Culture of Celebration: PDF
Culture of Celebration
(Originally written October 22, 2021)
This past week we spent a day talking about a Culture of Celebration. We found the content to be very rewarding so we have provided you guys with the same material we received for your personal use in small groups, home churches, personal study, etc. At the end of this is a downloadable PDF containing the same content as this post. We really hope that you take the time to cultivate a culture of celebration in your daily lives!
Also be sure to check out the Podcast by Andy Byrd on this same topic.
Culture of Celebration
From the YWAM Fire and Fragrance Training Manual
Key Principles
The culture of Celebration radically emulates the life of Jesus in the way He walked in joy, celebrated the value of every individual, and spoke words of life. Withholding love is an epidemic in humanity. Love is often conditional, based on behavior, and connected to agreeing with one another. Our words and actions are used to promote this culture of withholding. Cynicism, criticism, and negativity dominate our headlines and conversations. Jesus modeled a different way of life. He operated in a deep joy based on His father’s love, spoke words of life, and operated in and taught unconditional love towards the lost and His disciples. Jesus lived a life of celebration: bringing the joy of heaver to release life into the depravity of humanity.
Choosing the cheerful heart
Joy is not the absence of mourning, pain, or tears. How is the perspective rooted in the love of Jesus, based on eternity, and firmly planted in our identity in Christ.
How is a choice worth making. Proverbs 15:15 “The cheerful heart has a continual feast.”
Celebration of others is based on God’s thoughts.
God is full of love towards His people. Even in our compromise He is full of forgiveness and celebrates our value as we walk into maturity and breakthrough.
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will not longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
What thoughts are we tapping into over a person? Are we thinking through a lens of the enemies lies, our own thoughts of comparison, or others opinions and accusations? The culture of celebration is always searching for God’s report over a person!
“I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How cast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand, when I awake I am still with You.” Psalm 139:14-18
Imagine being around a community that constantly saw the best in each other and called to life the thoughts of God over a person even if they weren’t currently walking in them. Imagine the amount of self-hatred, body image lies, eating disorders, and insecurity that could be shattered if we created a culture of celebration.
Plant a tree of life for all to feed on!
Words have the power to give life or to give death. With them we can build up or tear down! Our society has normalized outlandish criticism, unfounded accusation, and cynicism towards anything or anybody we don’t understand.
“The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18
What kind of trees are we planting for others to feed on?
“The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.” Proverbs 15:14
Think back on your past. Many of us are still regulars dwelling on simple words of life that were spoken years ago. We are still eating the fruit of that encouragement, affirmation and life. Likewise, many of us are still feeding on the negative words that were planted in our lives years ago. The fruit of that negativity still affects us to this day.
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21
We know the enemy is called the accuser of the brethren. He has never had a positive or life-giving thing to say over any of our lives. His goal is death and destruction. We must honestly ask ourselves whether our words line up more with the thoughts of God or with the accuser. Are our words creating life or death?
Areas of application
How are we walking out joy in our lives? Is our joy only based on our circumstances going our way? How good are we at choosing joy on a daily basis because He is good and we are loved?
How are we applying the power of the tongue toward our government leaders? Speaking life does not mean denying areas of disagreement nor does it endorse a person’s life or character. Speaking life calls someone into their destiny in God and finds the value in who they are more than what they do.
How are we walking this culture of celebration out towards those we don’t agree with? We are all very thankful Jesus did not wait for us to be “right” or in total agreement with Him before He loved us into His kingdom.
Have we allowed our “personality” to become a box that does not allow us to obey simple Bible verses and enjoy the life God has intended for us? “I’m just not celebratory. I just don’t have a joyful personality. My personality is never loud.”
Joyful repentance is the appropriate response to any areas that we are not walking according to the life and teachings of Jesus. Repent for any areas of: Negativity, criticism, gossip, cynicism, personality boxes, and ultimately all areas of WITHHOLDING LOVE!
Areas of consideration
A culture of celebration in a community can only operate when we are also willing to walk in loving, godly confrontation taught to us through Matthew 18.
A culture of celebration is not flattery. Flattery is selfish at its core. We flatter others when we want something in return or are operating out of our own insecurities.
If joy is plastic it is not real. It must be rooted in real revelation and real decision to move according to that revelation.
