Can I Transform My Culture
It is tempting in this world to take on the attitudes, habits, and practices of the world. How could it not be tempting? We live in the world. We have friends in this world. Our jobs are in this world. We are surrounded not only by sinful people, but a sin filled culture promoting a worldview that is anti-Christian. So, what are we to do?
As Joshua’s life is coming to an end and he is giving the people instructions on how to live in the new Promised Land he reminds them of the dangers and temptations they will face in this new land. He lets them know the foreign gods are right around the corner. He tells them of the temptation to foreign marriages that won’t honor the Lord. He assures them of the Lord’s judgement should they abandon their faith and take upon the culture of the world around them.
As he is telling them these things and providing them the options to either continue to serve and worship the Lord or abandon God and serve the culture, Joshua makes this statement, “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
Joshua lets them know they can serve whoever they want to serve, but his house, his people, his family will make the stand to serve the Lord regardless of who they serve. As a Christian living in a post-Christian America, this is the stand we must commit to making. When the world pushes you to accept the lie for the truth, to abandon your faith for convenience, to lay aside the commands of Scripture to fit in; when they tell you again and again how bigoted and judgmental you are for telling them the loving truth of the gospel; when you are berated and even fired from your job for refusing to capitulate to the sexual and moral revolution you will be tempted to make the choice to serve the gods of this world instead of the Lord who saved you.
Now, these gods are not the gods Joshua talked about, but they do the same things. The gods of our culture worship sex and pleasure, sacrifice children in abortion, treat the covenant of marriage as optional, and disdain objective truth in all its forms. But the end result is the same. The gods of the culture are false gods, idols made in our own image. They promise freedom but deliver in enslavement. Rest assured, the idols we serve will be the idols that destroy us.
Rest assured, the idols we serve will be the idols that destroy us.
How does a Christian live in a culture like this? How can we avoid the massive influence of culture in our lives? How can we be faithful to Jesus?
In his book, Christ and Culture, H. Richard Niebuhr offers several options for the Christian in relation to culture.
1. The Christian can fight against and complain about the culture
2. The Christian can accommodate culture and adapt the faith to fit the culture
3. The Christian can live above the culture and isolate from the culture
4. The Christian can live a dualist life, one day living as a Christian, the next as a person of the world
In his book, Niebuhr spends time discussing each of these options, but then he offers a more compelling option, the option of the New Testament, a gospel option. Instead of fighting, accommodating, isolating from, and being a hypocrite, Niebuhr says to transform the culture with the gospel.
Don’t give in to the pressure of the world. Instead, allow it to fuel your love for the lost and cause you to be even more fervent in your personal disciple-making.
So, how do we live for Christ in this world? We live in the world, recognizing we are not of this world (John 17:14). Jesus came not to fight the world or conform to the world, or to isolate from the world, but to transform the world.
What does it look like practically to serve the Lord and transform the world around us?
1. Commit to serving Christ above all else, no matter the cost.
James tells us that is the believer who endures to the end who will receive the crown of life (James 1:12). Commit to serve Christ above all else no matter what comes.
2. Commit to belonging to and serving in a gospel church.
Believers are meant to live in relationships with other believers. There are no New Testament Christians who are living for Jesus and are not actively involved in a gospel church. The church is the body of Christ and provides for the needs of the body (1 Cor. 12).
3. Commit to practicing the spiritual disciplines.
Believers will not grow in Christ without drawing near to Christ. As believers are intimate with Christ they become more like Christ and are empowered by him to transform the world around them (John 15:1-5).
4. Commit to a transformed life.
The world will hate believers because it hates Jesus (John 17:18). The fact that the world hates Jesus did not stop Jesus from dying for the world (Rom. 5:6-8). Believers who have made an impact for Christ have done so most fruitfully in times of persecution and distress. Don’t give in to the pressure of the world. Instead, allow it to fuel your love for the lost and cause you to be even more fervent in your personal disciple-making.
Who will you serve? We will either serve the gods of this world or we will serve Jesus. Let us as believers, make these four commitments and together we can transform our culture for the glory of God.
In His Grace,
Brad