Then when I came back I was stunned when I come back here. [Laughter] I realised that there's a culture, and the culture is the way people live their life, and it's the values and the beliefs and the things people consider a norm. Well the kingdom of heaven has a culture see, so the culture - we kind of think the culture is normal, so we as Kiwis act in a way which is very Kiwi-like. Some of the things are good, some of the things are not so good. And so the Bible tells us though about the culture of the world. In Ephesians 2:2 it says now, He says you were once dead in your trespasses and sins, who walked - now get this - according to the culture of the world, operated on by a spirit which works in the children who disobey God. Let's just summarise it.
There is a culture in the world and there's a spirit empowers it, and it's a spirit of darkness and it empowers it because people disobey God. So we were called out of that to have a culture where we obey God and there's another spirit operating. If you want the Holy Ghost operating in your life and through you you've got to embrace the culture of heaven, the culture of the Bible, the culture of God. Some things we can live in and accept, they're just fine the way they are, but other things you've got to build a culture. There's a family culture, see? Family culture can be incredibly dysfunctional and everyone is impacted by it, and they tend to become dysfunctional when they produce their children. You can have a culture in a church. It can be really healthy; it can be very unhealthy. You have a culture in a school. It can be really vibrant and a great place to learn; it can be actually a dangerous place and it's unsafe to be there. You have a culture in a community. Even Havelock's got its own culture.
Then Flaxmere's got its culture, and Hastings is still a little bit different. Have you noticed that? There's kind of like the group of people and their lifestyle and their values and everything, and if you live there you'll become like them. I'm certain if you went out in Havelock you'll join the jogging crowd and you'll have your little bottle and [laughter] your little Walkman and you'll be out there doing your little run. [Laughter] I've seen them all out there, heaps of them, lattes down there in the village - wouldn't even think of buying anything in Hastings. It's just - like there's a culture and it's not all bad, but there's sorts of things that characterise it. So the world we're in has got a culture of its own. The Maoris have a culture and of course so people view it in different ways. If they're ignorant of it they view it with suspicion, or if they're PC they embrace it all, see? But actually the culture is neither good nor bad. The culture's just a culture but it's got within it things which may be demonically empowered, just like our culture has.
And so God calls us then to take on the culture of heaven. Now the way culture expresses itself is many ways, but this is what empowers it: people's opinions. You change the opinions, you change the culture, see? You change the opinions, the way people think; you change the culture. Now our culture - how many know our culture's in change? Anyone who's been around a while knows it's in change. Why is it in change? Because people in certain places have altered the opinions that people have. Once the opinions are altered, parents today - here, now get this - parents today feel disempowered in working with their kids because of the opinions of certain people in education who impose them on the rest of the culture. See? Now kingdom people, we've got to discover God's opinions and begin to learn how to live them. Now does that mean you go and impose them on everyone? Not at all, it makes you a religious nutter.
People need to see that what you have works, so they watch you and if you're a believer somewhere in the community you know what? There's going to be a heap of people watching you. You know what they're watching? They're watching everything. They're primarily watching to see if you're authentic. Are you an ambassador of another kingdom with a better life that I need to come alongside and find how you made it work and how you make it succeed? Or are you just spouting verses at me and putting me down, and showing a holier than thou attitude? Unfortunately that's what religion does. Religion isolates. The kingdom goes out and what the computer language they call interfaces; it connects with a culture and actually shows that the way of the kingdom of God is superior in every way. People need to get near enough to you to see that your life is authentic, and what you've got works and it works better than it works for them, and to feel totally challenged by your lifestyle. That's what's called being salt and light. Salt, having an impact to restrain evil, and light, showing it up.