No-matter how great a vision is, culture is what REALLY matters. It will either carry vision to life or crush it to death.
Culture simply means ‘our way of doing things’. Every country has one. So does every business, home and church (yes church!). This can either be toxic or healthy. Here’s the difference:
TOXIC CULTURE tends to be cynical, mean spirited and fault finding. This vibe empowers and emboldens the sarcastic voices who feel better about themselves when they’re criticising others. Unfortunately, this kind of atmosphere kills confidence, creates animosity and causes a general feeling of ‘not good enough’ – a way of thinking which can NEVER bring out the best in other people. Toxic culture can at first appear honest – but it’s not. It is actually extremely hazardous. It’s focus is selfish rather than generous and ultimately, no-one thrives in an environment like that.
HEALTHY CULTURE is go-getting, positive and focused on finding solutions rather than languishing in problems. It empowers people with confidence by encouraging their strengths rather than jumping on their weaknesses. When this happens, everyone gets better – and even the area’s of weakness become stronger too. It raises the bar, causing people to rise higher in faith and life. It can take a long time for leaders to cultivate healthy culture (it will be strongly resisted and even misunderstood) – but ultimately, it produces a healthy environment where people can truly develop and flourish.
At the Junction Church in Leicester and Loughborough, our passion is to create healthy culture. We profoundly understand that it’s from this environment that giants of the faith can emerge. Toxicity will only do the very opposite. It’s our heart to capture Heaven’s culture. After all, this is what Jesus specifically taught us to pray …’your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…‘ Wow…heaven on earth….now that’s healthy culture.
