Culture of Honor

This is a book that we have been in dialogue about- both with the Vineyard and IHOPE Leadership. "The Culture of Honor" is revolutionizing the way that we think about leadership and relationship within the body of Christ.

I (Amy) heard a concept that was new to me a couple of months ago. There was a pastor in Africa who heard the Holy Spirit speak to him and say: "If you are critical, I won't stay with you." Intense. I know that cognitively I realized there are things God likes and doesn't like, but I never thought about God's personality- that there are some environments that He prefers over others. Not cultural or geographical preferences, but relational atmosphere preferences. God doesn't like to spend time in atmospheres where there is strife or hypocrisy or unforgiveness (see Isaiah 58, Matthew 6:15).

This means that if I want to to help cultivate the presence of God in a place, it REALLY MATTERS how I think about, talk to, and treat other people in that community. The tone of voice we use, our motivations, how we handle conflict, whether we choose forgiveness or bitterness- all of these small choices add up to create an atmosphere of honor, or not.

We have just dug into the first couple of chapters and our leadership team at IHOPE begins discussing tomorrow- I am excited :)