Presence Culture

Church culture

Culture is the system of beliefs, disciplines, practices, and relational boundaries that reveal how life is lived among a particular group of people. Culture is found in virtually every aspect of life.

There are different cultures within the church. There are various cultures of worship. There different cultures of preaching. There are even different cultures of doctrine.

One culture that remains consistent throughout the church is the priority placed on the sermon. Even though there are many different styles of preaching, all churches have a moment that gathers around the sermon.

Living in God’s presence

While the church gathers every weekend around a sermon, Israel camped around God’s presence (Num. 9:17). In fact, part of the blessing the priests of Israel were instructed to pray over the people was,

“The Lord make His face shine upon you…The Lord lift up His countenance upon you.”

This literally means that God wanted his people to see his smiling face. He wanted them to experience his blessing on their lives. No wonder they wanted to camp around God’s presence!

God hasn’t changed. He still wants his people to experience the blessing of his presence. He is still looking for people who enjoy his presence so much that they make it part of their culture.

Imagine a church where the system of beliefs, disciplines, practices, and relational boundaries were all centered on God’s presence. This is exactly what Jesus made possible for us because we now host the presence of God. This reintroduces us to the original kingdom culture—living in the presence of God.