Faithfulness in a Broken Culture (Part 1)

 Faithfulness in a Broken Culture (Part 1) – Ryan King - https://sharperiron.org/article/faithfulness-broken-culture-part-1 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bearsons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jer 29:5, ESV) Jeremiah’s words are not directly for us, but the principles of living as an exile in a foreign land should be heeded by every Christian. We have no lasting city (Heb 13:14), but we do havea responsibility to be active in the culture in which God has sovereignly placed us (Eph 1:11). For many years conservative Christians have neglected the duty to engage in the culture and it has cost us dearly. Every Christian must recognize the fact that we cannot escape our culture. We live in the culture, and we cannot be faithful to the Scriptures without staying in it. In the Great Commission,the Lord commands us to go into all the world to make disciples. As much as we would love to get our favorite people and retreat into a monastery somewhere, this is not an option that results in faithful Christianity. Our culture, even as it continually degradesaround us, is the context in which God has sovereignly placed us and in which we must be found faithful. Sadly, in a practical sense, many pastors isolate themselves without being in the community at all. Practical community involvement does not have to add more to the pastor’s schedule. Frequentingthe same restaurants, barbershops, and coffee shops, walking in our neighborhoods, and engaging with community leaders can result in great opportunities and pastors should be intentional about getting involved. Part of the problem for us is that as our culture descends into further open wickedness, we do not want to be around it. A love of biblical truth makes the sins of the world repulsive to theChristian. It becomes easier to disengage because we find the sins so off-putting. But we must not retreat. Yes, we must protect our families but that does not require us to withdraw from the culture. Rather, we protect our families by teaching them how toengage the culture biblically. Our children aren’t missionaries, they are disciples, and we must faithfully disciple them while keeping wickedness from them. You cannot be faithful to the gospel if you do not interact with the world around you, and in today’sculture that means being around those who adamantly and openly oppose a biblical worldview. While we cannot be faithful and escape our culture, we also recognize that our culture cannot escape Christianity. Whether or not you think America was a Christian nation, there is no denyingthat the Judeo-Christian worldview is the context in which our nation was born, and the ethical and moral principles of that worldview permeate everywhere in our culture. Public schools, hospitals, orphanages, and more were begun out of the love that the Churchhad for the world around it. In the words of Rory Shiner Western culture is “Christ-Haunted.”1 The impact of Christ and His work in His people is everywhere we look. This everywhere presence of Christ in the roots of Western culture opens the door for Christiansto speak into every aspect of society. The problem is that we have failed to do so. Christianity has largely lost the cultural battle because we have disengaged with the world around us. In the mid-1900s, many Bible colleges were started but we never went any further. Westarted Bible colleges for those who would go into ministry and left the other 99% of young people in our churches without biblical education. Very few schools helped build a Christian view of engineering, healthcare, business, or the arts. Many of those thatdid have a broader offering quickly allowed theological liberalism to take over. Socially, we mostly stood by as abortion, homosexual marriage, birth control, divorce, and more took over our society. For many Dispensationalists, we were so convinced that Christwould soon return that we were thinking about the next five years instead of the next five thousand. We have no idea when Christ may return and should be thinking of our great-grandchildren and not just our immediate context. This is not acceptable becausethe truth of God’s Word impacts our culture here and now. We are not to expect Christ to conform to the culture around us but for the culture to be impacted by Christ. This impact always comes from Christians and should predominantly be directedby the local church. The activity of God’s people in the world is what will influence it for good or their lack of activity or even their sin will influence it for evil. The Christian is not to shy back from cultural engagement but approach it with boldnessand clarity. However, this boldness must be appropriately directed. There is a sense in which Christians may cheer for political conservatives to make a difference in our culture. Generally speaking, conservatism is a good thing that benefits our society,but we must beware of the political “Absaloms” that surround us. Conservatism itself is not the goal of the cultural battle. The aim for the Christian is the righteousness of Christ and the glory of God to prevail. This does not mean that we should not votefor someone who is not a Christian, but we should never put our hope in men (Ps 146). Absalom stood outside the gate of the city to win the hearts of the people away from David (2Sa 15:2).2 Christians must beware of those that speak of things that we would approve, but notclaim Christ. We can certainly agree with those who do not follow Christ, but our young conservatives hear people like Vivek Ramaswamy, Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, and others, giving these men more time than they give the Scriptures. It is a simple truth thatwe become most like what we give the most time to. Notes 1 Rory Shiner, “Western Culture is Christ-Haunted; Review: The Air We Breathe by Glen Scrivener,” The Gospel Coalition, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/air-we-breathe-review/ 2 Michael Foster and Dominic Bnonn Tennant, It’s Good to Be a Man: A Handbook for Godly Masculinity (Moscow, ID: Cannon Press, 2021). ------------------------------------ Faithfulness in a Broken Culture - (Part 2) - Ryan King - https://sharperiron.org/article/faithfulness-broken-culture-part-2 Cultural engagement does not mean compromise, it means boldness. Many fundamentalists have looked at the culture and thought that we need to distance ourselves to stay faithful.We need to be more like Elijah at Mt Carmel declaring the superiority of Christ even against stern opposition. We have a huge advantage when we speak the truths of Scripture to the world around us. One of the great problems of our day is that we do not knowthe Scriptures well enough to be bold in them. Some have forsaken Peter�s instruction to always be ready (1Pe 3:15) because we can think that other things are more important. We give the most time to what is most important to us. How many Christians can speakof the latest news but cannot walk you through the doctrine of the Trinity in the Scriptures? Because we can be fickle, temporal creatures we can give our attention to the urgent instead of the critical. It is time for us to prepare well and dig into the Word of Godso that we might engage the culture around us with boldness. Being in the culture does not mean that we succumb to wickedness but that we declare the truths of Scripture and show the love of Christ in the midst of it. The world around us will not be ready to hear the truths of Scripture unless we bring it to them in love. Love does not mean a lack of boldness, but it does mean that we demonstratekindness and compassion as we bring truth to those around us. Steve Viars does a great job of helping us in this regard in his book Loving Your Community.1 Viars encourages us to be creative and bold in our love of the world around us. He talks about bringingyour community into your building, caring for children, starting schools, ministering to men and women in precarious situations, and more. He presents a church that is present and active in the community and because they are involved, the community listens. Jesus set this example for us as He ministered in His context. He spoke truth while healing and feeding those around Him. His love demonstrated that He is the Messiah. Ourlove demonstrates that we come in the name of the Messiah. James encourages us to care for widows and orphans in their time of need and to be holy Gas 1:27). John tells us that if we see fellow believers in need and neglect to meet those needs it is evidentthat we are not believers (1Jn 3:17). Christians are purveyors of truth, but we must also be purveyors of love. We know that the world will not receive what we bring as love because they hate the Truth, but we bring love, nonetheless. First John 3:12-13 tells us that righteousness in the lives of believers will result in persecution. We should not be surprised when difficulty comes. This can never be areason for us not to biblically engage the culture around us. We are not to be unloving, but we are to be bold. Standing for what the Bible says is true may result in hate. Calling to repentance those that practice homosexuality and transgenderism will withouta doubt bring fierce retribution in many situations. The faithful Christian is not concerned with the opinion of the world, but with the judgment of the Father (Mt 10:28). Yes, even if you come along gently, speaking the truth in love, you can expect hatred,and that what you say may likely be taken out of context. You can expect that they will hear things that you never said and receive them in a manner in which you did not convey them. The truth that you speak to those around you will certainly be received asfoolishness (1Co 2:14). The Lord told us this would happen (In 15:18). Why are we often surprised and/or afraid of the pushback? Speak the truth in the context in which the Lord has placed you and do not compromise. Our responsibility is faithfulness, notresults. Fear of persecution is inconsistent with what the Lord has given us which is a spirit of power and love and self-control (2Ti 1:7). In this spiritual battle, we must not think that we have to carry the torch on our own. The Lord is gracious to us and in His good plan to make all things new, He is startingwith us. Believers have the Holy Spirit within, and the Lord is expanding His work on earth through those whose hearts He is changing. When you tire of the culture around you and begin to think that the battle is lost, remember that Christ is still at work.He is always working in the hearts of His people to bring about His good purpose. The battle is won, Christian. We should not walk around as though it is lost. God has told us the end of all things in the book of Revelation, and it isn�t even close. God isnot throwing a hail Mary at the end of the game hoping the right team comes down with it in the end zone. He has won the battle; we get to see Him bring it to pass. Perhaps in a low place, you are tempted to think that God has forgotten you or your city. Bible Center Church in Paonia, CO is on a street where you see half a dozen �pride� flags as you drive down to the church. God has not forgotten Bible Center Church and He has not forgotten you. If you ever doubt, preach the gospel to yourself. God loved you enough that He gave His only Son for you. Of course, He loves you. The battle isnot lost. We are winning. The local church must lead this charge of cultural engagement. Elders should model cultural engagement and lead their churches in fighting against the godless tide of thecurrent age. The battle to be fought is not one for para-church ministries. God promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church (Mt 16:18). Nothing else has this promise. Pastors have a responsibility to lead their churches down the path of cultural engagement and be bold enough to declare the truth and engage in the battle. Dispensationalists,armed with the truth of Scripture, should be in the best position to fight back against the culture around us. Churches should work together, start schools, plant churches, begin universities, and disciple our children and the adult believers around us. Wecannot abdicate our responsibility in view of Christ�s return. It should make us all the more diligent in proclaiming the truth of the Word. We have the Lord�s promise that nothing can stop the Church and the best weapon conceivable is the Word of God. Whywould we not press on? When our Lord returns let us be found faithful. Notes 1 Stephen Viars, Loving Your Community: Proven Practices for Community-Based Outreach Ministry (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2020). Photo by Jose G. Ortega Castro.