What is it going to take?

“⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰ and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” Colossians 2:8-10

Christianity is not immune to the political and social activism that is has been battling or raging within our Cultural Climate.  Christians and Christianity has been marked by many falsehoods, primarily because of the lack of Biblical Knowledge and Wisdom of many in the church.  Too many within the church have been driven by emotional experiences and not the truth and depth of scripture.  That is not to say that emotional experiences are not experiences of the Holy Spirit moving, because the Spirit does move us and guide us in emotional experiences. It means that those emotional experiences are to be examined in the light of scripture and not our current situation.

Several things mark Christianity as different from political and social activism, but the primary thing is the concrete truth of God’s Word and that Christ is Lord.  Politics and Social Activism are most often driven by the winds of culture.  They are driven by relative truths and not concrete truth.  In Relative truth, one thing can be the focus today and tomorrow that focus, and truth can simply go away or change drastically.  This is not happening because people are getting smarter but because they continue to live in the death of sinful wisdom and knowledge.

This influence coming from outside of the church is not only hindering but is damaging the witness and testimony of the church.  Why is this happening? The problem is happening because many within the church today have a serious lack of Biblical Knowledge, Discernment, and Wisdom.  The reason for this? A lack of quality time in the Word of God and a lack of discipleship within the church. Most Christians are not immersing themselves in the Word of God and most churches are either just trying to survive or are so focused on being relevant that they have forgotten the purpose of the church.  Most Christians and churches do not know how to respond to the cultural shifts because they are not grounded in the truth of God’s Word.  Christians should not be moved by the winds of the cultural climate but should examine the movement of the cultural climate based on the truth of scripture.

So, what is it going to take to change this? The answer is simple but one that involves commitment and obedience to the Lord. It begins with Christians having a deep love for God, His Word, and His Commission.  This happens through a commitment to dig into the Word daily and to allow the Word to transform your mind and soul.  It means understanding and committing to what Paul teaches us in Romans 12:2. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Instead of allowing the wisdom of the world and culture to influence us, we allow the Word of God to influence our thinking, actions, and deeds.  This means that we are to be exegetical in our interpretation of scripture.  What does it mean to be exegetical in our interpretation? It means that scripture interprets scripture, without the influence of the cultural norms.  Simply put the text means what the text means.

Let me illustrate what I mean.  Scripture is very clear that humanity was created in the image of God and that image shows itself in the form of man and woman.  Scripture gives no other genders and gives humanity no right to change our gender based on how we feel.  Men are born as men and women are born as women. We are created in the body to glorify God, and anything that distracts us from that is a lie and deception.  Men cannot become women and women cannot become men.  No matter how much culture wants to interpret scripture to say the bible is not clear on gender, culture is lying.  Scripture is crystal clear about gender.  Let me use another illustration.  Scripture is clear that we are to care for the needy, poor, and helpless. Time and time again in the New Testament we see Jesus caring for those that are in deep need. Unfortunately, many within the culture want to interrupt this to mean that the church is a constant place of giving handouts and that interpretation is a lie! Yes, Jesus helped people out, but it was not a handout but a hand up.  People whom Jesus helped and healed were now called to provide from themselves instead of continuing to look for a handout.  Just as scripture is clear about gender it is clear about our responsibility in helping and serving.  Culture has no right to interrupt how we are to think about those issues and many others.

So, what is it going to take? It is going to take Christians diving into the Word and allowing the Word to transform their minds to think the way God has called us to think.  It means that we reject the influence of culture and hold to the truth of scripture.  It means that the church must be more diligent in discipling the people of God.  That means dealing with truths of scripture, no matter how difficult or hard that truth is.  It means removing our personal desires and replacing them with the desires of God.  And lastly and most importantly is means obeying the Lord, and not allowing cultural demands and shifts own our thinking.