What’s our Kaupapa?

I was in New Zealand recently, and as often happens when I travel, I found myself picking up words that don’t quite translate into English. One of those is kaupapa.

Coming from Dutch heritage, I understand how words can carry a different semantic range — not just a single “meaning,” but a world of associations. When my extended family still uses Dutch vocab, we do so because there is no English word or single thought that is equivalent. Words can be vessels that carry over whole ways of seeing life.

Kaupapa is like that. At one level, it means “purpose” or “agenda.” But it’s much broader. It’s the set of guiding principles that shape a people. It’s moral weight, not just pragmatic choice. And it’s collective — something you do with others, not just a private mission statement you hang on your office wall.

It reminded me of the biblical story. Israel had a kaupapa — a shared purpose — as they journeyed together through the wilderness towards the promised land. They weren’t just individuals making decisions. They were a people shaped by God’s promises, living under his law, sustained by his presence. In the New Testament, the church inherits that same collective orientation. We’re not just a gathering of like-minded individuals; we’re a body, called and carried forward by the Spirit towards new creation.

As Westerners, we can be deeply preoccupied with the what. We love decisionism: What’s the plan? What are the goals? What’s the action point? All of that has its place, but it easily becomes thin. Kaupapa pushes us back to the why — to convictions, values, and principles that endure even when strategies change.

Stephen Covey once wrote, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” That’s close, but kaupapa is deeper. It says the main thing isn’t just efficiency or clarity of focus. The main thing is to live in alignment with what is tika — what is right, just, true — and to do so as a people.

For churches, that’s both freeing and challenging. Freeing, because we don’t have to chase every shiny program. Challenging, because it means rediscovering our kaupapa — the gospel of Jesus as King, shaping our shared life and calling us forward.

So perhaps the question isn’t “What’s the plan?” but “What’s our kaupapa?”