JDL - Direction Thirty-seven - Social Inculcation or Counter Culture?

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. (2 Tim. 2:21 (ESV))

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18-19 (ESV))

How much should the church reflect the culture? Perhaps one should ask, “Should the church reflect the culture?” Many have answered this question in many ways, and certainly there are good points and bad points to the many answers.

Each society is made up of various cultures. Every generation has different cultures. A society’s culture is not something that is fixed but is continually changing. God is unchanging. God is eternal. God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Some societies and cultures have embraced Christ and Christianity, but those are certainly few and far between. Most societies and cultures actually run contrary to Christ and Christianity. For too many cultures Christ is too restrictive, and they will have nothing to do with Him.

Although we live in what may appear to be a rather tolerant society and world, when it comes to Christianity, that really is not the way it is. In every era, Christians have always, are today and will always be persecuted because of their faith. The world hates Jesus. His own people hated Him. And as His followers, should we expect anything different? And it is not that the world hates us; rather it hates Christ, and because we are in Christ, it hates us. Actually, what the world hates is the exclusive claim of Christ and His Church that He is the only way to eternal salvation.

We are in the world, but we are not of the world. As a Christian, our life, our lifestyle will set us apart from the world, especially from the world that is against Christ. The world says it is okay to worship other gods. Christ says it is not okay. The world says it is okay to misuse God’s name and to refuse His gifts by rejecting His Word and worship. Christ says it is not okay. The world says it is okay to be disobedient to those in authority, as a matter of fact, the world says there really is no ultimate authority, and so we are responsible to no one and we are not even responsible for ourselves. The world encourages us to devalue human life, to experiment in deviant sexual behavior, to take what you want, to tear others down and to go for what you want. Christ tells us to love God and to love others as we love ourselves.

Although the culture works at making its way into the church, unless the culture is a Christian culture, the only result of it being in the church would be to hurt the church. The culture is today. The culture is contemporary. The culture is ever changing. The culture is here today and gone tomorrow. Christ is always eternal and never changing. His Word always remains the same. And even though He is never changing and even though His Word is never changing, He is very much contemporary but at the same time eternal. Actually, Christ and His Word transcends time; it is not time nor culturally bound.

How should the church, how should Christians be in relation to society and the culture? Christians live in the world, in the society, in the culture, but are not consumed by it. Christians live in the world, in the society and in the culture, but are not of it. Thus, Christians bear witness to the world. Christians bear witness to each society. Christians bear witness to every culture what is above, beyond and eternal.

A Jesus-directed life is one that is not lived in this world, is not focused on one’s society, is not one that is culturally bound, but is one that is eternally-directed, cross-focused and Word-driven. If the world loves you, perhaps that is because you are of the world. If the world hates you, rejoice because it hated Jesus first.

Think About
Does the church you attend look like culture? Does your life mirror the culture? How can we help our churches and ourselves look more like Jesus?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You that Your Word transcends time and culture. Forgive us when we tend to succumb to the culture and begin to emulate the culture rather than trying to help to transform the culture. Help us to imitate You, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.