them from becoming overly spiritual or focused solely on the heavenly realm without earthly impact.
- Engages New Converts: It ensures new converts aren’t simply saved but actively recruited into the cause of God’s mission.
- Maintains Forward Focus: Apostolic culture prevents the church from becoming inward-looking and solely focused on meeting its own needs.
- Equips for Action: It ensures teaching isn’t purely theoretical, academic, or intellectual but has the goal of equipping people practically for the mission.
What Happens if Apostolic Culture is Lacking?
Without a healthy apostolic culture, the church becomes detached from and irrelevant to the people and place it’s called to serve. It risks becoming inward-focused, making decisions primarily for its own members and neglecting its outreach mission. This can lead to increased internal politics and power struggles. Additionally, unhealthy apostolic culture can manifest as an imbalance, where churches prioritise one aspect of apostolic ministry over others. This can look like:
- Social Justice Focus: Churches might be passionate about social justice causes but fail to minister in the power of God or equip individuals practically.
- Supernatural Focus: Churches might emphasise supernatural aspects of the kingdom while neglecting to develop individuals or make a difference in their local community.
Training Focus: Churches might excel at training and supporting people but neglect serving the community or demonstrating the power of God practically.
Seven Keys To Creating Apostolic Culture
Apostolic culture has a number of distinctives which define and shape it. The culture wheel below serves as a valuable tool, outlining seven key distinctives that churches can prioritise as they create an apostolic culture. Imagine the wheel as a mechanism driving motion forward – these distinctives are written in the present tense deliberately to represent ongoing and essential actions. For a church to thrive, these seven areas should be continually pursued.
Each of these distinctives is unique and essential in creating apostolic culture, and if done right, will permeate and influence every area of a church.
Conclusion
I have created a guidebook to help church leaders with creating apostolic culture. It walks through a five-step process and is full of biblical teaching and practical steps, including unpacking these seven distinctives, that will aid you in your task of cultural creation. You can find the guidebook HERE.
Also, if you want to discover your own fivefold flow by learning what your primary and secondary fivefold expressions are, and how they partner together in your thinking and doing, you can take my Fivefold Flow Assessment HERE.
This post is part of a series on creating fivefold culture. You can see the other posts here:
- Creating Apostolic Culture
- Creating Prophetic Culture
- Creating Evangelistic Culture
- Creating Pastoral Culture
- Creating Teaching Culture
Absolutely insightful