As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Ephesians 4:1 (NIV)
We live
in a rapidly changing world. The pseudo-Christian culture that we assumed we
lived in has evaporated. Our world has become more diverse, more
multi-cultural, more spiritually multidimensional. Christianity is not the only
show in town, nor is it the dominant show either. The playing field has become
very crowded, with one of the fastest growing groups being the “Nones”, those
who do not identify with any religious philosophy. In many ways, we find
ourselves in the same environment that Paul and the early church lived in.
For
those of us who grew up with church attendance being the accepted norm of our
society, the cultural shift has been painful, discouraging, and frightening. In
response to these dramatic changes, some churches have decided to circle the
wagons and disengage from the current culture. Others have chosen to take an
aggressive approach with a call to recapture the culture and return it to the
days when Christianity was the dominant influence. Still others have decided to give in and
accommodate the current culture. I wonder if we have set our sights on the
wrong target.
The New
Testament does not focus directly on changing the culture of the day. The New
Testament instead focuses on changing people’s lives. The early church turned
its world upside-down one person at a time. How did they do that? By living out
their faith in genuine, attractive ways. They so demonstrated the power of the
Gospel that people were attracted to Jesus.
One of
the reasons so many people are turning away from the church today is because
they don’t see the truth of the Gospel. They see people who say they believe in
living a transformed life, yet their life does not match up to their words.
People see churches that are fighting with themselves, often in very brutal and
public ways. They see church leaders failing in a variety of ways. When they observe
these negative images, they respond with, why would I want to be a part of
that?
The
question we have to wrestle with is, how do we demonstrate our faith to the
world in ways that are genuine, realistic, and compelling? It has to start with
a change in our focus. Instead of focusing on changing the culture, we need to
focus on changing hearts. That begins with dealing with our issues as believers
before we can hope to change our world. We cannot expect unbelievers to live
like Christians when Christians are living like unbelievers.
Jesus
defined what it looks like to live in the Kingdom of God in the Sermon on the
Mount. Jesus laid out the ethics of the new humanity that is created through
faith in Him. It was radically counter-cultural in His day. It still is.
Throughout the New Testament Jesus’ teachings on living in the new humanity are
fleshed out through the many “one another” passages. There are at least 35 of
those statements; both positive and negative. Each one of them calls believers
to live differently from the culture around them.
In
Acts, we read about the early church’s impact on its world. Instead of
attacking the culture, they focused on living as a united community of
believers. The people around them noticed and many chose to join their ranks.
As persecution increased, so did the church’s commitment to live out their
faith. Even though the dominant culture actively persecuted the church, the
church continued to grow.
They devoted
themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of
bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and
miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and
had everything in common. Selling
their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they
continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their
homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying
the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who
were being saved.
Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)
If we want to really change our world, we need to
change our focus. The best way that we can influence our world is to focus on
being the church that Jesus wants us to be. We need to get back to the basics
of living as a new humanity in Christ. We need to demonstrate to the world a
better way to live in community. Jesus made our pathway clear. By
this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:35 (NIV) Our task is to build a community of faith that shines
brightly in our world. If we will live out our faith genuinely
and corporately, the world will take notice.
Live
such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong,
they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1 Peter 2:12 (NIV)
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