When I get around people, I love to look inside of them through heaven’s perspective and see who Jesus made them to be. I can see giftings, callings, anointings and unique perspectives that only Jesus can give. The next thing I like to do is tell them about it. Sometimes there is weeping, sometimes there are looks of shock, but one thing that always comes is hope. I am constantly around at people and wondering who their fathers are. Where are the people in their lives who are nurturing these heaven-gifts into powerful expressions of heaven invading earth? There seem to be plenty of teachers, but where are the fathers? Where are the ones who will take responsibility for holding them accountable to their destiny? Not an accountability in the negative sense, but who is holding them to “account” for their “ability”?
We are all born to change the world.
This is one of the single most convicting things in my life, to see people become who they were truly meant to be in the kingdom. I see them going to church, living their lives, raising their kids, but many are suffering from spiritual identity theft. Why do we work so hard at championing people? Because they are the hope of the earth and the light of the world. It’s not just the guy standing on the platform that’s meant to be influential. We are all born to change the world, to carry encounters that release redemption and transformation in people’s lives.
I have spent my entire adult life building the church.
I have spent my entire adult life building the church, serving our leaders’ visions and honoring who they are. But somehow, no one championed who I was in the kingdom. It seems like I slipped through the cracks. I came away with stunted growth, a poor understanding of who my father is and gifts and callings that were underdeveloped. Understand me, I’m not talking about a need for attention here, I’m talking about good old fashioned life-on-life discipleship. The kind where you don’t have to read about people doing great things, but you are actually in the company of great ones who showed you how.
With this understanding, we are now laying down our lives for an entire generation. That our ceiling would be their floor. That they wouldn’t have to unlearn decades of bad theology and missing identity. That we could create a platform for them to launch off of, that we could take all the limits off and see them far exceed their potential.
What’s more important, building my church or seeing my city saved?
If what we are truly building is kingdom, it will last into the next generation. It will create a momentum that will catapult a whole new wave of leaders into an influential and powerful place of advancing the kingdom in the earth. We’ve had to ask ourselves, “What’s more important, building our church or seeing our city saved”? We’ve had to ask, “Do we isolate ourselves and build our own kingdom inside of four walls, or do we start investing in people for the sake of heaven on earth”?
At some point, we are going to pass a baton to the next generation.
Why do we champion people? Because someone has to. We are called to lay down our lives for those coming after us. At some point, we are going to pass a baton to the next generation. I pray that when we do, it won’t be a baton of warmed-over American Christianity, but it will be a hand-off that comes with so much momentum that it sweeps them into unparalled kingdom acts that shift the balance from darkness to light and establishes a stronghold of heaven on earth that will never go away.
How can we just play church when God has a dream for the earth?
How can we just play church when God has a dream for the earth? How can we continue to live lives and sing songs that don’t cause the rulers of darkness to release their hold? This is our planet. We are the sons of God, and it’s time for us to become and raise up true radical world changers who know how to build community, love well, heal the sick, raise the dead and build a lasting legacy of heaven on earth.
It’s time to let go of competition, short-sighted goals and false finish lines.
This is why we champion people. It’s time to let go of competition, short-sighted goals, false finish lines and ask God what He wants to do in our cities. It’s time to collaborate with people and let them be strong. It’s time to step out of the shadows. It’s time to throw off fear. It’s time to let go of our personal preferences. It’s time to lay down our lives for one another.
This is why we champion people. Because they were born to change the world. You were born to change the world.
Your turn starts now. {eoa}
Clint Kahler is the director of Nextgen Worship, the voice of a movement whose purpose is to empower generations to carry heaven and shift culture. He believes that heaven on earth should be a continual experience and that everyone should benefit from this normal Christian lifestyle. The impossible is his target and the presence is his passion. Clint is also a mix engineer and producer who co-leads worship with his wife, Hayley.
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