COVENANT

OVERVIEW OF COVENANT  Historically, how explicit has the teaching of the Covenant in your society and culture?  Would most people in your society recognize the meaning of the word “Covenant”?  What meaning might they give it?  What other dimension of meaning would you give to it?  Is there an intentional effort to teach the Covenant in the church?  To live under Covenant is to live under a fixed rule of law, upheld by a Lawgiver. Given this, how “covenantal” would you say marriage is in your culture? How about church government? How about the civil government, its magistrates and the citizenry?

ON IDOLATRY  What do you believe are the principal idols at work in your cultural setting, and how do they manifest?  How do these idols shape the culture in a way that brings curses instead of blessings upon the people?  How do your cultural institutions – the family, school, church, media, etc. embody and preserve these idolatries? How are they reinforced through language?

THE GOSPEL CONTEXTUALIZED TO THE CULTURE  How does the Gospel counter the lies that the idols of your culture represent and propagate?  How engaged is the local church in your society in countering these idols and lies? How likely are you to hear teaching from local churches addressing these idols and their lies?  How could the church in your setting better address these issues?  Has the church in your setting tended to ignore or accommodate some of these idolatrous beliefs? Which ones, specifically?

SIGNS OF RENEWAL  Do you see signs that the Holy Spirit is disquieting the Christian leadership about these issues?  What strategies could be employed to help Christians recognize and renounce their cultural idolatries?  Do you know leaders in your own culture who are working intentionally on such cultural transformation? How are they doing it?  How interested are you in further exploring the power of the Covenant to transform individuals, marriages or churches?  Is there a portion of the church in your setting that you feel is ready to renounce these idolatries in favor of establishing more firmly its Covenant with God?

PERSONAL APPLICATION  How important do you think “cultural transformation through the Covenant” is to the task of discipling our nations?  What specific “nuggets” have you gained from our time together that you will apply to your own work?  Is there something that members of the Disciple Nations Alliance might provide you that would make your work of cultural transformation through the Covenant easier or more effective?