Creating Culture Begins with Cultivating Experience

I recently started a mentoring program with a couple of friends called, The Christian Culture Maker. One of the first topics we covered was the importance of using one's own life experiences to reach out to others. Here's a couple of short stories that I think illustrate this point very well.

Catherine Rohr is a private-equity investor and Christian who after visiting a prison was impressed by the number of inmates that really knew God. This led her to start the Prison Entrepreneurship Program. Through this ministry inmates committed to leaving a life of crime behind have learned valuable business skills that have helped them rebuild their lives and strengthen their faith.

Makoto Fujimura, a renowned abstract artist and Christian, was inspired to create TriBeca Temporary, a space for local artists to create experimentally in order to restore wholeness following the terrorist attacks of September 11. He also launched an international arts movement to ‘re-humanize the world.’ His love for visual communication came from his childhood frustration of having to learn English.

Creating culture often begins with cultivating and nurturing one’s life experiences wherever there’s opportunity and need. Once those experiences take root in the lives of others then culture begins to flourish. There is a need in our world to have people with positive and spirit filled Christian experiences to cultivate those experiences in the lives of others. Culture makers usually make a difference because where they’ve been helps them determine where they’re going and who they’re reaching.

- Stories taken from Christianity Today, Sept 2008

What are the experiences in your life that you believe God can use to reach others?

Where might there be opportunities or needs for you to cultivate your Christian experiences in the lives of others?