Category Archives: Culture

You have heard the statement, “Oh, what tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” According to a New York Times article, June 7, 1996, “What a tangled web we weave; we all practice to deceive.” The article continues by stating that, “…90% confess that they regularly don’t tell the truth. 20% admit they can’t get through a day without conscious, premeditated white lies.”

It suggests that American society has moved from the age when “a man’s word was his bond” to one in which “…people are more accepting than ever before of exaggerations, falsifications, fabrications, misstatements, misrepresentations, gloss-overs, quibbles, concoctions, equivocations, shuffles, prevarications, trims and truth colored and varnished.” (Quoted in Laura Schlessinger and Stewart Vogel’s book, The Ten Commandments: The Significance of God’s Law in Everyday Life)

• Behaviors usually reflect what words express.
• Both behaviors and words are demonstrations of one’s values and what is important to an individual.
• So, friendships, fidelity in marriages, and cohesion in families, honorable business relationships, honor in communities and governments all suffer in a society in which one’s word and one’s behavior do not arise from a sense of fidelity, trustworthiness, and loyalty.

As the Psalmist states, “Help, Lord, for the faithful are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception” (Psalm 12:1-2).

WHAT IS “FIDELITY”?

“Fidelity” is what the Pharisees in Jesus’ day lacked (Matthew 23:23), what the Holy Spirit develops in Christians as “fruit” (Galatians 5:22), and what mature Christians become (Titus 2:10-14).

Taking all the concepts involved from Webster’s Dictionary and the thesaurus Family Word Finder, we have a working definition of “fidelity”: “devotion, loyalty, faithfulness, adherence, constancy, true-heartedness, trustworthiness, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, probity, honor, allegiance, sincerity, good faith, earnestness.”

In the New Testament the word pistis or pistos is used most often to express “faith”, “trustworthiness,” “reliable”, “faithful.” As Thayer says concerning pistos: “Fidelity, the character of one who can be trusted, relied on.”

Honor doesn’t exist where one’s character is not reliable or faithful with integrity. Promises and oaths are worthless if their words are less than reliable.

Contracts, secret confidences, entrusted duties, and obedience to the rule of law in society fail if the individuals involved are not “faithful,” “trustworthy.”

Marriages and family relations, dealings with neighbors, working with employers, and signing documents of importance suffer defeat without “fidelity.”

To make the case for “fidelity,” the Word of God emphasizes a foundation put down by God and the things of God which are “faithful”: God Himself (I Cor. 1:9); Jesus Christ, the Son (Revelation 1:5;3:14); the words of the Scripture (I Tim. 2:11); servants of God (II Tim. 2:2); one who would be saved (Heb. 11:5; John 8:24).

These are but a few of the many scriptures in the New Testament, not even considering the Old Testament, to show that in God’s world, FIDELITY COUNTS!

• Can you imagine if you could not depend on God keeping His promises to you?
• Or if Jesus was not faithful to the will of the Father in dying on the cross?
• Or the Holy Spirit not revealing the truth of God in the Word as instructed to do?
• Or the chosen apostles not being true to the Word of God revealed to them in their teaching, preaching, and writing it for us?
• Or early Christians not living as faithful examples for us to follow as they followed Jesus?

Where would we be without the faithful God who provides constancy and reliability: (James 1:17) “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

We must live in God’s world of trustworthiness and faithfulness in order to please Him. It is also the best way to live because it avoids “tangled webs” of deceit and provides for wholesome relationships with God and others.

• Throughout the Bible the point is made that our relationships of faithfulness toward others is directly dependent on our faithfulness to our Creator (Romans 1:16-ff; Deuteronomy 6:1ff; Matthew 22:34-40).
• Our business relationships are to be faithful based our faithfulness to God (Ephesians 4:28f).
• Our domestic relationships are to be faithful based directly on our faithfulness to God (Ephesians 5-6; Colossians 3:1-4:6).

Let’s get to work on the fidelity of marriage relations with these thoughts in mind, for it is in this area that our culture seeks to defeat us through Satan’s influences. But fidelity counts with God!

Fidelity Counts in Marriage!

“Will you have this woman to your wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto her, so long as you both shall live?”

“Will you have this man to your wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him in sickness, and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep yourself only to him, so long as you both shall live?”

“Will you join your right hands as a pledge of your fidelity to each other?”

Sound familiar? “Just words” or “vows” before God with the seriousness of fidelity enjoined on each party in marriage? When God made the union of man and woman he designed the relationship as a “cleaving” unto each other (Genesis 2:24-25). They were “joined” and no man was to “sever” their bond (Matthew 19:4-6). They were joined as long as they lived (Romans 7:1-3).

Infidelity pollutes what is a sacred joining and breaks a covenant God recognizes as binding.

This is the kind of material not often portrayed in the entertainment media. Michael Medved, highly regarded media critic, in his book Hollywood vs. America, writes:

“Another key element in the entertainment industry’s attack on the family involves its relentlessly negative portrayal of marital relationships. In Hollywood’s view of the world, marriage is an institution that is outmoded, oppressive, and frequently dangerous” (page 122).

The glamorization of adultery and infidelity in marriage has made what God considers “honorable” (Hebrews 13:1-4) into a staid and boring matter.

An article by Katie Roiphe in New York Times Magazine, October 12, 1997, referenced in The Ten Commandments: The Significance of God’s Law in Everyday Life, stated,”…we’ve grown much more tolerant of adultery, at least when it comes to women. Women’s magazines practically recommend it to their readers as a fun and healthy activity, like buying a new lipstick, or vacationing in the Caribbean. In Elle we read that ‘an affair can be a sexual recharging, an escape from a worn-out relationship, a way into something better.’

Harper’s Bazaar breathlessly tells us about women whose ‘marriages are improved by their affairs. Because they get their fill of rapture elsewhere, these wives are not apt to complain or nag or find fault with their husband.’ If a woman has an adulterous affair, she is, according to Harper’s Bazaar, ‘asserting her femininity.”

In addition to the culture’s glamorizing adultery, it has also made lying about it no big deal. Think back on our country’s recent heartache when a President was impeached. Some said, “Adultery is a private matter. . . He only lied about it to protect himself as all men do when they have affairs…It’s nobody’s business but his and hers…It isn’t adultery or sexual sinning if complete intercourse is not engaged in…It isn’t perjury to lie about a personal affair under oath…It’s only about sex.”

Lying comes out of the same attitude of infidelity that adultery does.

When God instructed Israel about their spiritual and ethical conduct, He said, “You shall not commit adultery…” and also, “You shall not bear false witness…” and also, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife…” (Exodus 20:1-17). Their fidelity to Him (vv. 1-3) would be the springboard for fidelity to neighbor.

When a marital partner commits adultery, sexual infidelity, and lies about it, one sin has been committed—infidelity toward God (Romans 1:17-ff)—with two sins against neighbor, adultery and lying. To “have sex” with someone outside of marriage, whether married or not, is sinful. All the parsing of words do not matter.

When one reads Genesis 1:18; 2:18-25; Hebrews 13:4; Ephesians 5:22-33; I Corinthians 7:1ff one cannot help but be impressed with the fact that the following needs are supplied in marriage:

1. Companionship

2. Mutual fulfillment of needs

3. Love expressed in a trusting, committed relation

4. Fulfillment of sexual needs in the way God approved

5. Forming a basis for family and society to live orderly before God

VULNERABILITY TO INFIDELITY

The Bible says that when Satan tempts us to sin, he does so using our own lusts, or desires (James 1).

We become vulnerable when our desire exceeds that which is lawful before God to do and, just as Cain in his rage of jealousy, “sin lies at the door”(Genesis 4:7).

 

1 Chronicles 12:32: “…men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do–200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command…”

How desperately we are in need of people with that kind of insight today. Church leaders everywhere are shaking their heads in bewilderment when trying to understand the age in which we live. And just think of the wisdom required to determine what the church should do in order to influence the current generation so that we all may “be found blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes.” (1 Thess. 3:13).

In his book Reality Isn’t What It Used To Be, Walter Truett Anderson suggests that the Wizard of Oz is a myth for our time. Toward the end of the movie, when Dorothy returns to the Emerald City, she and her companions are granted an audience with the “Great and Powerful” Oz. Then Toto, the dog, makes a discovery, which Anderson sees as the moral of the whole story: The “Great and Powerful Oz is unmasked for what he really was…a fraud, the product of the imagination of a clever man who gets a lot of mileage out of the wishful thinking of Dorothy and her naïve friends.

Anderson claims that many people in our modern society are making a similar discovery: that the “truths” around which they have built their lives in the past are nothing more than the philosophical inventions of clever people from days gone by.

Anderson believes that people who make the discovery don’t necessarily stop going to church or temple or mosque, at least not right away. Instead, leaving their doubts in the foyer they continue to attend, even participate, NOT because they are convinced that the myths they repeat are true, but only that they are “helpful.”

Plato labeled such a belief system “a noble lie” – noble because it is useful in bringing order to society, but a lie nonetheless. This helps explain why 90% of Americans say they believe in God, but more than 2/3 of them say there is no absolute truth.

Os Guinness: “Unless reversed, this hollowing out of beliefs will finally be America’s undoing.”

 

1. Where are we and what is this place like? We are in an open universe—God can and often does influence it—a universe created and sustained by God.

 

1. Who are we and where are we going? We are God’s creation, made in His image, an image distorted by sin, clarified by Jesus Christ, and restored by His redemptive work – created to enjoy fellowship with Him forever.

 

1. What is the problem and what is right and wrong? Sin.

 

1. What is the solution? Individual and collective reconciliation through Jesus and recreation through our cooperation with the indwelling Holy Spirit.

 

1. How do we know? God’s Word, which gives faith.

John 1:1-4: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. {2} He was with God in the beginning. {3} Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. {4} In him was life, and that life was the light of men. {5} The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. {6} There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. {7} He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. {8} He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. {9} The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. {10} He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. {11} He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. {12} Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God– {13} children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. {14} The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John 20:30-31: “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. {31} But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Purpose for our life?

(Luke 7:30) “But the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)”

(Acts 13:36) “”For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his fathers and his body decayed.”

(Romans 8:28) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

(Romans 9:17) “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.””

(Ephesians 1:11) “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,”

(1 Peter 4:1-2) “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. {2} As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.”

There are those who live as if the proper response to the spirit of the age is to retreat from the world by withdrawing to large churches in mostly Christian enclaves (South) where our children can be protected from all of these evil influences.

At the other end, there are those who suggest we get heavily involved in politics and, by the power of sheer numbers, force onto the table of public discussion the issues we hold dear. I am convinced that Jesus intended neither when he discussed light, salt, and leaven.

We must respond to opposition “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15b-16), not with either retreat or coercion.

We must slowly but surely impact every level of society through a commitment to Jesus which is the product of our conviction about Him, conviction that we can readily explain to those who do not share it.

Sanctified and sent: John 17:13-19: “”I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. {14} I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. {15} My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. {16} They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. {17} Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. {18} As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. {19} For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

One of the struggles for the Christian in our life is to find things from our culture that are good and are OK for us to join in with them while at the same time remaining “pilgrims and strangers” in this world.

I have to begin with some comments about a Budweiser ad which is very prominent in our day: it’s the one that eventually presses the need for a designated driver and at the bottom of the ad, in small print, are these words: “Thanks for driving responsibly.”

Consider the word ‘responsibly’ against this backdrop:

• 44,000 fatal traffic accidents this past year
• 15,935 were alcohol related

But what is really behind the ad?

• what I do is my business!
• something I do is wrong only when it hurts someone else
• what’s implied behind the words is the reality that 4-5 people will get “sloppy drunk” and that’s OK as long as provisions have been made so others won’t get hurt (Budweiser can feel noble in this situation).

Autonomy: “self-directing freedom; especially moral independency.

“I’m not hurting anyone (but me) so it’s none of your business.”

We love our freedom! Many have died for it; we might not appreciate it as we should. I remember when the walls of communism came down in Europe and we watched freedom come to the Soviet Union and Germany and we reveled in their “newfound freedom.” But that freedom soon had a sour note: the thrill was replaced by the horrific rise of pornography, crime, alcoholism, and the mafia in those places.

Elizabeth Athmire Not My Own (1995 book on abortion): “It is now a truism in this country that the autonomous individual is supreme. Indeed the highest goal in our society is to be a self-fulfilling, self-governing, autonomous and independent self.”

This has become our society’s goal, hasn’t it?!*%%$#! Do WE want autonomy? Would we like it if there were NO intrusions from anyone at all in our lives?

If that is our desire, the result is that the “death of community” must first take place. In the United States, we likely have the most autonomous culture of all others, yet we also live in a culture that’s probably the most lonely.

John Dunn No Man is an Island – “No man is an island entire of itself…every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send the noll, for whom the bell tolls…it tolls for me.”

We are often involved in the making of decisions about what is right and wrong? And also about what we would prefer to occur at a particular time? We must approach it from a perspective, I think, which helps make matters clearer: what if everybody did what I choose to do; if it became universal laws…would I like it or not?

We need to examine the idea of autonomy that says: “get out of my face…what I do is none of your business…get out of my circle…leave me alone….what I do doesn’t hurt you!”

God made us and we are His

 

• Genesis 1-2: God brings us into being and is our creator

 

• Psalms 100:1-3: “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. {2} Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. {3} Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

 

• Luke 15: when a sinner comes home, God is really, really, really happy! He’s concerned with us and has concern for our soul
• 1 Corinthians 6:18-20: “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. {19} Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; {20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

 

• Anything and everything we do as a Christian must be done against this powerful backdrop!

 

• Romans 12:3-5: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. {4} Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, {5} so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

 

• Even IN HERE, we are not autonomous! What does this verse say about the desire of the elders here to help us to be more involved “care groups?” In Christ, isolation dies because we belong to one another. There IS community!

 

• 1 Corinthians 12:25-27: “…so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. {26} If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. {27} Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

If I do certain things, isn’t it just me that gets hurt?

1. Abortion (just my own body)
2. Accessing pornography on the internet or via a magazine while traveling out of town (no one knows about it)
3. Get drunk with some guys who will never tell anyone at church because they don’t know my Christian friends

When you sin against your body and against God, you also sin against me. Your sin affects me because you are part of my spiritual body! What you do has an impact upon others who are here today looking at God’s word in this matter. …You are not your own…you were bought at a price…”

What Is Secularism?

Every society is made up of different people, different jobs, different values, and different classes. Nevertheless, students of history tell us that no society can survive or function without a unifying system of thought.

The unifying system of thought that acts as a glue that makes the various parts of a society adhere is called a “world view.” This world view may be built on a philosophical system, or on a religion like ancient Israel.

It may be built on a common mythology, or on a devotion to the state, or on some political philosophy. In every society there is a competition between philosophy, religion, mythology, and politics for dominance. One of these elements will eventually emerge as the principal world view.

Originally, a Biblical world view was the unifying system that dominated American society; but, this is no longer true. In our modern topsy-turvy culture, the principal ism or system of thought that is being reflected in our creative arts, in our popular literature and music, on our TV screens, in our educational institutions, and even in our churches, is secularism.

In secularism, all life, every human value, every human activity must be understood in view of the here and now. There are no windows into the eternal. If there is a God—and the secularist is either an atheist or agnostic—He is totally irrelevant. All that matters isnow.

In the secular world view, human beings are not created in the image of God. They are, instead, wholly physical. Consequently, humans are the outgrowth of an evolutionary process, and are, at best, nothing more than a chance collection of atoms.

Because there is no hope of life beyond this present physical world, the secular humanist declares that man’s highest end is happiness, freedom, and progress for all mankind in this present world. To this end the secularist “assigns to man nothing less than the task of being his own savior and redeemer” (Corliss Lamont, The Philosophy of Humanism, page 283).

• In stark contrast to secularism, which says, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you die,” stands Christianity, which says, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Christianity speaks of something more than the here and now.
• While secularism takes the short view, Christianity takes the long view.
• While secularists talk about the here and now, Christians speak of an eternal life beyond the grave.
• While secularism, which teaches man is the product of evolution, validates narcissism, hedonism, materialism, and pluralism, Christianity, which teaches man is created in the image of God, refutes all man-made isms with the admonition, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

1. The Bible tells us that faith comes as a result of hearing God’s Word (Romans 10:17).
2. In Hebrews 11:3, the writer says that faith has its starting point at Genesis 1:1. Consequently, the starting point for a Biblical world view is the first verse of the Bible.
3. Before the here and now, God, who transcends this current time-space world, existed in eternity. This means there is more to reality than the here and now.
4. But, there is more. Apart from “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” there are no real ethical obligations; no such things as absolute norms of conduct—no moral absolutes.
5. If there is no Creator who is Sovereign of the universe, then man is under no moral obligations and is absolutely free to do as he pleases.
6. It is here then that we arrive at the crux of the matter. Man, in his arrogant pride, does not want to do what God wants him to do. As a result, man attempts to suppress the truth about God in unrighteousness (Romans 1:18).
7. Why? Because if man can be persuaded to believe the lie that there is no Sovereign God who lives in eternity, then he can be comfortable involving himself in all sorts of uncleanness and ungodliness (Romans 1:19-25).
8. Secularism, of course, is the perfect vehicle for such unbelief.

The Gravedigger Effect

In the 20th century, the secularization of American has had a tremendous affect on Christians. It is as unfortunate as it is true that we have bought, nearly “lock, stock, and barrel,” the secularization lie.

Consequently, we have given ourselves over to a traditional, uncritical, and unscriptural view of the separation of church (the sacred) and state (the secular). Although it is true that Christians ought to distinguish between the secular and the sacred, it is just as true that we must never try to separate them. To do so would be to deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ over all of life.

Nevertheless, for the most part, we, as 20th century Christians, have given ourselves over to a view of church and state that has forced us to divide our lives into that which is sacred and that which is secular. This dichotomy has forced us to compartmentalize our religion.

Within the confines of an ever decreasing arena, we unashamedly proclaim belief in, and reliance upon, God. But outside these parameters—cage might be a better word—we are reluctant to even mention His name. Although religion in the private sector may seem to be flourishing, in the public arena it has been almost totally neutralized.

Today, Christianity may be privately engaging, but it is socially irrelevant. The central sectors of society (business, technology, science, medicine, law, politics, etc.) have been stripped of religious influence.

As Americans, and, unfortunately, as Christians, we have thought it only proper to internalize our religion. This “privatization” or secret discipleship (i.e., the “Joseph of Arimathea Syndrome,” John 19:38) has contributed to the current secularization of America.

But, more importantly, it has caused true Christianity to be without any real impact in public life. Afraid to mention the name of the Lord publicly, except within the limited confines of church and family, for fear of being thought un-American, uncivil, un-professional, anti-social, sectarian, and fanatical, we now find ourselves without any real impact in our communities.

Instead of being the salt that savors and the light that shines out of darkness (Matthew 5:13-16), we have allowed the “Wall” the secularists have erected between church and state to force us to publicly blend in with the rest of society.

Narcissism

Narcissism is one of secularism’s false values. It says, “Me first.” It says, “I’m number one.” The narcissist is in love with himself. Other people matter only as they serve to fulfill and satisfy him.

He is only concerned about his rights, his privileges, and his happiness. Wives, husbands, children, employers, employees, and fellow citizens all take a second seat to the narcissist. He or she is a “me first” kind of person. He is in love with the self-esteem, self-love, pull-your-own-strings, put-yourself-first, you’re-number-one shibboleths of modern-day pop-psychology.

When the Christian becomes infected with this spiritual disease, he begins to talk about doing something for himself. He talks of being tired of doing what God and everyone else wants him to do. He begins to complain about the sermons not being uplifting enough. He protests that Bible classes just aren’t positive enough. He whines about the worship services of the local congregation just not doing anything for him anymore. It is not long before families, church unity, ethics in the marketplace, and community stability soon begin to play second fiddle to the “star” of the show—Numero Uno!

By contrast, Jesus instructs us to crucify self and put others first (cf. Matthew 16:24,25; Philippians 2:3). He teaches us to give ourselves away to God and others (Matthew 22:34-40).

Hedonism

Closely related to narcissism, hedonism says that life ought to be lived solely for pleasure. It is personified in the Playboy philosophy of the 1950s and ’60s and is summed up in the motto, “If it feels good, do it.”

It fans the flames of pornography and homosexuality as it promotes anything and everything that supposedly gives “pleasure.” It replaces responsible living with a “thrill at any cost” approach to life. It is responsible for the proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS.

Those given over to hedonism are addicted to lust and can never be satisfied. Nevertheless, in their attempts to satisfy their lusts hedonists usually become quite promiscuous. This, of course, destroys many marriages and homes.

Finally, the pursuit of pleasure at any cost leaves men and women broken, lonely, and sad. On the other hand, those who follow God’s Word will find true happiness and satisfaction in the “one flesh” relationship ordained by God, and will find ultimate satisfaction in pleasing Christ (II Corinthians 5:9).

Materialism

Materialism says, “I am what I have” and “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Instead of concentrating on the spiritual and eternal things, materialism seeks after those things that can be seen, touched, tasted, smelled, and possessed. Everything and everybody takes a second seat to material-ism—the accumulation of things. In contrast to this, Christianity teaches that we ought to be laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven. In other words, life is an investment, and we can either invest for short-term benefits or long-term gains.

Pluralism

Modern America prides itself in its pluralism. Pluralism is modern culture’s belief that there are many different right ways to live and believe. Find whatever works for you. If it’s Jesus and Christianity, fine. If it’s Hinduism, great. Whatever you want to believe is just fine. Find the church of your choice. Dogmatism is out. Absolutes are out. All paths lead to the same god. God wouldn’t turn away sincere people. All this nonsense is pluralism. In pluralistic America, even witchcraft and devil worship are constitutionally protected religions.

Many seem to think that the Creator of the universe is somehow limited by the Constitution of the United States. He is not! Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

The apostle Paul taught, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Any culture totally given over to pluralism has forgotten that there is a Law above the law.

America, both collectively and individually, will honor God and be blessed, or it will disobey God and pay the bitter consequences.

Conclusion

It is our prayer that churches of Christ will stand up and courageously answer the Lord’s bidding to be counterculture. With this in mind, we close with the apostle Paul’s exhortation in Romans 13:12-14, which says: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in licentiousness and lewdness, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”

 In Paul’s letter to Titus, we learn that Cretan culture was very bad. In Titus 1:12-13, Paul wrote: “One of them, a prophet of their own, said, ‘Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.’ This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.”

We can be sure that Paul was not just being uncouth. Neither was he addressing the integrity of every single Cretan. He was, instead, reminding Titus of the persuasive influence of culture.

In Cretan society, there was a general lack of integrity among the people. By and large, they were a cruel and savage people who would selfishly push everyone out of their way in order to gain an advantage for themselves.

In addition, they were pleasure-loving (viz., they loved to eat) and lazy. “Cretism” or “Cretan behavior,” in the ancient world meant “lying.”

According to the ancient writers, the Cretans were experts at lying, cheating, and stealing. To them, “no profit is ever disgraceful” (The Histories VI, 46). Their forte, according to Titus 1:11, was “dishonest gain.”

This is why Paul cautions Titus to warn the Cretan brethren of the terrible influence of their culture (Titus 1:13). If they were going to be “sound in the faith,” they were going to have to be “rebuked sharply.”

1. We can almost be certain that some were more than willing to misunderstand Titus’ “sharpness” (cf. II Corinthians 13:10).
2. Nevertheless, we are sure Paul did not prescribe this remedy for the destruction of the Cretan brethren. Instead, he imposed it for their edification.
3. For the Christians at Crete, as it is for Christians everywhere, the New Testament, not their culture, was to be the benchmark of their behavior.

Corruption is everywhere! Almost everyone wants kitu kidogo (“a little something” in Africa) for doing what they do, from the common clerk to the government offical. The most mundane transaction needs kitu kidogo. If there is no kitu kidogo, then there is no service, no license, no nothing! On the other hand, if you are willing to pay, the sky seems to be the limit!

Now, with all this firmly entrenched in our minds, maybe we all have a little better appreciation of Paul’s admonition to “rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13).

Did he not go on to say: “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled” (verse 15)? How long would any of us live in such a culture before we became defiled in mind and conscience?

The Barna Institute conducted a survey in early 1999:

• The survey had 66 religious-oriented questions (9 different answers)
• It had 65 non-religious questions (had ZERO different answers)
• Conclusion: religion made no difference in our culture!

Deuteronomy 18:9-16: “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. {10} Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, {11} or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. {12} Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. {13} You must be blameless before the LORD your God. {14} The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. {15} The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. {16} For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.””

Israel eventually did these things! The longer they were in the land the more they looked like the people in the land.

Romans 12:2(NAS) “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Romans 12:1-2 (The Message): So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Amish people in Ohio-Pennsylvania: no electricity, but many workers would use electricity of their clients to build garages, etc. Terry and I could easily develop the Amish culture (not religious).

They don’t want to ‘blend in.’ Black clothes…no buttons (too flashy)…they see culture as evil…no lights on their horse-drawn buggies (not unusual to have accidents with cars at evening).

Their desire: Family, Neighbors, Church.

1 Peter 2:11-12: “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. {12} 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 Corinthians 5:9-11: “I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people– {10} not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. {11} But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.”

We expect and demand more from each other than we do with the world! And we hold this high standard among ourselves in the midst of a sinful world.

1 Corinthians 5:12-13: “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? {13} God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.””

But what does this all have to say to those of us who are Americans. Simply this: As our own culture becomes more and more pagan, we need to be very careful that it does not exercise an undue influence upon us.

Unfortunately, many churches in America have begun to blend in. Instead of acting like strangers and pilgrims (Hebrews 11:13; I Peter 2:11) whose citizenships are in heaven (Philippians 3:20), many of us have become much too comfortable in our society.

Many of us are failing to live out the “in the world, but not of the world” mandate of John 17. Like the church at Laodicia, many of us, indulging ourselves in the material riches of our society (cf. Revelation 3:17), have become “neither hot nor cold” (verse 15). Consequently, if we do not repent, the Lord will eventually spew us out of His mouth.