Culture Wars (7/16/12)

Shalom,

Please begin by reading 2 Tim 3:1-9.

Culture wars have been going on for a very long time, and if we know our scriptures we can expect they'll continue until the return of Jesus. Webster's Dictionary defines culture as: The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought typical of a population or community at a given time. Notice "at a given time." This is very important, because culture depends greatly on current attitudes and beliefs. What Yahweh desires is for his people to substitute Kingdom for the word human in this definition.

Imagine a culture where Kingdom behavior patterns dominate. Imagine beliefs born out of a Kingdom mentality, institutions formed on Kingdom principles, work and thought governed by our relationship with a loving Father in Heaven. But isn't that part of the Lord's Prayer which many of us lift up so often? "Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven." This type of thinking is scary to many people on our planet. They don't want the Creator God to be in power, because then they have to acknowledge him and accept his rules.

We live in a culture that doesn't honor Kingdom principles. We live in a culture that's hostile to Yahweh and his Kingdom ways. There is a general preference for being left alone to do as we please. People will throw around the word freedom to try to get their own way. Instead of being free in Christ, many demand to be free from his influence. Yet our Lord God Almighty expects his people to work at changing the culture.

The majority of religious people in America would tell you that our culture and society are 100% corrupt and evil. I can't agree with that position. We have marvelous technologies continuing to be created for the good of mankind. Our religious freedom continues in spite of ongoing challenges in our court system. Yes, our culture is sliding more and more into lawlessness. Lawless and godless people are working hard to dominate and to remove Christian influence. And they're having their way in many places because Christians have backed out of society and denied the world their influence for good.

We're dominated by what Peter shared with us in 2 Pet 3:3. "In the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own desires." The word for scoffers comes from the root of amusing oneself or indulging in pagan revelry. We have a society dominated by people wanting to be able to indulge themselves in totally lawless and selfish pursuits. It's necessary that Christians avoid those pagan ways to have any effectiveness in sharing the Gospel.

The first issue we face is misplaced love. "Not lovers of the good" is only one of the points made in the nine verse we read. Our culture scorns the love of our heavenly Father, preferring cheap and base substitutes. What Yahweh considers love to be, and what our current society uses the word love for are very different. We've greatly cheapened the word by our usage of it for degrading and common things. Love should be lifted high in respect and honor, because it's true source is our Creator.

At one point Yahweh used a prophet named Hosea to illustrate how lawless Israel had become. He showed them how they'd become a prostitute to him, turning to other gods and abandoning his deep love for them. Yahweh told them that just like Gomer, who gave her love to other men instead of her husband, their godless culture loved themselves, their money, and pleasure more than their Redeemer and Savior.

The people in a godless culture often attempt to place themselves in the position of God. Godless culture is defined most strongly by love of self. The Church isn't immune to this problem. Many a Christian or congregation has fallen prey to misplaced love, and become lovers of their own traditions, their own personal likes and dislikes, their own pet doctrines and programs. When we don't seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in our decision making, but only ask him to bless our plans, we've become too important in our own eyes.

Yahweh loves us dearly and unconditionally. What he wants for us is to love him back. He doesn't force his love on us, and he doesn't force us to love him. We have to voluntarily give ourselves to him to receive the greatest love ever offered to mankind. It's not ours automatically, we must acknowledge that we need him and that he's the only answer to our sin problem. The sacrifice of Jesus isn't a universal release from every sin. We have to admit we're sinners and seek his cleansing for it to be valid. Make sure the Father, Son, and Spirit are the ones at the top of your chain of command.

The second issue is that too many of us have a deformed faith. Verse 5 says, "having a form of godliness but denying its power." This is extremely dangerous. Something that's deformed has the same ingredients of something that's perfect. The problem is that the deformed object has imperfections. If you're shopping for jeans and find two pair you like, but one has an "irregular" tag on it, you wonder what's wrong with them. Many stores have a place for seconds or irregulars or things that aren't up to a higher quality standard.

The "irregular" tag means there's imperfections in those jeans. In some way they weren't made correctly. They have flaws. They're still jeans, but not quite up to standard. They're just like a deformed faith. It causes some people to believe in God but not Jesus. Others see no need for being "born again." Some say all religions worship the same god. All of these positions are flawed and deformed. When held up against the standard of Scripture, they quickly show they aren't up to Yahweh's standard of belief.

Form means outward appearance. In other words, it looks good on the outside, but lacks real depth and character. There's a bit of biblical truth in their beliefs, but the rest is deformed and flawed. Denying means disowning or rejecting. It's a purposeful turning away from truth, a personal rejection of Yahweh's Word. People are trying to make a godly pattern without using Yahweh's plan and guide. They don't believe they need to do things his way, that they have the right to determine for themselves how they'll apply any of his commands or if they'll apply certain ones. This is a very selfish position and one that will alienate you from Jesus.

The third issue is that too many reject absolute truth. Polling has shown that over 50% of Americans don't believe in absolute truth. They say they believe that there is no absolute right and wrong, that everything is situational. The description we're given in verse 7 points directly to the problem in our culture, "always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth." People are unwilling to acknowledge the Truth about our Creator because then they would have to live according to his rules. Many believe they won't have to answer to him if they refuse to accept his absolute truth.

We live in a time when education is stressed in over-the-top ways. It's good that we get a useful education, but too many today are invested in knowing information instead of learning skills. We have too many scribes and not enough prophets. Scribes study and recite what others have written. They may not understand it, acknowledge the truth of it, or allow it to transform their lives. They're experts in knowing information without being able to do much good with that knowledge. With a rejection of absolute truth they don't have to know how to do something, but only have to be aware it its existence. It's actually a very non-intellectual way to avoid things that we don't like.

Prophets come from a very different direction. They tell others of their first-hand encounters with the Living God. They speak of spending time in his presence. Their life-changing experiences can lead others to strive for the same kind of experience. They're either speaking direct words from Yahweh or are reporting what they saw and heard when in his presence. They're intimately attached to the information. It's not trivia to them. Scribes deal in opinion. Prophet's deal in Yahweh's truth.

We live in a time when experiencing the presence of God is sought after, but too many only want the experience on their own terms. No one can reject the truth because of their own bias or belief system and then encounter the God of the Bible in a real way. Yet, Yahweh wants us to influence people in his direction no matter what their philosophy or belief system is. Our Father in Heaven isn't scared off by our attachment to a religion or philosophy that denies him. He's willing to confront any belief system and dogma with his truth. Are you willing to face him this way?

Don't let the lawless and godless culture cause you to deny your Lord. We need to live in the greater reality of the Kingdom. Can you see and hear and taste and smell and touch the Kingdom that surrounds you? Do you live a life of pursuing the Kingdom every day? Let the Kingdom culture flow through you to influence the world around you. Be a godly culture warrior, standing strong in Yahweh's truth and defending your faith. Listen to Paul's advice to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:20-21. "Guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith."

Blessings & Peace, Mike