TRENDING: KINGDOM, KOINONIA and APOSTOLIC
by Nancy G. Daniel
Kingdom, koinonia and apostolic are great words trending in many churches today. The Lord is offering Kingdom and koinonia to everyone. It’s as if He is going into the highways and byways inviting the world to this feast. It would seem that every mountain of influence is being affected, including higher education. And while the Church is trying to figure it all out the secular world is actually implementing koinonia and Kingdom principles in creative ways.
It is interesting that when asking church folk what Kingdom means to them, the definitions are as diverse as the people. The Bible tells us the following,
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17, ESV)
Rick Joyner has much to say about this topic but one quote says, “The kingdom of God does not tend toward increasing control, but rather toward increasing liberty.”[i]
Some Kingdom principles, or how we operate in the Kingdom of God such as giving and sharing along with considering our brothers need before our own are the things that are trending in the sharing[ii] global economy.
Koinonia (koy-nohn-eé-ah) is a transliterated form of the Greek word, κοινωνία, which means communion, joint participation; the share which one has in anything, participation, a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution.
As social media increases and is anything but social, the need for true relationship and intimacy grows in the hearts of the professing Christians and non-Christians alike. True belonging is an environment where there is giving and receiving, it is a place where everyone can contribute. The world is crying out for this type of fellowship.
The apostolic movement is also big in some Christian circles. Some believe that this is dispensational while others believe we have barely begun.
The idea of God moving the Church into all the world is all over the internet. Lance Wallnau has championed the 7 Mountain Mandate. You can find books like “Invading Babylon: The 7 Mountain Mandate”, by Lance Wallnau and Bill Johnson and many other titles such as “The Apostolic Entrepreneur: The New Generation of Apostles”. It is a big topic.
There is a new trend called micropreneur.[iii] This is an entrepreneur who leverages network and relationship for goods and services instead of hiring them. This is currently happening in education as well as business.
This is nothing new; however, technology has given an age-old precept a borderless option if you are willing to have a little faith and step beyond the boundaries of what is comfortable.
TECHNOLOGY BACKGROUND
Social media surfaced around 1997 and though many were skeptical the door was open to a brave new world. I remember working with closely with a social media designer around 2009. He was big on social sharing and giving things away.
Fast forward to 2011 and 2012, we see an incredible progression on a global scale through the term coined by Rachael Botsman and Roo Rogers, collaborative consumption which means,
The shared use of a good or service by a group. Collaborative consumption differs from standard commercial consumption in that the cost of purchasing the good or service is not borne by one individual, but instead is divided across a larger group as the purchase price is recouped through renting or exchanging.[iv]
Collaborative consumption describes the shift in consumer values from ownership to access. Together, entire communities and cities around the world are using network technologies to do more with less by renting, lending, swapping, bartering, gifting and sharing products on a scale never before possible. From Airbnb to Zipcar to Taskrabbit, collaborative consumption is transforming business, consumerism and the way we live for a more fulfilling and sustainable quality of life.[v]
Rachael Botsman and Roo Rogers co-authored the book, “What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption”. (To be fair there is also a book against the sharing economy as well.)
Business Insider says it this way:
“Our ability to offer our own spare capacity[vi] and be rated for our services – and the overall experience we offer – underscores the power of collaborative consumption as a means to make a living and become more integrated societally. Your reputation becomes another one of your greatest assets as more and more people look to the internet for an aggregation of experiences – and namely the experience that you can provide.”
TIME magazine says the real benefit is social. Meaningful and real connections are a big part of this economy. Peer-to-peer sharing “involves the re-emergence of community,” says Rachel Botsman. This is a global movement. Singapore is sharing parking spaces, homes and cars. They are also connecting empty nesters with college students.
The micropreneurs are the ones leveraging networks for balance in lifestyle and experience. Business’ such as Etsy creates a platform for talent without carrying the weight of the paycheck.
Looking at the sharing economy above it is easy to see elements of kingdom principles, koinonia and apostolic entrepreneurship. The secular world has caught the vision and is running with it.
POINTS TO CONSIDER
The buyer is motivated to pay a price driven by the economy of trust. As a seller or entrepreneur gets good feedback on services rendered, products sold and relationship with the buyer, he can increase his prices. There is no institution and advertising is a natural outcome of good feedback. Leveraging networks for unique needs is smart business.
EDUCATION MOUNTAIN
This is a part of education mountain as well. From the free courses offered online by Yale the to the Coursea website where there are many top universities offering classes free you can find a social sharing education network.
The motivation of the adult learner is to learn and develop relationships, if they desire a degree they would need to pay the normal fees.
COLLABORATION and AFFILIATIONS
Education is entering into a phase of affiliations on a much larger scale. TIME magazine says, “Don’t Own, Share!” This idea says that as a school we do not have to hire or own several teachers or instructors to teach one or two subjects we can affiliate with them. We can share. We can leverage networks to give our students the best possible education.
The book, “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, tells us when going on a trip first find out who is on your bus or actually a part of your team then decide where you are going or what you will offer. An organization, group or school can decide what each instructor has to offer or what the school offers as a whole then offer that online and online live not just to our students but to all schools with which we are affiliated.
We may need other elements offered at another institution. When we affiliate with institutions we can keep our students and they can keep their students. The students graduate from our school but have the opportunity to be enriched from other schools. We just share courses and resources online.
This allows us to focus on what we are good at and gives us time to become better at it! What a profound and global impact this can have.
Affiliating with other schools is not articulation. Articulation generally says we accept your credits and allow your students to place with us accordingly.
Affiliation is not about a degree as much as it is about learning and relationship. A school can affiliate with another school and share resources such as; classes, instructors, and students. Affiliation is relationship and can be Kingdom relationship for surly it is a Kingdom principle. Affiliation is leveraging networks.
You can see koinonia and apostolic principles at work as well. God is inviting and the world is answering!
Sometimes collaboration is needed by instructors in different parts of the world for one course. Just like people coming together to play in an orchestra, the collaborators come together for one piece. It is as much joy to them as it is to the learner. The instructors are not as concerned about the paycheck as they are the content they bring to the table. The content and discussion offers direction for the class structure. The outcome of feedback in trust profiles then become a natural advertisement that sets the market and cost.
Jorge Parrott often talks about strategic alliances. The Lord gave a picture of what that looks like. Through strategic alliances, relationships can be formed creating a net. Schools can have alliances or affiliations while students and instructors form relationships on a different level. Everyone would then be leveraging networking for the Kingdom.
THE CHURCH
This is a challenge to the Church because we must let go of our identity in ownership. Ownership in the sense that people need to work for me and do as I say. This makes me look good and builds my ministry. It is not about “my ministry”.
Rick Joyner says the MorningStar motto is, “We will not use people to build our ministry, but we use our ministry to build people.”
True apostolic fathers, at the right time, launch their sons into their God-given destinies. The mature fathers do not hold their sons back, to serve them alone. In launching the sons, they continue the relationship and work somewhat side by side encouraging one another. We teach them that their identity is in Christ alone.
In the above models the world does not care who gets the glory they just want to be a part, even if it means with total strangers, it is the joy of collaboration. The Lord is calling the Church to join Him as He is working all around us[vii]. How much more fun when there is eternal significance.
If the Church is to lead we must come out of what is and bring Heaven to earth. This is not hard. It takes faith to step out of our comfort zones, die to ourselves and share a little. You cannot out-give God, why not put it to the test?
REFERENCES
[i] https://www.morningstarministries.org/resources/word-week/2013/seeking-gods-kingdom-great-commission-part-40 [ii] www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sharing-economy.asp A sharing economy is an economic model in which individuals are able to borrow or rent assets owned by someone else. The sharing economy model is most likely to be used when the price of a particular asset is high and the asset is not fully utilized all the time. [iii] ww.bersin.com/Lexicon/Details.aspx?id=14576 A “micropreneur” is an entrepreneur who is willing to accept the risk of starting and managing the type of business that remains small, supports the kind of work he / she wants to do and provides a balanced lifestyle. [iv] www.investopedia.com/terms/c/collaborative-consumption.asp [v] http://www.collaborativeconsumption.com/about/ [vi] http://www.businessinsider.com/the-share-economy-will-change-business-2013-2 The idea of spare capacity is not a new one. A factory that can produce 100 widgets, but that only has current demand for 80 can rent out its spare capacity to another company for the production of 20 extra widgets, thus enabling the factory owner to maximize its resources and optimize its ROI. But applying the notion of spare capacity to an individual is more novel. [vii] http://www.blackaby.net/expgod/2010/12/02/blackabys-%E2%80%98experiencing-god%E2%80%99-15-years-of-seeing-god-work/