Using the Kairos Circle to Steward Better
“If only I had more time,” “I’ve just been so busy,” and “There’s not enough time in the day” are all phrases we hear in our culture when it comes to not having enough time.
Time is worth talking about because it’s more finite than money and so much more precious. We all have the same amount of time in the day and we’re all trying to balance time and money.
We typically only ever view time in one context, a quantitative one. The Greek word for this is chronos. Chronos represents time in a sequential manner (think seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, etc.), pretty much the default whenever we naturally think about time. Events that fall within chronos are birthdays, anniversaries, and seasons. Birth to death is our personal chronos.
However, there is another word that is referenced in scripture that is representative of a different kind of time and this is what I want to talk about. Let’s take a look at a piece of scripture.
“In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Kairos
If you’ve spent some time in scripture you may have noticed Jesus speak about time in an interesting and unique way like in verse fourteen above. Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” There’s a reason for this.
The Greek word for time in this passage is kairos. Kairos means a proper or opportune time for a decision or action. Contrary to chronos, kairos is qualitative and represents more permanency. It’s used over 75 times within the New Testament and we predominantly see it used by Jesus.
I’ve often heard of kairos referred to as “God moments” and accurately so. It’s time that’s operating on an eternal scope & timeline rather than a temporary one. It’s these kairos moments that God is intimately wanting to transform our lives.
Think about the last time you were at an impasse whether physical, emotional, relational or intellectual. I'm assuming that you had to stop and utilize your critical thinking skills. You likely had to observe and diagnose the problem at hand. Then you probably had to determine why the problem occurred and what was needed in order to fix the situation all while preventing it from happening again. Finally, you needed to make a plan of action and carry out that plan.
Think of these kairos moments as spiritual impasses in which God stops us, while chronos continues, in order to reveal and teach us something. I’m not going to lie, most if not all of the time it’s hard. But if I’ve learned anything in life, it’s that everything that’s hard has the potential to be trans-formative because it gives us an opportunity to become more reliant on God.
The Kairos Circle
I love the above diagram of the kairos circle (see the top of the page). It's a great tool to use when we're going through these kairos moments. Personally, it has facilitated my spiritual growth through reflection, prayer, humility, accountability, and dependence on the Holy Spirit.
The arrow represents our life, and chronos in general. All along the arrow we will have these kairos moments (marked by the X) in which we’re at an impasse. In this moment, we can choose to ignore this God-moment OR we can lean into it. If we choose to lean in then we begin the cycle.
This circle is a cycle that takes time (chronos). The circle operates in a clockwise motion and is divided into two halves. The right half represents the process of repentance. This is the inner change, the transformation of our heart. The left half of the circle represents believing. This is the external change, or the way we live as evidence of a changed heart through Christ.
Based on the scripture above we see that Jesus references kairos and then proceeds to deliver two actions for us as Christians to do, repent and believe.
Let’s take a look at how God intends to change our hearts through these moments.
Observe
To simply recognize and acknowledge the kairos, God moment, that you're going through. When we recognize it we should say it and name it to solidify it’s reality and our part in it.
Reflect
Reflection is the act of meditating and considering what God is calling us to be, think, or do. This the perfect opportunity for prayer and dependence on what scripture says. The deeper we reflect the more fruitful it will be.
Discuss
Discussion is the beginning of establishing personal accountability. By inviting trusted friends, mentors, and pastors (think inner circle) into the conversation with us it allows for a safe place for us to foster our internal transformation and eventually our external obedience. Note that this is the border between repentance and believing.
Plan
Now that we've observed, reflected, and discussed it's time to make a plan. This is where the rubber meets the road. Only by making a plan will we ever be able to accomplish any action that the Holy Spirit has convicted us of.
Account
Once you have a plan in place, share your plan! Share it with those trusted people (your wider circle) that you've invited into your life to walk beside you. To be completely honest, accountability sucks at first. It's painful and a reminder of how imperfect we are BUT His grace is sufficient. The beauty of accountability is the fact that it makes us more Christ-like through the support of community.
Act
It's now time to do what we've planned and said we'll do. Everything up until now is for nothing if we don't actually do anything about it. With a plan designed and accountability in place we can be sure that we’ve set ourselves up in the best way to act moving forward.
There it is, the Kairos Circle. One of the most transformational tools I've used in my walk.
So What Now?
When it comes to personal finances this exercise/diagram couldn't be more applicable and useful. Jesus warned about money all too often so it shouldn't come as a surprise that we need to be on alert and guard our hearts. In fact, greed and worshiping money is more prevalent within the Body of Christ then we know or like to admit.
We need to diligently use this process every chance we can when it comes to our personal finances (as well as the other parts of our lives). Focus on the process more than the goal and remember that transformation takes time. You may find yourself wrestling with greed, idolatry, not giving cheerfully (or not giving at all for that matter), and/or self-control in the repentant phase of the process. However, as we progress through the process and begin to tune our heart to God’s we should start to see symptoms of faithful stewardship.
It’s also important to create space for God to transform our lives through our personal finances. Remember, we can only start this process if we're being attentive to the Holy Spirit "nudging" us. It all starts with observance. If we aren’t still or if our hearts are hardened we could miss what the Holy Spirit is trying to accomplish within us and we definitely don’t want that.
